U.S. social worker and daughter of U.S. President Ashley Biden speaks on stage during the Human Rights Campaign’s 2024 Los Angeles Dinner at Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, March 23, 2024.
Michael Tran | AFP | Getty Images
Ashley Biden, President Joe Biden’s daughter, wrote a judge that she would not attend the sentencing of the woman who stole her diary earlier this month because “it would only increase my pain.”
The highly emotional letter was unsealed by U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain, more than three weeks after the judge sentenced Aimee Harris to one month in federal prison and three months of house arrest.
“My goal in asking for a prison sentence is to ensure that no other woman is ever bullied and shamed in this way again,” Ashley Biden wrote. “The despair I have often felt will never truly go away. But I ask your honor to hold Ms. Harris accountable so she thinks twice before doing it to someone else.”
She also asked Swain to sentence the Florida resident to prison followed by a lengthy probation period, according to the letter, which was unsealed Thursday in federal court in Manhattan.
The letter was unsealed at the request of the New York Times, whose lawyer David McCaw noted to Swain that Ashley Biden and prosecutors had no objection to its publication, while Harris had no comment on the request.
Harris, 41, was also sentenced to three years probation and forfeited the $20,000 she received for selling the stolen diary.
Harris pleaded guilty in August 2022 to conspiring two years earlier with 61-year-old Robert Kurlander to steal Biden’s diary and other items from the Florida home where Biden had previously lived and transporting them across state lines, to sell them to the right-wing group Project Veritas.
Project Veritas did not publish the diary, but another right-wing media outlet did, shortly before the 2020 presidential election, which Joe Biden won.
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US President Joe Biden and his daughter Ashley Biden attend a Juneteenth concert at the White House in Washington, USA on June 13, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Harris was motivated to steal the diary to politically harm Joe Biden, a prosecutor said at her sentencing.
Kurlander, who also pleaded guilty in the case, is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 25.
A lawyer for Biden was present at Harris’ sentencing on April 9. The lawyer had said they would not add to Biden’s statements in their letter to Sweeney.
“I am deeply saddened that I even have to write this letter because my personal private diary was stolen and sold for profit,” Biden wrote in that April 8 letter.
“I assume the purpose of the theft was to be able to spread grotesque lies by distorting my stream of consciousness,” Biden wrote. “The reason I have decided not to attend tomorrow’s sentencing in person is because it would only increase my pain. However, I write to ask Your Honor to sentence the defendant to prison.”
Biden said Harris’ theft of her diary and other items “represents one of the most despicable forms of bullying, not to mention a complete violation of my privacy and personal dignity.”
“After being a victim of a crime in my early twenties, I developed post-traumatic stress disorder,” Biden wrote, without elaborating on the nature of that crime.
“The stolen diary was part of my healing efforts. I am a private citizen who is only being targeted because my father happens to be running for president. In other words, the extensive work I have done to overcome my trauma has been undone by Ms. Harris’s actions.”
US President Joe Biden and his daughter Ashley Biden attend a Juneteenth concert at the White House in Washington, USA on June 13, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Biden also wrote, “The defendant’s actions have created a constant environment of fear, anxiety, and intimidation in which my innermost thoughts are constantly distorted and manipulated.”
She also wrote that despite the theft more than three years ago, when Joe Biden was running for president, “I continue to be traumatized by him because of the publicity he attracted – just as Ms. Harris intended.”
“I will forever have to deal with the fact that my personal diary can be viewed online,” Biden wrote. “I continue to hear others grossly misinterpret my once-private writings and make false accusations that defame my character and that of the people I love.”
“Her actions were not only re-traumatizing to me, but represented terrible trauma in and of themselves. This ongoing harm is a direct result of Ms. Harris’ intentional actions,” the letter said.
When she called on Sweeney to sentence Harris to prison and a lengthy period of probation, Ashley wrote, “She should be held accountable for what she did.”
“Not only has she demonstrated a complete lack of morality, but she also lacks any respect for the rule of law,” Biden wrote. “I have spent much of my life advocating for those who cannot find their voice. I am fortunate to have found my voice and I use it today – and every day – to ensure bullies are held accountable.”
“Finally, I worry that a non-custodial sentence will send the message to her and others like her that it is okay to hurt and exploit others for personal gain, regardless of the humiliation and pain it causes,” said Biden wrote. “Please send a message that this type of harmful criminal activity will not be tolerated.”
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2024-04-26 16:46:52
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