The Christmas Eve order for the New York Times to return confidential legal material from the conservative publication, Project Veritas, has led many to decry the imposition of a “prior restraint” on the media. I joined in expressing those concerns about courts preventing a news publication and then ordering the return of material sent by a source. That issue will be now be addressed in the courts. One question, however, remains: when will the FBI raid the home of New York Times publisher, A.G. Sulzberger?
That is what the Justice Department did when Project Veritas was given the diary of President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley – the subject of the New York Times story. They raided the home and seized the confidential communications of the founder of Project Veritas, James O’Keefe, as well as others associated with this publication.
Of course, Project Veritas is hardly popular with many in the media as an outfit known for ambush journalism. Yet, both publications were given stolen or abandoned confidential material. The difference in response appears based on source of the material and the political orientation of the publication. Ashley Biden’s diary was deemed a federal issue of such importance that the Administration conducted highly intrusive searches and seizures targeting a publisher. Conversely, the New York Times obtained core attorney-client material that was unlawfully taken from Project Veritas.
What is most striking is that the New York Times story is an attack on both core media and legal values. In his opinion, Judge Charles Wood describes how the New York Times was given the legal memos of PV counsel Benjamin Barr. The memos sound like typical legal analysis for a news organization in explaining the legal standards that would apply in possibly publishing material from the Ashley Biden diary.
I have worked both sides in media cases over three decades and I have written memos on the legal considerations for publication. Often these memos talk about how far a publication can go under existing law. That appears to be the tenor of the Barr memo. The New York Times clearly has a long line of such memos on the publication of classified or stolen material and would cry foul if those were stolen and published. The Times described the memos as providing “legal advice about how different PV operations could violate various laws, including the Espionage Act and Section 1001. The memos give guidance about how PV can remain in Mr. Barr’s view, on the right side of these laws.”
So the New York Times wants to publish the legal advice given to another publication on how to stay “on the right side” of federal laws. There is no concern how such reporting undermines the ability of reporters and lawyers to work in this field. In decades as a legal commentator, law professor, and lawyer in this area, I have never seen such an intrusion into this area of confidential communications of a news organization by another news organization.
Putting aside the horrendous judgment of the New York Times, the story returns us to the glaring contradiction with the Ashley Biden story. While one could debate the news value of the legal memos, the contents of the diary would be considered newsworthy under current torts standards governing civil liability. Like her brother Hunter, Ashley has struggled with addiction and the diary recounts that struggle of someone who would constitute a “public figure” under defamation law. While PV declined to publish the material, the content of the diary was published by conservative sites, which quoted from alleged passages where Ashley referred to “inappropriate” showers with her father. She also allegedly asked herself the question “Have I been abused?” and replied with “I think so.”
Of course, if the passages do not exist, it reveals a clear effort to falsely accuse the president, which is itself news. Indeed, one would expect a defamation lawsuit to be filed at this point. As with the Hunter laptop, Biden lawyers have refused to acknowledge the authenticity of such accounts or the diary itself.
Moreover, the New York Times itself acknowledged that Ashley Biden left her diary with some clothes in a house in Delray, Florida when she moved to Philadelphia. Conversely, the legal memos were marked confidential and, if opposing counsel were ever given such material in litigation, a court would order the return of the material.
According to the Times, on Oct. 16, 2020, Project Veritas wrote to then candidate Joe Biden and his campaign that it had obtained a diary Ms. Biden “abandoned” and wanted to question Mr. Biden on camera about its contents. The letter did not threaten publication of the diary (which PV had already declined) but added “should we not hear from you by Tuesday, October 20, 2020, we will have no choice but to act unilaterally and reserve the right to disclose that you refused our offer to provide answers to the questions raised by your daughter.”
That line was declared to be part of “extortionate effort to secure an interview” and one of his lawyers, Roberta Kaplan (who represented ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo), wrote “[t]his is insane; we should send to SDNY.” Shortly thereafter Ms. Biden’s lawyers alerted prosecutors at the United States Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, which dutifully turned this into a federal investigation.
But compare the line from the New York Times email on November 11, 2021, telling O’Keefe that it planned to publish the contents and asking for a response. Unlike PV, it expressly stated that it was going to publish the contents of the stolen confidential memos and gave PV a date to respond. According to the court, it then “without waiting until the stated time…the Times published on its website full copies of the privileged legal memoranda.”
