In a strange case with significant freedom of the press implications, on Thursday a federal judge ruled against Project Veritas in a diary possession case involving Ashley Biden.
The Manhattan court ruled that Project Veritas must turn over more than 900 documents pertaining to President Joe Biden’s daughter’s diary — and reveal sources regarding how it came into their possession.
U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York, a President Obama appointee, issued the ruling.
Torres sided with the special master’s recommendation that Project Veritas must surrender all documents in its possession about how it came into possession of Ashley Biden’s diary in 2020.
Torres rejected claims by Project Veritas that freedom of the press and journalistic nondisclosure privileges under the First Amendment should guard against such demands.
CNN technical director, Charlie Chester, in a secret Project Veritas recording from April 2021: Once the public are no longer scared of "Covid", "climate change" will take centre stage as the new imaginary boogeyman to terrify everyone into submission with.
"They've already… pic.twitter.com/Fk9LxntuLG
— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) December 20, 2023
Under the ruling, a government evidentiary filter team will review all documents and by Jan. 5 turn over to the court all documents not specifically protected under attorney-client privilege.
Project Veritas has been in a legal battle over the diary since 2021. The conservative undercover investigative organization, which has aired many stories embarrassing to Democratic leaders, contends they were given the diary by A.H. and R.K., who unexpectedly approached the organization.
If it were not for Project Veritas’ adherence to the First Amendment, the public would be oblivious and innocently ignorant to the devious actions and abuses by government organizations and other powerful entities.
Despite never publishing the diary of Ashley Biden, nor being… pic.twitter.com/CAmeWskWqc
— Project Veritas (@Project_Veritas) December 27, 2023
A.H. and R.K. were not employees of Project Veritas and had no contact with the organization before delivering the diary. Project Veritas further asserted the diary was not stolen but abandoned by Ms. Biden and subsequently found by A.H. and R.K.
Authorities have noted that Project Veritas paid $40,000 for Ashley Biden’s diary and “related materials,” but did not print or report on the diary’s contents, though they have vehemently criticized the FBI’s handling of the matter — particularly their raid on offices and homes.
Many have suggested the FBI’s heavy-handed approach illustrates the Biden administration’s weaponization of the Department of Justice.
Paul Calli, an attorney representing Project Veritas, stated: “Project Veritas had no involvement with how those two individuals acquired the diary. All of Project Veritas’s knowledge about how R.K. and A.H. came to possess the diary came from R.K. and A.H. themselves.”
Subsequent reports indicated that Ashley Biden’s diary was discovered by Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander; the diary was reportedly stored at a residence in Delray Beach, Florida. It is not known how Harris or Kurlander “found” the “abandoned” diary.
Last summer, Harris and Kurlander pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property.
Project Veritas has not been charged with any crime in connection with the diary case. Press outlets decry today’s ruling as an assault on First Amendment rights.
A representative from Project Veritas said the ruling “seems undertaken not to vindicate any real interests of justice, but rather to stifle the press from investigating the President’s family.”
