The FBI searched the home of James O’Keefe, the founder of conservative outfit Project Veritas, on Saturday as part of its investigation into the possible theft of a diary belonging to Ashley Biden, President Biden’s daughter, The New York Times reported.
The search of O’Keefe’s apartment in Mamaroneck, New York, comes one day after O’Keefe released a statement acknowledging that the group, which specializes in “sting” videos featuring activists, politicians and the media, had been approached by people claiming to have Ashley’s diary. O’Keefe said the group decided not to publish it.
“Late last year, we were approached by tipsters claiming they had a copy of Ashley Biden’s diary,” O’Keefe said in a statement on the Project Veritas website. “The tipsters indicated that they were negotiating with a different media outlet for the payment of monies for the diary.”
He continued: “At the end of the day, we made the ethical decision that because, in part, we could not determine if the diary was real, if the diary in fact belonged to Ashley Biden, or if the contents of the diary occurred, we could not publish the diary and any part thereof.” He added that the group turned the diary over to law enforcement.
Project Veritas press secretary R.C. Maxwell told CNBC in an email Saturday that they “do not have any further comment” beyond Friday’s statement.
While Project Veritas did not publish excerpts from the diary, handwritten pages were published on a right-wing website right before Election Day last year. Flyover Media, the company that owns the website, is registered to the same Wyoming address as Branch Six Consulting International, a company run by Richard Seddon, an ex-British spy who has worked closely with Project Veritas, according to the Times. O’Keefe was once listed as the president of a company at this address.
On Thursday, the FBI also searched the New York homes of current and former members of Project Veritas as part of their investigation, according to a statement on the group’s website and the New York Times.
