FBI Sets Sights on James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas with Ashley Biden Diary Conviction

[mystery-ak]

FBI Sets Sights on James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas with Ashley Biden Diary Conviction

Joel B. Pollak 25 Aug 2022

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) intends to use the guilty plea of two defendants Thursday over the theft of Ashley Biden’s diary to pursue journalist James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas, which reportedly gave the diary to law enforcement in 2020.

On Friday, Robert Kurlander, 58, and Aimee Harris, 40, pleaded guilty to stealing the diary of the presidential daughter, which included claims of inappropriate behavior by President Joe Biden, and conspiring to sell it to Project Veritas for $40,000.

Ashley Biden had reportedly left her diary at the home of a friend before it was sold to Project Veritas. As Breitbart News previously reported, the FBI raided O’Keefe’s private residence in November 2021, looking for clues. O’Keefe said that Project Veritas was not involved in any theft, and obtained the diary legally. He also emphasized that Project Veritas did not publish the contents of the diary, but instead had delivered it to law enforcement. (Portions were published elsewhere.)

The New York Times reported Thursday that Kurlander promised to help the FBI investigate O’Keefe and Project Veritas:

    Aimee Harris, 40, and Robert Kurlander, 58, admitted they took part in a conspiracy to transport stolen materials from Florida, where Ms. Biden had been living, to New York, where Project Veritas has its headquarters.

    Prosecutors said Mr. Kurlander agreed as part of a plea deal to cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation into how the diary was acquired by Project Veritas, whose deceptive operations against liberal groups and traditional news organizations made it a favorite of former President Donald J. Trump.

    …

    The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan began the investigation in late October 2020, after it was alerted by Ms. Biden’s lawyers that Project Veritas had demanded an interview with her father about the contents of the diary, which included embarrassing disclosures about them.

First Amendment jurisprudence has established that news organizations cannot be prosecuted just because they publish materials that may have been obtained illegally — as long as they were not involved in the unlawful process of obtaining them.

The key point of contention in the investigation may turn out to be whether Project Veritas was involved in instigating the theft of the diary, or if it simply obtained the diary independently of the process through which it was unlawfully obtained.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/08/25/fbi-sets-sights-on-james-okeefes-project-veritas-with-ashley-biden-diary-conviction/

[mystery-ak]

 Pair pleads guilty to stealing diary from Biden’s daughter
by Brad Dress - 08/25/22 2:58 PM ET

Two Florida residents pleaded guilty on Thursday to stealing the diary of Ashley Biden, President Biden’s daughter, and selling it to conservative media organization Project Veritas in 2020.

Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander each pleaded guilty to one count of a conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property from an immediate family member of a former government official who was running for national office, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a press release.

They both face a maximum of five years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement that “Harris and Kurlander sought to profit from their theft of another person’s personal property, and they now stand convicted of a federal felony as a result.”

The DOJ documents do not identify Project Veritas or the Biden family, but reporting on the case has already identified them.

According to the DOJ, Harris, 40, was temporarily staying at the Delray Beach, Fla., residence of Ashley Biden in September 2020 when she stole the diary “containing highly personal entries” as well as tax records, a cellphone and family photographs.

Harris enlisted Kurlander, 58, to assist her in selling the collected material.

Project Veritas, based in New York, paid Harris and Kurlander $20,000 each for the diary and other materials the pair returned to Florida to obtain.

In November, the DOJ raided two locations tied to Project Veritas and the organization’s founder, James O’Keefe.

Project Veritas never published the diary, but a website called Flyover Media did.

O’Keefe, who said he received the diary from tipsters who found it abandoned in a hotel room, said he did not publish it because he could not verify its authenticity.

Project Veritas is known for sting operations, sending its staffers undercover to record sources and capture what they say is the true story behind the headlines.

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3615715-pair-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-diary-from-bidens-daughter-selling-it-to-project-veritas/

[verga]

I could be wrong , I think they should be going after Joe Biden for Incest.

[Hoodat]

I would think that Project Veritas would have recorded any conversations it had with Harris and Kurlander.

[corbe]

Florida pair admits to stealing Ashley Biden's diary, tried selling to Trump campaign

by Kaelan Deese, Supreme Court Reporter
August 25, 2022 01:38 PM

A pair of Florida residents pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court Thursday to stealing the diary and other property belonging to President Joe Biden's daughter Ashley and selling them to the conservative investigative group Project Veritas.

Aimee Harris, 40, and Robert Kurlander, 58, took part in transporting stolen materials from Florida, where the president's daughter had been living, to New York, where Project Veritas is headquartered. Their actions took place in the final weeks ahead of the 2020 presidential election, with the pair first seeking to sell the materials to former President Donald Trump's campaign.

“Harris and Kurlander stole personal property from an immediate family member of a candidate for national political office,” Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.

Criminal records provided as part of their guilty plea show they received $20,000 each for the materials offered.

<..snip..>

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/florida-pair-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-ashley-bidens-diary

[mountaineer]

How is it stealing to pick up abandoned property? I once found a bicycle near the creek after a massive flood. Had I kept it, no prosecutor would have charged me with theft.

[Hoodat]

How is it stealing to pick up abandoned property?

There is still a lot of information missing here.  One of those pleading guilty says the diary was found in a room that person rented.  But another report says a Biden family representative filed a complaint that the diary was taken during a burglary.  If the former is true, then that Biden rep effectively filed a false police report.

[verga]

There is still a lot of information missing here.  One of those pleading guilty says the diary was found in a room that person rented.  But another report says a Biden family representative filed a complaint that the diary was taken during a burglary.  If the former is true, then that Biden rep effectively filed a false police report.

Probably not the first or last time.