Image source, Getty Images
Ashley Biden, daughter of President Joe Biden, kept the diary while recovering from drug addiction
A woman who stole a newspaper belonging to Joe Biden’s daughter and sold it to a conservative organization was sentenced to a month in prison.
Aimee Harris will also spend three months in home confinement after taking personal items belonging to Ashley Biden.
Harris, 41, pleaded guilty in 2022 to a charge of conspiring to transport stolen property across state lines.
She was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in New York.
The Palm Beach, Florida, resident said she received $20,000 (£15,800) from Project Veritas, a group that runs hidden camera operations targeting the media, government officials and politicians.
The court ordered him to forfeit the money.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain called Harris’ actions “despicable and therefore very serious.”
Ashley Biden kept a diary and other items in a house where she stayed in Delray Beach, Florida, in 2020.
The owner of the property then allowed Harris to stay in the house. She found Ms. Biden’s items and, with a co-defendant, Robert Kurlander, attempted to sell the diary to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
After the Trump campaign was unsuccessful, the two men contacted Project Veritas.
Kurlander also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced at a later date.
As part of its investigation into the accusations, FBI agents searched the homes of Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe and two employees. Mr. O’Keefe and Project Veritas were not charged in this matter, and Mr. O’Keefe subsequently left the organization.
Project Veritas has not released the diaries, which reportedly detailed Ms. Biden’s recovery from her substance addiction. Another right-wing outlet later published what it said were the diaries, with minor redactions.
Ben Wetmore, chairman of the board of Project Veritas, told the BBC that the organization had handed the paper over to authorities.
Mr. Wetmore said investigators seized devices, intercepted company communications and “forced Project Veritas to spend millions in court to defend us and the First Amendment – although no member of Project Veritas has never been charged with a crime.”
After her guilty plea, Harris failed to appear at several sentencing hearings. She apologized in court on Tuesday, saying she was concerned about the care of her two children.
“I don’t believe I’m above the law,” she said. “I am a survivor of domestic violence and long-term sexual trauma.”
Harris also apologized to the president’s daughter during the hearing.
In a sentencing memo, prosecutors said Harris was motivated by both money and politics, writing: “Stealing the personal belongings of a candidate’s family member and selling them to an organization for exploiting them for political purposes was wrong and illegal, regardless of the political agenda. “.
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News Source : www.bbc.com
