Florida woman who stole, sold Ashley Biden diary to Project Veritas sentenced to jail
A Florida woman was sentenced to a month in jail Tuesday after being convicted of stealing a diary kept by President Joe Biden’s daughter and selling it to a far right online news site for $40,000, court records show.
Aimee Harris, 41, was also sentenced to three months of house arrest in Manhattan federal court by U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain after admitting she stole Ashley Biden's personal property and sold it to Project Veritas in the final weeks of the 2020 presidential campaign.
In August 2022, Harris and a codefendant in the case ? Robert Kurlander of Jupiter, Florida ? each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines in Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The conservative news site paid Harris and Kurlander for the diary along with other belongings the president's daughter left behind a Delray Beach home when she moved out in 2020, court records obtained by USA TODAY show.
Before pitching it to Project Veritas, the pair approached former President Donald Trump's campaign about buying the stolen material, court papers show, but a campaign official told them to take the items to the FBI.
Under a plea deal, Kurlander and Harris each agreed to return $20,000 they received in the sale, and Kurlander agreed to cooperate in the ongoing investigation.
Court records show Kurlander has not yet been sentenced.
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Judge: 'Despicable' and 'heinous' actions
During Tuesday's sentencing hearing in Manhattan, Swain called Harris' actions "despicable' and "heinous" according to court reporter Pete Brush. He also reported Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Sobelman told the court Harris stole “everything she could get her hands on" out of greed. "And joked about it."
"She wanted to damage Ms. Biden's father,'" the prosecutor said, according to Brush.
Under the law, Harris had faced a maximum five-year prison sentence for the crime.
Court papers show prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Harris to four to 10 months in jail after she had requested the sentencing hearing be moved a dozen times, under the auspice she was taking care of her two young children.
Court records show defense attorney Anthony Cecutti had asked his client serve probation instead of prison time.
"She is fully aware of her wrongdoing and she is deeply apologetic to Ashley Biden," Brush reported Cecutti told the judge during sentencing, adding Harris testified she "can't go to prison because kids need her."
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Diary, camera, other personal items left behind in Florida home
According to court papers, two days after the president's daughter moved out of her former Florida home, Harris moved in, found the items and contacted Kurlander, who told her he would help her “"make a (expiative)-ton of money" selling them.
On Sept. 6, 2020, the two attended a fundraiser for Trump and brought the diary and other items, hoping the campaign would buy them.
"Omg,” Harris texted Kurlander before the fundraiser. “Coming with stuff that neither one of us have seen or spoken about. I can't wait to show you what Mama has to bring Papa."
Four days later, a campaign official said it wasn’t interested in buying the items and told the defendants to give them to the FBI.
Ashley Biden's diary leaked to conservative website
Just before the November 2020 presidential election, entries from the diary were published by the National File, a right-wing news website who claimed they got the diary from a Project Veritas “whistleblower," the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Network reported.
Founded by James O’Keefe, Project Veritas is based in Mamaroneck, N.Y. Its founder has railed against the FBI since his home and homes belonging to other journalists who worked for him were raided by agents in 2021 during the investigation into the diary.
The news site denied wrongdoing in a statement saying news gathering "was ethical and legal and protected by the First Amendment."
As of Wednesday no charges had been filed against Project Veritas or its founder.
Contributing: Jane Musgrave with the Palm Beach Post.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Aimee Harris sentenced in Ashley Biden diary, Project Veritas scheme
