Hidden camera footage released Wednesday showed what appeared to be the FBI raiding a Project Veritas journalist’s home.
The FBI raided the homes of Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe and two other individuals in early November after reports alleged that the diary of President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley, was stolen. The organization acquired the diary in September 2020 and said it was given to them by a source and cooperated with law enforcement to return the materials.
Hidden cameras showed an alleged agent pounding on the door on the evening of Nov. 4, soon after searching all areas of the journalist’s home.
“Let me see your hands! Let me see your hands!” the individual demanded. (RELATED: Project Veritas Demands Congress Investigate DOJ Leaks To NYT)
“I understand here … for our safety and for yours, we’re going to have him sit with you,” the journalist was told. “You do not have to speak to him. You are not being detained.” Footage then showed an agent appearing to search the kitchen and digging into drawers.
“The government’s invasion of our First Amendment rights should send shivers down the spine of every journalist around the country,” O’Keefe said. “What you’ve just seen is an effort by the government to intimidate and silence us as journalists — but Project Veritas will never be silenced.”
O’Keefe cited condemnations of the raids by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and other advocacy groups, whom expressed concern that it violates freedom of press.
“Project Veritas has engaged in disgraceful deceptions, and reasonable observers might not consider their activities to be journalism at all,” ACLU senior staff attorney Brian Hauss said. “Nevertheless, the precedent set in this case could have serious consequences for press freedom. Unless the government had good reason to believe that Project Veritas employees were directly involved in the criminal theft of the diary, it should not have subjected them to invasive search and seizures.”
The CPJ said the raids set “a dangerous precedent” that could lead law enforcement to search journalists’ unpublished source materials.