Guilty Pleas In Theft Of Biden Journal Reprinted By Mamaroneck-Based Project Veritas

MAMARONECK, NY — Two Florida residents pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property in a case that saw federal agents raid a Mamaroneck home owned by Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe.

Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander have entered guilty pleas to charges of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property involving the theft of personal belongings of an immediate family member of a then-former government official who was a candidate for national political office, Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today.

"Harris and Kurlander stole personal property from an immediate family member of a candidate for national political office," Williams said in a statement. "They sold the property to an organization in New York for $40,000 and even returned to take more of the victim’s property when asked to do so. Harris and Kurlander sought to profit from their theft of another person’s personal property, and they now stand convicted of a federal felony as a result."

While Williams did not name the politician involved or the Mamaroneck organization accused of paying for the stolen property, several media outlets, including The New York Times, the Associated Press and NBC News have confirmed that the guilty pleas are related to the case in which stolen, private journal entries of Joe Biden's youngest daughter Ashley Biden were sold to Mamaroneck-based Project Veritas.

Project Veritas was founded in 2011. The notorious conservative media outfit's undercover video recordings have created controversy, not only for apparently exposing misdeeds by often high power targets, but have also led to allegations the videos themselves employed misleading editing and inappropriate out-of-context hidden camera interviews.

Federal agents searched the New York homes of people tied to the conservative group Project Veritas, in November.

The raids came weeks after the controversial group received a diary that an "anonymous tipster" claimed belonged to President Joe Biden’s youngest daughter. In a video posted on YouTube, Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe said his conservative media organization had received a grand jury subpoena. He also reported that the homes of current and former Project Veritas employees had been searched by federal law enforcement.

The FBI also carried out a court-ordered search of O’Keefe’s apartment in Mamaroneck, according to the New York Times. At the time of the search, an FBI spokesman would only confirm that agents had conducted "court authorized law enforcement activity" at an apartment in Manhattan and an address in Mamaroneck, when pressed by the New York Times. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment on the grand jury investigation.

SEE ALSO:

• Banned By Twitter, Founder Of Project Veritas Vows to Sue
• Mamaroneck Organization Tries To Trick Washington Post
• FBI Raids Mamaroneck Homes In Project Veritas Probe

"As they've admitted with today’s pleas, the defendants conspired to steal an individual’s personal property, which they subsequently sold to a third party and delivered across state lines," FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll said today. "As a consequence of their actions, they now face punishment in the federal criminal justice system for their crimes."

In September of 2020, Harris and Kurlander conspired to steal, transport across state lines, and sell personal property that belonged to a victim, (now revealed to be Ashley Biden), according to court documents.

The victim had stored the property, including a handwritten journal containing highly personal entries, tax records, a digital storage card containing private family photographs, and a cellphone, among other things, in a private residence in Delray Beach, Florida, at which Harris was temporarily residing. After Harris stole the property, she enlisted Kurlander to help her facilitate its sale, prosecutors said.

According to federal investigators, Harris and Kurlander then made contact with an employee of an organization based in Mamaroneck (now known to be Project Veritas), who instructed them to use an encrypted application to communicate with them and requested photographs of the victim’s property.

After receiving the photographs, the organization offered to pay for Harris and Kurlander's transportation of the property from Florida to New York City, according to the FBI. Harris and Kurlander subsequently traveled to New York City with the victim’s property at the organization’s expense and met with employees of the organization, federal investigators allege in court documents.

During that meeting, Harris described the circumstances of how she had obtained the victim’s property and provided the property to the organization, federal officials contend. She also disclosed that the victim had stored additional property in the residence where Harris continued to have access, the feds said in court filings.

After the meeting, and at the organization’s request, Harris and Kurlander returned to Florida to obtain more of the victim’s property in order to provide it to the organization, according to federal investigators. They later met with an organization employee in Florida and gave that employee more of the victim’s stolen property, believing that the organization would transport or cause the transport of the stolen property from Florida to the organization’s offices in Mamaroneck, which the organization subsequently did, according to federal prosecutors.

The Mamaroneck organization subsequently paid Harris and Kurlander each $20,000 for the stolen property, investigators said in federal court documents .

Harris, 40, of Palm Beach, Florida, and Kurlander, 58, of Jupiter, Florida, each admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.