Ashley Biden detailed ‘pain’ from diary theft, urged prison for thief in letter to judge

Ashley
Biden,
the
daughter
of
President

Joe
Biden,
wrote
a
judge
to
say
she
would
not
attend
the
criminal
sentencing
earlier
this
month
of
the
woman
who
stole
her
diary
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
jail
and
three
months
of
home
detention.

“My
goal
in
asking
Your
Honor
to
impose
a
term
of
incarceration
is
to
ensure
that
another
woman
isn’t
bullied
and
shamed
like
this
ever
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
that
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
unsealed
Thursday
in
Manhattan
federal
court.

The
letter
was
unsealed
at
the
request
of
The
New
York
Times,
whose
lawyer
David
McCaw
noted
to
Swain
that
Ashley
Biden
and
prosecutors
did
not
object
to
it
being
made
public,
while
Harris
took
no
position
on
the
request.

Harris,
41,
also
was
ordered
to
serve
three
years
of
probation
and
to
forfeit
the
$20,000
she
received
for
selling
the
stolen
diary.

Harris
pleaded
guilty
in
August
2022
to
conspiring
two
years
earlier
with
Robert
Kurlander,
61,
to
steal
Biden’s
diary
and
other
items
from
the
Florida
home
where
Biden
had
previously
lived,
and
to
transport
them
over
state
lines
for
sale
to
the
right-wing
group
Project
Veritas.

Project
Veritas
did
not
publish
the
diary,
but
another
right-wing
outlet
did,
shortly
before
the
2020
presidential
election,
which
Joe
Biden
won.

Harris
was
motivated
to
steal
the
diary
to
harm
Joe
Biden
politically,
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
attended
Harris’
sentencing
on
April
9.
The
lawyer
had
said
they
would
not
add
to
what
Biden
said
in
her
letter
to
Sweeney.

“I
am
deeply
saddened
that
I
even
have
to
write
this
letter
because
my
personal
private
journal
was
stolen
and
sold
for
profit,”
Biden
wrote
in
that
April
8
letter.

“The
point
of
the
theft,
I
assume,
was
to
be
able
to
peddle
grotesque
lies
by
distorting
my
stream-of-consciousness
thoughts,”
Biden
wrote. “The
reason
I
have
decided
to
not
attend
tomorrow’s
sentencing
in
person
is
because
it
would
only
increase
my
pain.
Nonetheless,
I
write
to
ask
Your
Honor
to
sentence
the
defendant
to
time
in
prison.”

Biden
said
that
Harris’
theft
of
her
diary
and
other
items “constitute
one
of
the
most
heinous
forms
of
bullying,
not
to
mention
a
complete
violation
of
my
privacy
and
personal
dignity.”

“After
being
the
victim
of
a
crime
in
my
early
twenties,
I
developed
PTSD,”
Biden
wrote,
without
detailing
the
nature
of
that
crime.

“The
journal
that
was
stolen
was
part
of
my
efforts
to
heal.
I
am
a
private
citizen,
targeted
only
because
my
father
happened
to
be
running
to
be
President.
In
other
words,
the
extensive
work
I
have
done
to
move
past
my
trauma
was
undone
by
Ms.
Harris’s
actions.”

Biden
also
wrote, “The
defendant’s
actions
have
created
a
constant
environment
of
anxiety,
fear,
and
intimidation
in
which
my
innermost
thoughts
are
constantly
distorted
and
manipulated.”

She
also
wrote
that
despite
the
theft
happening
more
than
three
years
ago,
while
Joe
Biden
was
running
for
president, “because
of
the
publicity
it
drew
—
exactly
as
Ms.
Harris
intended
—
I
am
constantly
re-traumatized
by
it.”

“I
will
forever
have
to
deal
with
the
fact
that
my
personal
journal
can
be
viewed
online,”
Biden
wrote. “Repeatedly,
I
hear
others
grossly
misinterpret
my
once-private
writings
and
lob
false
accusations
that
defame
my
character
and
those
of
the
people
I
love.”

“Her
actions
were
not
only
re-traumatizing
to
me,
but
constituted
a
horrific
trauma
in
and
of
themselves.
This
ongoing
harm
is
a
direct
result
of
Ms.
Harris’s
intentional
actions,”
the
letter
said.

In
asking
Sweeney
to
sentence
Harris
to
prison
and
a
long
period
of
probation,
Ashley
wrote: “She
should
be
held
accountable
for
what
she
has
done.”

“Not
only
did
she
demonstrate
a
complete
lack
of
morality,
but
she
lacks
any
respect
for
the
rule
of
law
as
well,”
Biden
wrote. “I
have
spent
much
of
my
life
trying
to
speak
up
for
those
who
cannot
find
their
voices.
I
am
fortunate
enough
to
have
found
mine,
and
I
use
it
today
—
and
every
day
—
to
make
sure
that
bullies
are
held
accountable.”

“Finally,
I
worry
that
a
non-incarceratory
sentence
will
send
a
message
—
to
her
and
to
others
like
her
—
that
it
is
okay
to
violate
and
exploit
others
for
your
own
personal
gain,
regardless
of
the
humiliation
and
pain
it
causes,”
Biden
wrote. “Please
send
a
message
that
these
types
of
damaging
criminal
actions
will
not
be
tolerated.”