There is a curious story out this weekend on reported FBI raids of writers or associates of Project Veritas, the conservative investigative journalism outfit. Project Veritas has been described variously as “Gonzo” or “guerilla” journalism and some insist it is more of a political than a press organization. However, it fits the definition of journalism, in my view, and that makes the raids troubling. All the more troubling is the cause: the missing diary of President Biden’s daughter Ashley. [Update: The FBI reportedly also raided O’Keefe’s home]
The New York Times reported that the FBI searched two locations in New York in search of the “stolen” diary that went missing days before the 2020 presidential election. Project founder James O’Keefe questioned how the Times received the story within an hour of the first raid.
O’Keefe says that the organization actually received a tip that the diary was abandoned in a room, an allegation that harkened back to the abandoned laptop of Hunter Biden. However, Ashley reportedly insisted it was stolen.
The use of the FBI is also reminiscent of the still unexplained use of the FBI when Joe Biden was Vice President to search for a gun owned by Hunter Biden that was discarded behind a restaurant.
Project Veritas decided not to run the story because it could not verify that the diary belonged to Biden. (The FBI may have just offered that confirmation). Instead, it alerted the police, according to O’Keefe: “Project Veritas gave the diary to law enforcement to ensure it could be returned to its rightful owner. We never published it.”
So why the raids? Since when does the FBI conducted raids over missing diaries?
The FBI can cite the interstate elements of the alleged theft as raising a federal crime. However, what is the crime? It is not clear if they are suggesting that the responsible parties were seeking to sell the diary or that there was some national security element (which would be bizarre since Biden’s daughter was writing before her father ever became president).
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?
There are a host of unanswered questions. Here are five to start with:
- What was the context for the diary’s loss? (Did Ashley Biden leave the diary in a room or was it stolen?)
- What is the alleged federal crime (and what is the precedent for a major federal investigation over such an alleged theft)?
- What precautions were taken by the Biden Administration in light of the claimed media status of the targeted individuals?
- Why was there a delay in this action being taken if the alleged theft occurred a year ago?
- Has this matter been under investigation for a year and did the White House request the intervention of the FBI?
Regardless of how one feels about Project Veritas, there should be calls from media outlets for some answers to these basic questions. Likewise, Congress should be seeking such answers as part of its oversight responsibilities.
What are the rioters angry about?
For violating a fellow rioter’s right to riot?
How can a rioter be considered the victim?
That’s nuts.
The property owners are the true victims.
Power to the people? No, thank you, not if the people are such idiots as these.
We need a benevolent dictator who can stuff this insanity back into
the Pandora’s box that is was released from.
If someone in a ghetto or trailer park had their diary stolen, would the DOJ or FBI give a damn?
Most likely not.
But when it’s the president’s daughter’s diary, suddenly they give a damn.
It smells like abuse of power.
Why does everyone on the Internet fancy themselves to be the members of a censorship bureau,
deciding what is and is not appropriate? Let me remind the Internet of “nulla poena sine lege”, a Latin phrase that means “no penalty without law.”
This legal concept forbids the penalization of actions that are not governed by a statute or law.
But people get punished all of the time for saying things that are not a crime to say.
The masses don’t have a strong grasp of the finer points of law.
They expect to see you punished for saying things that they don’t like, as a dictator would.
Ironically, many of them are “journalists” who wouldn’t want to be punished for what they broadcast.
Texas church “under fire” now for exercising their constitutional rights of free expression?
Was a crime committed?
Has everyone gone mad?
Has everyone forgotten what country they live in?
If you lose something, then the finder of that something can do whatever they want with it.
Whatever happened to “finders keepers, losers weepers”?
Now it’s “losers weep to he FBI to get back what they lost”?
Talk about privilege…
This is a gross abuse of power.
Where is Bob Woodward?
That man was all about investigating abuses of power by the government.
But only when it”s a Republican
Abuses of power by a Democrat president are A-OK with Bob Woodward.
That man has no integrity.
CNN, MSNBC…they are like aging hippies holding court at McDonald’s, talking like they know what they are talking about. The bandwidth should be reserved for people who are right. What a waste.
TV stations can have their licenses revoked if they are not fulfilling a public service.
Is it a public service when you send your kids to a school where the mathematicians believe that 2+2 = 5?
No.
So how it is a public service when the demons at CNN and MSNBC can pollute the airwaves with their vile nonsense?
You unchain a demon, and he use the opportunity to spew the nonsense that he spews on CNN and MSNBC? He never had that chance before, so he milks it for all its worth. It shows the demon’s true colors.
This seems worse than Watergate.
This would be like Nixon arresting Bob Woodward.
Why doesn’t Bob Woodward investigate what the Biden administration has done to Project Veritas?