Woman who stole Ashley Biden’s diary is sentenced to a month in prison
Washington PostAPR 2024
Project Veritas Considers Appeal in Ashley Biden Diary Case
Image copyright: Alex Wong/Getty Images News [via Getty Images]
The Spin
Narrative A
Putting potential political motivations for the administration’s actions aside, it appears this is a clear case of the government attempting to make irrelevant distinctions between who is and isn’t a legitimate journalist. Much of the world’s best journalism stems from stolen information, and if the government is allowed to violate the First Amendment in this case a lot of investigative journalism could be unconstitutionally criminalized.
Narrative B
This case has nothing to do with the First Amendment because Project Veritas isn’t in the business of journalism. As its recently resigned CEO — who had to take over when O’Keefe stepped down in the face of a criminal investigation — can attest, the organization is a mess that could face further inquiries over criminal activity. It’s not worth it for First Amendment groups to back Project Veritas or for the courts to protect the organization.