US woman sentenced for stealing Ashley Biden's diary

A woman who stole a diary belonging to Joe Biden's daughter and sold it to a conservative organisation has been sentenced to a month in prison.

Aimee Harris will also spend three months in home confinement after taking personal items belonging to Ashley Biden.

Harris, 41, pleaded guilty in 2022 to a charge of conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines.

She was sentenced in federal court in New York on Tuesday.

The Palm Beach, Florida resident said she received $20,000 (£15,800) from Project Veritas, a group that conducts hidden-camera stings targeting news outlets, government officials and politicians.

The court ordered her to forfeit the money.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain called Harris' actions "despicable and consequently very serious".

Ashley Biden stored a diary and other items at a house that she had stayed at in Delray Beach, Florida, in 2020.

The property's owner later allowed Harris to stay at the house. She found Ms Biden's items and, along with a co-defendant, Robert Kurlander, attempted to sell the diary to Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

When the Trump campaign didn't bite, the pair approached Project Veritas.

Kurlander has also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced at a later date.

As part of its investigation into the charges, FBI agents searched the homes of Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe and two employees. Mr O'Keefe and Project Veritas have not been charged in the case, and Mr O'Keefe later left the organisation.

Project Veritas did not publish the diaries, which allegedly detailed Ms Biden's recovery from substance addiction. A different right-wing outlet later published what it said were the diaries, with minor redactions.

Ben Wetmore, president of the Project Veritas board of directors, told the BBC that the organisation turned the diary over to authorities.

Mr Wetmore said that investigators seized devices, intercepted the company's communications and "forced Project Veritas to spend millions in court to defend ourselves and the First Amendment - despite no one from Project Veritas ever being charged with a crime".

After her guilty plea, Harris failed to appear at a number of sentencing hearings. She apologised to the court on Tuesday, saying that she was preoccupied with caring for her two children.

"I do not believe I am above the law," she said. "I'm a survivor of long-term domestic abuse and sexual trauma."

Harris also apologised to the president's daughter during the hearing.

In a sentencing memo, prosecutors said Harris was motivated by both money and politics, writing: "Stealing personal belongings of a candidate's family member, and selling them to an organisation to exploit them for political gain, was wrong and illegal no matter the political agenda."