James O’Keefe, the founder of the conservative organization Project Veritas, admitted to obtaining a diary belonging to President Joe Biden’s daughter after several of his associates were raided by the FBI.
The diary, which was presented to O’Keefe by a “tipster” last year according to O’Keefe, was allegedly stolen from Ashley Biden before being made public less than two weeks before the 2020 presidential election.
A Justice Department investigation into the matter resulted in search warrants being served on Thursday at two locations in New York tied to former and current Project Veritas members.
In a video on the matter, O’Keefe, who stated that his organization had recently received a grand jury subpoena, denied any wrongdoing or involvement with the diary’s disclosure online. Although Project Veritas did not publish the diary, its contents were published on the far-right website National File in October 2020 during the presidential race.
“Like any reporter, we regularly deal with the receipt of source information and take steps to verify its authenticity, legality, and newsworthiness,” O’Keefe said. “Our efforts were the stuff of responsible, ethical journalism and we are in no doubt that Project Veritas acted properly at each and every step.”
O’Keefe also went on to claim that Project Veritas attempted to give the diary to federal authorities to no avail.
“The FBI took materials of current and former Veritas journalists despite the fact that our legal team previously contacted the Department of Justice and voluntarily conveyed unassailable facts that demonstrate Project Veritas’ lack of involvement in criminal activity and/or criminal intent,” O’Keefe said.
National File claimed in an article on Friday that it had published the diary after receiving it from an employee at Project Veritas who was disgruntled with the organization’s decision not to cover its contents.
While National File claims that the Project Veritas employee told them that Biden’s daughter had left the diary behind at an address where she previously stayed, investigators, according to the New York Times, allege that the diary was stolen during a burglary.
The investigation into the diary reportedly began under the administration of then-President Donald Trump after a representative of the Biden family disclosed the alleged burglary to federal authorities in October 2020.