08-31-2022, 05:39 PM
If you somehow missed it, in short:
A woman down on her luck was graciously put up by a friend at her Florida home for free. While there, this woman went through stuff owned by Ashley Biden, President Biden's granddaughter, who was also a friend of this homeowner, and had left some things at the house intentionally assuming she'd be back (apparently she had lived there for a while, and was planning on visiting from time to time).
This woman (Aimee Harris) found Ashley Biden's diary at the house and took it and showed it off at a Trump fundraiser (!), and someone there said she should contact Project Veritas, which she did. They (PV) purchased the diary from Harris and a man (Robert Kurlander) for a total of $40K after wining and dining them in Manhattan, then sent them back to Florida to steal some more stuff. A PV person accompanied them to Florida to receive the stolen material.
NYT has a summary (gifted).
How do we know all this? For one, because the pair (Harris and Kurlander) have pled guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property in a plea deal. They've agreed to cooperate in a case against Project Veritas.
For it's part, Project Veritas says:
...except this was known to have been stolen, and indeed, PV paid them for it and to steal some more. As nutjob Andrew McCarthy admits at National Review:
The payments for all this continued up to October 24, well after PV sent Harris, Kurlander, and a PV henchman back to Florida to steal more. This is neither routine, nor commonplace, nor protected by the First Amendment.
The FBI raided the home of James O’Keefe, PV's founder (who was in his underwear at the time) and seized a bunch of emails laying out the scheme.
Ironically, PV decided not to publish the diary, although it was later published by an unrelated conservative group, and the story gained little traction (in both cases probably because no one cares about the personal musings of Aimee and the diary didn't contain any dirt).
Anyway, this all came out about a week ago and you can read all about it from any number of sources.
BTW, PV has been on a losing streak lately. First, it's defamation case against CNN was tossed out by Federal judge in May, while in June another judge tossed out a similar defamation case against Stanford, and ordered PV to pay $150K of Standford's legal costs. The WaPo's media critic, Eric Wemple, while a journalist himself, thinks that a successful First Amendment defense in this case is exceedingly unlikely.
Welp! It's turning into Christmas in August.
miley-music039:
A woman down on her luck was graciously put up by a friend at her Florida home for free. While there, this woman went through stuff owned by Ashley Biden, President Biden's granddaughter, who was also a friend of this homeowner, and had left some things at the house intentionally assuming she'd be back (apparently she had lived there for a while, and was planning on visiting from time to time).
This woman (Aimee Harris) found Ashley Biden's diary at the house and took it and showed it off at a Trump fundraiser (!), and someone there said she should contact Project Veritas, which she did. They (PV) purchased the diary from Harris and a man (Robert Kurlander) for a total of $40K after wining and dining them in Manhattan, then sent them back to Florida to steal some more stuff. A PV person accompanied them to Florida to receive the stolen material.
NYT has a summary (gifted).
How do we know all this? For one, because the pair (Harris and Kurlander) have pled guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property in a plea deal. They've agreed to cooperate in a case against Project Veritas.
For it's part, Project Veritas says:
"Project Veritas' news gathering was ethical and legal. A journalist's lawful receipt of material later alleged to be stolen is routine, commonplace, and protected by the First Amendment."
...except this was known to have been stolen, and indeed, PV paid them for it and to steal some more. As nutjob Andrew McCarthy admits at National Review:
...by the evening of September 12, and certainly by September 18 when the first PV payment was apparently made, the charging document indicates that PV officials (a) already knew that the first batch of property (including the diary) was stolen, and (b) were actively encouraging Harris to steal a second batch (which, thus encouraged, Harris had done on September 17).
The payments for all this continued up to October 24, well after PV sent Harris, Kurlander, and a PV henchman back to Florida to steal more. This is neither routine, nor commonplace, nor protected by the First Amendment.
The FBI raided the home of James O’Keefe, PV's founder (who was in his underwear at the time) and seized a bunch of emails laying out the scheme.
Ironically, PV decided not to publish the diary, although it was later published by an unrelated conservative group, and the story gained little traction (in both cases probably because no one cares about the personal musings of Aimee and the diary didn't contain any dirt).
Anyway, this all came out about a week ago and you can read all about it from any number of sources.
BTW, PV has been on a losing streak lately. First, it's defamation case against CNN was tossed out by Federal judge in May, while in June another judge tossed out a similar defamation case against Stanford, and ordered PV to pay $150K of Standford's legal costs. The WaPo's media critic, Eric Wemple, while a journalist himself, thinks that a successful First Amendment defense in this case is exceedingly unlikely.
Welp! It's turning into Christmas in August.
