Federal prosecutors under President Joe Biden coordinated with the New York Times to raid the home of a conservative journalist who was given the diary of Biden’s daughter Ashley that was unflattering to Joe Biden.
In response to a Freedom Of Information Act lawsuit, the non-profit public interest law firm Judicial Watch 11 pages of heavily redacted records from the U.S Department of Justice concerning communications of The New York Times to officials in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY.
The documents reveal the Times was tipped off about the November 6, 2021, FBI raids on the homes of Project Veritas founder/CEO James O’Keefe and then-Project Veritas journalists as part of the FBI’s efforts to determine who gave O’Keefe a diary belonging to President Joe Biden’s daughter Ashley.
O’Keefe did not publish materials from the diary, as he could not determine its authenticity. Passages unflattering to Joe Biden were later published by another website.
“The New York Times was obviously tipped off about the unprecedented raid on the home of James O’Keefe and other Project Veritas journalists. And these new Justice Department records raise more questions than answers about how that happened,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
The records reveal that, before, during, and after the raids on the homes of O’Keefe and then-Project Veritas reporters, the U.S. Attorneys’ Office for the Southern District of New York was in contact with New York Times reporters, including William “Willy” K. Rashbaum and Ben Protess.
In a statement, Judicial Watch summarized the content of the communications:
The records include a November 4, 2021, email chain labeled “Search in Mamaroneck re [redacted] diary?”, from James Margolin, former Chief Public Information Officer of SDNY to Nicholas Biase, former senior public affairs office for SDNY, and an individual whose name is redacted. Margolin states that “Willy” from the Times has information about the search warrants and investigation seemingly about Ashley Biden’s diary:
Willy Rashbaum from the Times just called and says they know or believe that a search warrant is being conducted in Mamaroneck this morning at a location that is either the residence of Eric Cochrane (sp?) — who may or may not be a whistle-blower — or a Project Veritas office. He believes this is in connection with a Florida investigation into whether Project Veritas stole, or purchased a stolen, diary belonging to [redacted].
Margolin later includes redacted details about “two searches” regarding the homes of James O’Keefe and then-Project Veritas journalist Spencer Meads.
Margolin later states: “Times now believes it’s not ‘a Florida investigation’ but an SDNY investigation, ‘and it involves more than just the diary’ (no elaboration on that).”
In a November 6, 2021, email with the subject line ““Re: O’Keefe (arrest?)” from Margolin to Biase and others, Margolin states, “The Times hears O’Keefe was arrested this morning.” The rest of the body of the email is redacted as “not part of the responsive record.”
In response Biase thanks Margolin and writes: “The Times has his neighbor on record (who they suspect may not be entirely truthful) saying that FBI were banging on O’Keefe’s door with guns (or at least one agent with a gun) drawn.”
On November 24, 2021, Margolin emails a redacted individual and Biase with the subject line “Veritas,” stating that “Willy” (William K. Rashbaum of Times) informed Margolin the Times was doing another story about Project Veritas, and “they’re pretty certain subpoenas went to [redacted].” Margolin explains that Willy asked him for “a wave-off if” the information was wrong, adding “I [Margolin] made no promises.”
Biase writes on November 30, 2021, in the heavily redacted email chain that Biase had spoken with NYTreporters “Willy” and Ben Protess, and “neither mentioned it. Maybe Jim?” The rest of the body of the email is redacted as “not part of the responsive record.”
The raid is seen by civil libertarians as an attempt by Biden to intimidate critics, at a time when a stunning Rasmussen Reports poll shows 53 percent of Americans believe “a group of politicized thugs at the top of the FBI who are using the FBI … as Joe Biden‘s personal Gestapo.”
That result is shocking in not just that the FBI was previously a widely-trusted institution, but that a majority of Americans are willing to compare it to Nazi Germany’s infamous secret police.
Anyone still thinks America lacks its own Gestapo?
I guess we can drop the I in F B I?
The House Judiciary and Oversight Committee should explore the possibility of FBI now not only being an investigative agency, but also one that fabricates and creates crimes so that it can claim that it caught the criminal and justify its existence.
All FBI personnel involved in such fabrication of crimes should be summarily sentenced to a minimum of the maximum sentence meted out to the non-FBI personnel entrapped.
The Committees also need to determine the knowledge of such fabricated crimes by DOJ personnel. They should be sentenced similar to FBI personnel.
pedo-dementia jo wanted to know how many times she wrote in her diary he showered with her.