That however was not viewed as “extortionate” and the unlawful removal of confidential material was not viewed as a basis for an investigation by the SDNY of a publication just six miles away in Manhattan.
The many questions in these cases should be answered by both the Justice Department and the media. For the FBI, the concern is whether it is now acting like a type of Praetorian Guard for the First Family. For the media, the concern is that some outlets are now acting like a type of state media for the Biden Administration.
In the end, I would oppose a raid on the Sulzberger home just as I opposed the raid on the O’Keefe home. However, Sulzberger really had no reason to worry even after the O’Keefe raid. That is precisely the problem.
“Ashley Biden’s Diary: Will The FBI Raid The New York Times?”
The title of this post made me think of The Berenstain Bears and The Spooky Old Tree.
Do they dare?
I wouldn’t be surprised, but I hope they don’t. Maybe the bear will actually get these guys. There has already been too much unreasonable search and seizure piling up.
“One question, however, remains: when will the FBI raid the home of New York Times publisher, A.G. Sulzberger?”
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The FBI invade the NYT? Sounds almost Biblical: “And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?” ~Matt12:26 KJV (is there any other really?)
SURELY YOU JEST FBI RAID THE NYTIMES??? That is a LAUGH. FBI use to be respected? Wonder where the NYTIMES got their info from? 2022 mid terms is the start of the clean up and there are going to be a number of House and possibly Senate investigations. The DEMS already know they are going to looooose power and watch the Rats in the agencies begin to run and jump ship. House Republicans have a list and they are checking it twice and talk of impeaching heads of Depts.
“Will The FBI Raid The New York Times?
Will the FBI ever be considered honest? Is most of the important team investigating Jan 6 the same as the team that dealt with Whitmer?
—
Whitmer kidnapping plot suspects seek dismissal of charges, say FBI invented conspiracy
“When the government was faced with evidence showing that the defendants had no interest in a kidnapping plot, it refused to accept failure,” defense attorneys wrote.
Ashley Biden’s diary should be used to conduct a criminal investigation into alleged abuse. If the statute of limitations has passed, then it is still in the public interest to know what happened.
Ashley Biden, stop protecting him. Children so often grow up into adults who protect their abusers, and who punish themselves as unworthy with drugs or other self destruction. Do not be embarrassed by what happened in your family. The embarrassment belongs at the feet of the perpetrator. Let an investigation happen unhindered.
Karen says:
“Let an investigation happen unhindered.”
Correct. Just like Congressional investigation into 1/6. Take Karen’s advice Trumpists, let an investigation happen unhindered. Don’t stymie it by calling it a “sham” as did Trump.
You’ll notice that Turley has said virtually nothing about the 1/6 investigation. He has taken Karen’s advice!
PV wasn’t extorting Joe Biden. It provided him the opportunity of commenting on the diary, and answering questions, prior to release. It also gave him an opportunity to denounce its authenticity, which he did not take.
The Biden children have a habit of abandoning damning incriminating evidence. Their drug use is sad, and likely affects their judgement. Hopefully, they will both achieve a lasting sobriety. The temptation, when faced with the damage their mistakes have made, will be to hide behind alcohol or drugs. Hopefully, they don’t take the easy way out, to escape in addiction, as that will only cause more pain.
The media is not only now acting like the State media for a Democrat president. The media has, in fact, been operating like an arm of the Democrat Party for many years now. Its goal is no longer honest journalism, but rather promoting Democrat candidates, politicians, and causes, while damaging Republican candidates, politicians, and causes. Most of the media desires to elect more Democrats, in which case its judgement cannot be based on unbiased journalism, but rather the judgement of an election advisor.
The media shapes public opinion. It doesn’t report news. You find the information the Leftists at Google want you to find. You read what the newspaper activist editors want you to read.
Karen says:
“The media is not only now acting like the State media for a Democrat president. The media has, in fact, been operating like an arm of the Democrat Party for many years now. Its goal is no longer honest journalism, but rather promoting Democrat candidates, politicians, and causes, while damaging Republican candidates, politicians, and causes.”
Your implication being that Fox News, Newsmax, or OAN are none of these things on behalf of Republicans?
