Guilty pleas in theft of diary of Ashley Biden, daughter of president

Two people pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in New York in connection with the theft and sale of the diary and other items belonging to Ashley Biden, the daughter of President Joe Biden, court records show.

The defendants, Aimee Harris, 40, and Robert Kurlander, 58, conspired to steal items from Florida and transport them over state lines in 2020, when Ashley’s father was the Democratic nominee for the White House, according to a charging document.

Neither Biden was not identified by name in the charging document.

But the details of the case match with what has been previously reported about an investigation by federal prosecutors in New York into the theft of Ashley’s diary, which occurred weeks before the 2020 presidential election. The charging document says the father of the theft’s victim was a “then-former government official who was a candidate for national office.”

President Biden is a former U.S. senator and vice president.

Ashley’s diary, which she had left in a Delray Beach, Florida, home she was renting, was ultimately sold to Project Veritas, the right-wing group that specializes in provocative videos and investigations designed to embarrass media outlets and other targets.

Harris later temporarily stayed at the same residence where Ashley had lived, and discovered property that included a journal and a digital storage card that the victim left behind, according to the charging document.

The charging document says the organization that purchased the stolen property from Harris and Kurlander paid each of them $20,000.

The charging document says that Harris asked Kurlander for his assistance in selling certain items of the victim’s property.

The document said that Harris and Kurlander in September 2020 attended a campaign fundraiser in Florida for a person, identified as Candidate-2, who was running against the victim’s father. That fundraiser is understood to be one held for then-President Donald Trump.

Four days later, a representative from Trump’s campaign told Harris and Kurlander that the campaign was not interested in buying the stolen property, the charging document says.

Kurlander then texted Harris, saying, “[Candidate-2] campaign can’t use it. They want it to go to the FBI. There is NO WAY [Candidate-2] can use this. It has to be done a different way.”

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement Thursday, “Harris and Kurlander stole personal property from an immediate family member of a candidate for national political office.”

“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,” Williams said.

“Harris and…