A female defendant deemed “despicable” by a judge for stealing Ashley Biden’s diary has been sentenced to one month in prison.
Aimee Harris was sentenced Tuesday by Judge Laura Taylor Swain in Manhattan to a month in prison and three months of home confinement for stealing the diary belonging to the president’s daughter while staying with her in September 2020 at her Delray Beach, Florida, residence in 2020. Harris is also being put on three years of probation, of which home detention is included.
In 2022, Harris pleaded guilty to stealing the journal, which was accompanied by tax records, a digital storage card containing private family photographs, a cellphone and other belongings. She conspired with Robert Kurlander to transport the items across state lines.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Human Rights Campaign
Prosecutors wanted stricter penalties for Harris, who was a no-show at numerous court appearances. The Department of Justice (DOJ) originally requested six months of home confinement before drastically upping that request to four to 10 months of prison time.
“The defendant’s sentence must also account for the manner in which she has abused the administration of justice throughout the pendency of this court proceeding,” said a letter filed by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “The defendant has repeatedly and consistently engaged in tactics to improperly delay this proceeding, including by misleading the Court with false information to justify belated and unmerited requests for adjournments, refusing to appear when directed, and failing to comply with court orders to disclose or produce certain information.”
Swain called Harris’ conduct “despicable” and “heinous,” in the courtroom, according to reporter Pete Brush. The judge also said she was willful in her actions.
Harris took “everything she could get her hands on” out of greed, prosecutors said on Tuesday, according to Brush. She also joked about it, they said, as a way to “damage Ms. Biden’s father.”
They also said that Harris’ repeated cat-and-dog game with prosecutors and pushing back court hearings was a sign of “contempt for the law” and “disrespect” for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and Florida courts.
“She misled the court over and over again,” they said.
Harris cited obligations to her children and family, and her apologies to Ashley Biden, as a plea towards leniency from the court. She also reportedly made note of how she’s been treated by the media, saying she understands what it’s like to be scrutinized in such a forum.
Harris must also pay back $20,000 after she and Kurlander each sold the journal for that amount to Project Veritas, which declined to publish it after being unable to verify its contents. Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe denied any wrongdoing at the time.
It’s the same journal that the DOJ said was offered to be purchased by Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, which refused.
There was controversy surrounding the diary, notably by conservatives and Trump supporters online, regarding whether the diary even belonged to the daughter of Joe and Jill Biden.
That was due to a lack of official confirmation the diary actually belonged to her.
Snopes, the fact-checking news site, reported in March 2023 that reporting and circumstantial evidence “strongly” suggest that the stolen diary belonged to Ashley Biden.
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