The many questions in these cases should be answered by both the Justice Department and the media. For the FBI, the concern is whether it is now acting like a type of Praetorian Guard for the First Family. For the media, the concern is that some outlets are now acting like a type of state media for the Biden Administration.
Here in Richmond, VA, the police have no confidence in their Chief, citizens have no faith in their city leadership, and the local newspaper, Richmond Times Dispatch, makes no attempt to be unbiased; a recent editorial bashed Governor-elect Youngkin who has not even taken office, and lionized outgoing racist, disastrous Governor Ralph Northam. It is all an extension of the corrupt Democrats lust for power that Americans have witnessed since Trump’s Presidential Inauguration. Democrats have been condoning crime and lawlessness since the recklessness of BLM ANTIFA & Defund the Police narratives, while feigning outrage about “right wing” whatever groups, none of whom anyone has ever met face to face. Richmond has been led by Democrats for decades, a city that is 50% Black, who perpetually elect Democrats, who in turn throw money at Black welfare projects in the name of addressing “racism”, while seeing Black families deteriorate and Black on Black violent crime soar, e.g. public housing projects. We live less than a mile from one of those public housing projects, prompting my family, after seeing in 2020 Richmond set to fire by BLM ANTIFA, to buy me an AR15 to protect our home. Thank God for the 2nd Amendment.
Project Veritas/FBI raid is a symptom of a grave pathology in our Deep State-run Federal Govt, that Trump exposed, and their tentacles of strangulating people have metastasized throughout America. Hillary and the DNC did this to us
We will be lucky to see this country have a national election that anyone accepts as credible.
May God Bless the USA
‘Our children are dying’: Richmond on track to end year with a 17-year high in number of homicides
https://richmond.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/our-children-are-dying-richmond-on-track-to-end-year-with-a-17-year-high/article_fb568ec6-841e-58af-8f09-fc3a29512391.html
The Richmond Police Department’s staffing levels have dropped so low that most officers feel unsafe on the job, said Brendan Leavy, president of the Richmond Coalition of Police, a local police organization that represents about half of the city’s sworn officers.
On Dec. 16, RCOP called for Smith’s resignation and announced that a survey of its rank-and-file members revealed that they have “no confidence” in the chief’s leadership.
The two neighborhoods with the most homicides this year are Mosby Court and Whitcomb Court, with police recording six homicides in each of the public housing communities.
Back-and-forth violence between groups of people in Mosby and Creighton Court, another public housing neighborhood, has been especially persistent this year, according to Chief Smith.
Well said, Estovir.
Democratic Party policies have been failing poor, urban blacks since the mid-1960s. Moreover, they use the disparities arising because of the black poor as justification for reverse discrimination against whites and Asians in favour of Caribbean and Africa immigrants, who are generally very successful in the US, and upper middle class blacks. Their ties to teachers unions and the educational establishment have prevented improvements to public schooling in urban areas and have led to the rejection of policies promoting choice, such as increasing the number of charter schools and voucher programs. The defund the police movement is a death sentence for many urban blacks.
There is an opportunity here for the Republican Party, if they are creative enough to take it.
The communist (liberal, progressive, socialist, democrat, RINO) FBI would conduct a massive, nationwide, pre-dawn, swat team raid of the homes of each and every American Founder if this were 1789. The FBI would accuse them of being “insurrectionists,” “white supremacists,” threats to national security and adversaries of the centrally planned, means of production controlled, redistributionist, socially engineered, wholly unconstitutional, American welfare state “democracy,” wherein the dependent, parasitic “poor” and minorities hold dominion, the Constitution is voided and actual Americans are repressed.
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“You bring me the man, I’ll find you the crime.”
– Christopher “Lavrentiy Beria” Wray, Chief of U.S. Communist Secret Police
____________________________________________________________
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
– Declaration of Independence, 1776
OT
“MILES TO GO BEFORE HE SLEEPS”
The “Jan, 6” false flag campaign of the Obama Coup D’etat in America included covert officers and operatives, such as Ray “Red Hat” Epps and Tim “Baked Alaska” Gionet, whose names are added to the list of co-conspirators.
The continuing conspiracy against President Trump is so vast as to be virtually unintelligible and intractable.
Special Counsel John “Dudley-Will-He-Do-Right” Durham has miles to go before he sleeps, miles to go before he sleeps.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
The Obama Coup D’etat in America is the most egregious abuse of power and the most prodigious crime in American political history.
