Florida residents Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander on Thursday pleaded guilty to stealing President Biden's daughter's diary, among other possessions, and selling it to conservative group Project Veritas as the 2020 election wound to a close, Fox News reports.
The pair appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave in New York City to plead guilty to "conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property" involving theft of personal belongings of an immediate family member to an ex-government official and candidate for national office. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Both individuals also agreed to turn over the money they received from Project Veritas, per The Washington Post.
The president's daughter, Ashley Biden, had stored the items in question (including a "highly personal" diary, "tax records, a digital storage card containing private family photographs, and a cellphone, among other things") in a Florida home where Harris later took up temporary residence, Fox News summarizes, per court documents. Harris then reportedly stole the items and asked Kurlander to help her sell them.
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Kurlander's plea deal also includes cooperating with the Justice Department's investigation into how Project Veritas obtained the diary, notes The New York Times. The conservative group maintained in a statement that their "news gathering was ethical and legal."
"I know what I did was wrong and awful, and I apologize," Kurlander said in court. "I sincerely apologize for any actions and know what I did was illegal," Harris added.
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