The New York Times has an very detailed account of how the diary of Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley, was stolen and ultimately ended up in the hands of conservative media provocateur group Project Veritas, led by convicted criminal James O’Keefe.
Federal law enforcement and a House committee are investigating the theft of the book and how it was apparently used in an attempt to disgrace the Democratic presidential candidate. The path taken by the book through the hands of a cash-hungry mother to a Florida donor to Donald Trump and ultimately to O’Keefe is an interesting tale.
The goal of O’Keefe in buying the diary was apparently to use it to blackmail Joe Biden into giving him an exclusive interview in October 2020, weeks before Election Day.
“Should we not hear from you by Tuesday, October 20, 2020, we will have no choice but to act unilaterally and reserve the right to disclose that you refused our offer to provide answers to the questions raised by your daughter,” Project Veritas’ chief legal officer, Jered T. Ede, wrote.
O’Keefe and Project Veritas maintain that the seller of the book obtained it legally, and therefore their possession of the book is not criminal. Alternatively, Project Veritas has also claimed the book was “abandoned.”