The co-conspirators are:
Kevin Clinesmith, Bill Taylor, Eric Ciaramella, Rosenstein, Mueller/Team, Andrew Weissmann,
James Comey, Christopher Wray, McCabe, Strozk, Page, Laycock, Kadzic,Sally Yates,
James Baker, Bruce Ohr, Nellie Ohr, Priestap, Kortan, Campbell, Sir Richard Dearlove,
Christopher Steele, Simpson, Joseph Mifsud, Alexander Downer, Stefan “The Walrus” Halper,
Azra Turk, Kerry, Hillary, Huma, Mills, Brennan, Gina Haspel, Clapper, Lerner, Farkas, Power,
Lynch, Rice, Jarrett, Holder, Brazile, Sessions (patsy), Nadler, Schiff, Pelosi, Obama,
Joe Biden, James E. Boasberg, Emmet Sullivan, Gen. Milley, George Soros, John McCain,
Marc Elias, Igor Danchenko, Fiona Hill, Charles H. Dolan, Jake Sullivan, Strobe Talbot,
Cody Shear, Victoria Newland, Ray “Red Hat” Epps, Tim “Baked Alaska” Gionet et al.
The FBI will not investigate the New York Times.
Yet virtual silence from the press with Hunter’s laptop, 26,000 emails from Hunter’s former partner Bevan Cooney (now in prison), Tony Bobulinski’s data from emails, testimony and texts, former Ukrainian officials, etc. News flash. There is corruption in D.C. Lots of it. Since when should we take what a politician says at face value?
The late author Frank Herbert (Dune) wrote years ago, “Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely. Absolute power attracts the corruptible.”
Most people could not give a care about the diary. I do not care. What is concerning is the newly weaponized government agencies and media. This should concern all civil libertarians no matter their political stance.
When an electorate becomes convinced that the legislature is entirely corrupt and ineffectual, it is inevitable that the structures will collapse upon it’s failed foundation.
If the Diary was that of Trump’s Daughter…..is there not a Leftwing Rag or Media Outlet that would not be exposing the contents everywhere possible?
Well….anything that could remotely be embarrassing to the Trump family anyway.
Exculpatory information would be withheld out of respect for the family of course.
If the FBI is so interested in the Biden Diary…why are they not as interested in Hunter’s Laptop?
Investigations are supposed to detail the facts surrounding a crime, event, or issue in an honest unbiased manner to include that which indicts and that which is of an exculpatory value.
So…what of these two FBI Investigations…..or have they been taken over by the Durham Investigation?
The trolls…they’re eating her! Then they’re gonna eat me! OH MY GOD!!!!
“I have never seen such an intrusion into this area of confidential communications of a news organization by another news organization.”
The left is authoritarian. Since when does the leftist press care about freedom of the press? They care only about their freedoms to do as they please and wish to abolish any press that disagrees.
Imagine a diary of Ivanka Trump containing the same allegations falling into the hands of a media company.
Would they decline to publish as PV did?
Would the FBI take similar actions?
If they did would the rest of the media explode in outrage?
Daniel, as we both recognize, the Rule of Law doesn’t exist on the left. They only think in totalitarian terms of the likes of Stalin, Hitler and Mao.
We take note of how the small bicoastal leftist regions provide a lot of political coverage for the CCP despite mass incarcerations of much of the Uyghur population, slave labor, totalitarian demand on all citizens, theft and mass spying on the US while building a military to threaten Southeast Asia and then the US.
It’s a two handed puppet show. The authoritarian Left is supported by a minor swath of the population, made to look larger than it is for the purpose of scaring the population into action. The next stage is the return to “law and order” and will favor the politics of the “right hand” and assure us a time in which we wish not to witness or experience.
Nobody is attacking the Biden’s. These posts are attacking federal agencies that have turned into Democrat political operatives. The DoJ and FBI are hopelessly corrupt. Everything they do is fouled by politics.
Sulzberger has air canisters full of Covid particles. He will be out of home for the raid. The canisters will discharge when the pigs hit the driveway. When the pigs come in they will get soaked.
So Sulzberger also works for Bill Gates/Dr Fauci’s NIH/CDC?
