The diary of Joe Biden’s daughter Ashley was taken by two people who attempted to sell it to Donald Trump’s campaign just before the 2020 election, a court has heard.
Aimee Harris, 40, and Robert Kurlander, 58, admitted conspiring to transport the diary along with family photos from Florida, where they found them, to New York where they eventually sold them to Conservative campaign group Project Veritas.
They face the possibility of up to five years in prison. Their plea deal also requires them to each give up the proceeds of selling the diary – $20,000 each – and cooperate with investigators.
Ashley Biden, 41, stored her diary and other personal items at a friend’s home in Delray Beach, Florida, when she moved out in the spring of 2020, according to court papers.
Harris subsequently moved into the same room, found the items and contacted Kurlander, who said he would help her make a “ton of money” from selling them.
The pair first approached Donald Trump’s campaign, but a representative turned down the material and told them to take it to the FBI.
According to the court filings, Kurlander texted Harris saying: “They want it to go to the FBI. There is NO WAY [Trump] can use this. It has to be done a different way.”
They next approached Project Veritas, which identifies itself as a news organisation.
The group is popular among conservatives for conducting hidden camera “stings” seeking to expose liberal bias at media, tech and government institutions.
Project Veritas staff met with Kurlander and Harris in New York and agreed to pay an initial $10,000. They said more money could come if they retrieved more of Ashley Biden’s items from the Florida home, partly in order to authenticate the diary, according to the court filing.
Seeking bigger payout
According to court papers, Kurlander then told Harris in a text: “They are in a sketchy business and here they are taking what’s literally a stolen diary and info … and trying to make a story that will ruin [Ashley Biden’s life]” and possibly affect the impending presidential election.
Prosecutors said the pair took Ashley Biden’s stored tax documents, clothes and luggage. Kurlander pushed Project Veritas for a bigger payout, telling the group: “We are taking huge risks”.
A Project Veritas representative later flew to Florida and shipped the items to New York. The group paid Harris and Kurlander a further $10,000 apiece, prosecutors said.
The group ultimately decided not to publish its contents because it could not confirm the diary’s authenticity and instead handed it over to law enforcement.
Dozens of handwritten pages from the diary were posted on a right-wing website less than two weeks before the 2020 election, but they received little attention.
Project Veritas said its actions were “ethical and legal”.
“A journalist’s lawful receipt of material later alleged to be stolen is routine, commonplace and protected by the First Amendment,” it said in a statement.
The FBI searched the group’s New York offices and the homes of some of its employees as part of the investigation. No one has been charged with a crime.
Ashley Biden, a social worker, is the only daughter of the president and First Lady Jill Biden. His elder daughter and his first wife were killed in a 1972 car accident.
