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- The FBI raided the Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe’s apartment Saturday morning.
- Authorities also searched the homes of two O’Keefe associates earlier that same week.
- The search is reportedly tied to the diary of President Biden’s daughter, Ashley, which was stolen shortly before the 2020 election.
Federal investigators conducted a court-ordered search of the apartment belonging to Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe on Saturday morning, The New York Times reported.
The search occurred the day after O’Keefe acknowledged that Project Veritas was being investigated in connection to the apparently stolen diary of President Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden.
O’Keefe’s neighbors told The Times that agents arrived at his Mamaroneck apartment complex around 6 a.m. and entered the unit, which they searched for several hours.
The FBI also searched the homes of two of O’Keefe’s close associates on Thursday, including Spencer Meads, a longtime Project Veritas operative.
O’Keefe posted a video statement on Friday saying Project Veritas regularly verifies the “authenticity,” “legality,” and “newsworthiness” of any source material it receives.
“It appears the Southern District of New York now has journalists in their sights for the supposed crime of doing their jobs lawfully and honestly,” O’Keefe said in the video statement. “Our efforts were the stuff of responsible, ethical journalism and we are in no doubt that Project Veritas acted properly at each and every step.”
Project Veritas has not yet responded to Insider’s request for comment on the investigation.
“Tipsters,” who stayed in the same room Biden’s daughter had been in, got ahold of the diary and alerted Project Veritas, according to O’Keefe. But the group was unable to vet the diary’s authenticity, O’Keefe continued, so Project Veritas chose not publish it and gave it to “law enforcement” in an attempt to return the diary to Ms. Biden’s lawyers.
Dozens of the diary’s pages were published on right-wing websites in 2020 ahead of the presidential election, while then-President Donald Trump sought to damage Biden’s credibility by criticizing his son Hunter’s business dealings.
O’Keefe, who once described himself as a “muckraker,” also stated in his response that he believes the investigation, conducted by the Justice Department under President Biden, is politically motivated.
Project Veritas is best known for its efforts to dig up dirt on left-leaning individuals and organizations, including conducting deceptive sting operations on potential targets. The organization has previously targeted Planned Parenthood, a Democratic senator, a former general, a voting rights group, CNN, and The Washington Post – attempting to bait them into admitting wrongdoings. Earlier this year, Project Veritas itself fell victim to deception from a group of hackers, getting scammed out of $165,000.
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