Regrettably, the Praetorian Guard theory seems to be on point!
JT’s continued focus on the Biden adult children is bad enough but his decision to include alleged quotes from the diary seems to be inappropriate and unnecessary to the discussion of the legal issues.
Why?
Is not this pertinent to the law? “While PV declined to publish the material, the content of the diary was published by conservative sites, which quoted from alleged passages where Ashley referred to “inappropriate” showers with her father. She also allegedly asked herself the question “Have I been abused?” and replied with “I think so.”
Further, he discusses extortion and how the NYT’s is treated then PV.
Why are these things not important to the legal discussion of the diary?
If JT ended the paragraph right after passages, he would have (1) respected Biden family privacy, (2) avoided the risk of using diary quotes that may not be true or have been properly verified, and (3) not have diminished his legal argument or discussion.
3 comments from anonymous, iowa2, and me followed here that appear to have been deleted. Why was this done as the comments seemed to me to be civil and appropriate?
Would be possible to get a mute button so that we can individually mute posts made by trolls? Thanks!
I just want the site to make everyone take a name and I don’t mean a name that will identify the commenting person. What I am saying is it is great that people can be anonymous, but we shouldn’t have 10 people that call themselves ANONYMOUS. With 10 people names Anonymous it makes it harder to ignore the one Anonymous that comments 100 times a day, hates the host, disagrees with everyone of the sites readers and never adds anything to the conversation.
I am 100% sure that the Anonymous I am talking about knows who he is and he will just go on being a contrarian who actually adds zero to the discussion.
PS. Just because Anonymous is a problem due to there being many different users named Anonymous, we can just thank our lucky stars that there is only one JeffSilberman and it is easy to ignore his moronic, obsessed comments.
When you deal with Jeffie, you deal with a personality that gets his joy from creating emotional utterances by making rash statements that even he may not believe. He’s an exhibitionist that places his ignorance on display. Treat him like you would a flasher. They are essentially the same.
He’s an exhibitionist that places his ignorance on display. Treat him like you would a flasher.
There are old men and then there are old men.
Hullbobby says:
“we can just thank our lucky stars that there is only one JeffSilberman and it is easy to ignore his moronic, obsessed comments.”
I don’t ignore you Bobby. Why don’t you contest what I write about Turley’s hypocrisy rather than call me a moron for pointing out that he is a hypocrite for NEVER criticizing his own employer for advocacy journalism?
You have already been called out on that topic and you shut the gates so you wouldn’t be embarrassed.
Both the Justice Department and the FBI are now partisan political organizations.
To both the detriment and the shame of the country.
We need to clean house and restore integrity in both organizations or conservatives will not be able to trust them – with a corresponding loss of strength in the country.
It isn’t just conservatives who have lost trust. Anyone with eyes to see now must have his doubts. There is now emerging a shared perspective among traditional liberals and conservatives.
I would believe and think John Durham report could lift the curtain on most of the occurences going back to Obma and Biden allegedly leading and alleged attempted coup against DT. But AG Garland will whitewash that away. Those records will evaporate just as other emails, etc have. Rule of law in USA Gone. Will Only chage those whom they choose to charge on the law as they choose. Otherwise, wink, blink, nod it away. Big Wind Is Coming Soon.
I’m not sure Durham will write a report. He may stick to the letter of the special counsel regulations and simply say that, with respect to anyone not indicted, there was insufficient evidence of a federal crime. Is he required to explain what he learned about those he is not indicting?
The problem is well stated, but the question remains — how to go about cleaning house?
Yawn. Another of Turley’s assignments: 1. Attack the Biden family, even without proof that there is a diary or that it belonged to Ashley Biden; also, get in a few licks at the FBI and DOJ (while, of course, ignoring and/or defending all of the abuses of both when the fat one was stinking up the Oval Office) and 2. attack mainstream (defined as non-Trump) media. All of which are, of course, deflections away from the Jan. 6 Commission’s work and Trump losing lawsuit after lawsuit trying to preven the Jan. 6 Commission from getting documents.
Natacha, Facts will pin Turley against the wall soon enough and at the rate Turley has been complicit with Trump’s defense, his name will soon join the names of Wood, Powell, Rudy G. It’s a shame but he has brought this on himself.
Yawn. And et another Natacha assignment. I hope they pay you well for this
+10