Aimee Harris, a Florida woman, was sentenced to one month in federal jail and three months of home detention for stealing and selling a diary and other items belonging to Ashley Biden, the daughter of President Joe Biden, to a right-wing media group before the 2020 election. Harris was also ordered to forfeit $20,000 and serve three years of probation. The motive behind the theft was believed to be to make money and politically harm President Biden. Harris pled guilty in August 2022 to conspiring with Robert Kurlander to steal Ashley’s possessions from a Delray, Florida home and transporting them across state lines for sale.
During the sentencing, assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Sobelman highlighted Harris’ “pattern of disrespect for the law and the justice system.” He stated that Harris wanted to damage Ms. Biden’s father and make as much money as possible. Prosecutors recommended a jail sentence of between four to 10 months, however, Harris requested probation with no jail time. The judge ultimately gave her a lighter sentence than what the prosecutors wanted, but still called her conduct “despicable.” Harris initially tried to sell Ashley Biden’s items to the campaign of then-President Donald Trump.
Harris, who stayed temporarily at the Delray residence after Ashley moved out, discovered the diary with highly personal entries, as well as a digital storage card left behind by the president’s daughter. The right-wing group Project Veritas paid Harris and Kurlander $20,000 each for the stolen items. Kurlander pled guilty alongside Harris and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 25. A federal judge ruled in late December that prosecutors could receive documents seized by the FBI related to the diary theft from the homes of Project Veritas’ then-CEO James O’Keefe and two other members. The seized documents were not protected by attorney-client privilege.
In her order, Judge Analisa Torres noted that prosecutors claimed Harris and Kurlander were paid by Project Veritas to hand over Ashley Biden’s journal. Prosecutors alleged that Harris and Kurlander stole additional items from the victim and gave them to a Project Veritas employee. O’Keefe, the former CEO of Project Veritas, stated after the FBI searches that his organization was approached with the Biden diary but chose not to publish its contents. O’Keefe later turned the diary over to law enforcement when Ashley’s lawyer refused to accept it. O’Keefe was removed as Project Veritas’ chief in February 2023. Neither O’Keefe nor anyone else associated with Project Veritas has been charged in connection with the diary theft.
The sentencing of Aimee Harris comes after months of delays. Harris pleaded guilty to conspiring with Kurlander to steal and sell Ashley Biden’s possessions. The judge called her conduct “despicable,” and she was ordered to serve time in federal jail, undergo home detention, forfeit $20,000, and serve probation. Prosecutors alleged that Harris was motivated by a desire to make money and harm President Biden politically. Project Veritas paid Harris and Kurlander $20,000 each for the stolen items. The legal proceedings also involved the seizure of documents related to the diary theft from Project Veritas’ leaders. O’Keefe stated that his organization did not publish the diary contents and later turned it over to law enforcement.
