The FBI and the Stolen Diary

The strangest news story of the last few days relates to multiple FBI raids on the homes of people associated with Project Veritas, including that of founder James O’Keefe. Those who were searched say that the agents were looking for information related to the alleged theft of a diary belonging to Joe Biden’s daughter Ashley, which the New York Times and other news sources have confirmed.

The diary dates to 2019, when Ashley was in a drug rehab facility. It left her possession under circumstances that are not clear. Someone offered it to Project Veritas, saying that Ashley had left it in a room at, if I understand correctly, the rehab facility. Ashley evidently maintains that it was stolen.

James O’Keefe says that Project Veritas looked into the matter but was unable to confirm the authenticity of the document. He says that he offered it to Ashley’s lawyers, but they wouldn’t take it, so he turned it over to law enforcement. In any event, Project Veritas never did anything to make its contents public.

The diary itself–photos of its pages–was published a year ago by an outfit called National File, but it drew little interest or attention. While Project Veritas was unable to confirm its authenticity, that question now has evidently been answered by the FBI.

I briefly scanned the diary. It contains Ashley’s name, and on its face is consistent with various known facts about her. It contains no serious bombshells about Joe, but it does make him and his family look bad in much the same way as Hunter Biden’s escapades (although without the financial corruption). I don’t recommend reading it and certainly would not myself publish it for any perceived news value. It is personal and highly embarrassing, obviously not meant for anyone else’s eyes.

But an FBI investigation? A year after the diary disappeared and was published? Since when is the alleged theft of a woman’s diary a federal crime? Let alone a federal crime that warrants investigation by the FBI?

Jonathan Turley reviews the facts of the case and asks:

Journalist organizations are routinely given material removed from businesses, agencies, or private owners without permission by confidential sources. If this is a federal crime subject to FBI raids, what happened to the new media policies of the Biden Administration after the Tucker Carlson controversy?

Good question! I suppose the answer would be, “That’s different, because those other journalists are on our side.” Turley adds:

There are a host of unanswered questions. Here are five to start with:

1. What was the context for the diary’s loss? (Did Ashley Biden leave the diary in a room or was it stolen?)

2. What is the alleged federal crime (and what is the precedent for a major federal investigation over such an alleged theft)?

3. What precautions were taken by the Biden Administration in light of the claimed media status of the targeted individuals?

4. Why was there a delay in this action being taken if the alleged theft occurred a year ago?

5. Has this matter been under investigation for a year and did the White House request the intervention of the FBI?

There is a context to this story that goes well beyond the sadness of Joe Biden’s deeply troubled family. The FBI’s once-stellar reputation has been badly tarnished in recent years, and many millions of Americans now see the Bureau as a politicized agency that has become, in important ways, an arm of the Democratic Party. The Case of the Missing Diary may be trivial in itself, but the fact that the FBI is now executing search warrants on the homes of political opponents of the Biden administration, with no national interest at stake other than the reputation of the Biden family, lends support to that suspicion.

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