NATIONAL NEWS

Ex-judge rejects free speech defense in Project Veritas case

Mar 21, 2023, 4:06 PM

NEW YORK (AP) — The First Amendment protection for journalists should not keep prosecutors from seeing most evidence gathered in a probe of people connected to conservative group Project Veritas, a former federal judge appointed to the case said in a report Tuesday.

Barbara Jones told U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres that she recommends letting prosecutors view most of the 1,000-plus documents gathered through search warrants for a probe into how the group received a diary purported to belong to President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden.

Neither Project Veritas nor any of its staffers have been charged with a crime. The group says its activities were newsgathering and were ethical and legal.

Jones, who formerly served as a federal judge in Manhattan, acknowledged that courts have long recognized a qualified evidentiary privilege for information gathered during a journalistic investigation.

But she wrote that the privilege is not absolute and that it offers the greatest protection when the information is gathered from confidential sources.

Jones said she rejected the argument that crimes described in a search warrant were not crimes because those under investigation were protected by the First Amendment and journalistic privilege. The warrant said possible crimes include conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines, interstate transportation of stolen property and possession of stolen goods.

She said previous court cases describing protections afforded to journalistic entities do “not suggest that people are free to commit unlawful acts simply because they are journalists.”

Jones also rejected an argument that the government had acted in bad faith. She said the materials were seized with judicially authorized warrants demonstrating that investigators had probable cause that crimes were committed.

The report from Jones comes more than six months after two Florida residents pleaded guilty to charges, admitting roles in trying to sell the diary and other items stolen from Joe Biden’s daughter to Project Veritas for $40,000.

In court papers, prosecutors have said that Ashley Biden was moving out of a friend’s Delray Beach, Florida, home in spring 2020 when she stored the diary and other belongings there.

A Project Veritas staffer soon flew to Florida and shipped the items to New York as the group paid the two Florida residents $20,000 apiece, prosecutors said.

Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe has said Project Veritas ultimately could not confirm that the diary belonged to Ashley Biden. The group did not publish information from it.

Last month, O’Keefe said in a speech posted online that he has been removed as the group’s leader.

Project Veritas identifies itself as a news organization. It is best known for conducting hidden camera stings that have embarrassed news outlets, labor organizations and Democratic politicians.

Lawyers in the case did not return messages seeking comment.

National News

Associated Press

Dashcam video shows deadly Texas school bus crash after cement truck veers into oncoming lane

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Dash camera video released Thursday by a Texas school district shows the moment a cement truck veered into oncoming traffic, hitting a school bus carrying more than 40 pre-K students returning from a zoo field trip. The deadly collision on March 22 sends the bus rolling over on a rural highway […]

23 minutes ago

Associated Press

Last coal-burning power plant in New England set to close in a win for environmentalists

BOSTON (AP) — The last coal-fired power plant in New England, which had been the focus of a lawsuit and protests, is set to close in a victory for environmentalists. Granite Shore Power said Wednesday it reached an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency to close the Merrimack Station in New Hampshire by June 2028. […]

3 hours ago

Associated Press

Universities of Wisconsin president proposes 3.75% tuition increase

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Tuition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other campuses in the system would increase 3.75% next school year under a recommendation announced Thursday by UW President Jay Rothman. The proposal is up for a vote of approval by the UW Board of Regents on April 4. If approved, it would be […]

4 hours ago

Associated Press

Maryland seeks $60M in federal help to start recovery plan for collapsed Baltimore bridge

BALTIMORE (AP) — Massive barges carrying cranes streamed toward Baltimore on Thursday to begin the challenging work of removing twisted metal and concrete in an attempt to open a key shipping route blocked by the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore promised that “the best minds in the world” were […]

4 hours ago

Associated Press

Russian veto brings end to UN panel monitoring enforcement of North Korea nuclear sanctions

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia vetoed a U.N. resolution Thursday in a move that effectively abolishes the monitoring by United Nations experts of U.N. sanctions against North Korea aimed at reining in its nuclear program, though the sanctions themselves remain in place. Russia’s vote sparked Western accusations that Moscow was acting to shield its weapons […]

5 hours ago

Associated Press

Suspect charged with murder, attempted murder in a series of stabbings in Rockford, Illinois

CHICAGO (AP) — A 22-year-old man has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder in a frenzied stabbing rampage that killed four people in a matter of minutes in a northern Illinois city, authorities said Thursday. Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley said during a news conference that Christian Soto will be in court […]

5 hours ago

Ex-judge rejects free speech defense in Project Veritas case