Justice Department secretly obtained emails from three Project Veritas journalists

The U.S. Justice Department issued a secret warrant to Microsoft on March 5, 2021, to obtain emails and contacts of three Project Veritas journalists as part of its investigation of a diary stolen from President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden.

The names of the employees whose emails were targeted were redacted in the warrant, but in a later court filing, attorneys for Project Veritas identified them as journalists.

The warrant was one of five issued to the technology company for communications of eight journalists from Project Veritas, which is known for hidden-camera sting operations of liberal politicians and nonprofits. As a result of the warrants, the government collected nearly 200,000 emails and other files, attorneys for Project Veritas said in a court filing.

A U.S. District Court ordered that the March 5 warrant be sealed for one year.

In the other secret warrants, federal agents sought emails and contacts from Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe, Project Veritas journalists Eric Cochran and Spencer Meads, and two additional unidentified Project Veritas journalists.

Project Veritas, which identifies itself as a nonprofit investigative outlet, purchased the Biden diary in September 2020 from two people who later pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport stolen materials, a felony. Project Veritas never published the diary and gave it to police on Nov. 8, 2020.

The Department of Justice, however, opened an investigation into the outlet and its journalists concerning alleged conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines, conspiracy to possess stolen goods, interstate transportation of stolen property and possession of stolen goods.

The secret warrant sought the journalists’ emails, contacts and Microsoft subscriber information from Sept. 1 to Dec. 1, 2020. Prosecutors said in the warrant that they were looking for information mentioning Ashley Biden, her associates or her father; anything regarding her stolen property and where it was located; their alleged co-conspirators; plans to sell the stolen items and the value of them; surveillance of Ashley Biden; and any other evidence of a conspiracy.

After the warrants became public, Project Veritas’ lawyers requested preliminary relief from U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres. It does not appear from court records that the court ruled on this request.

The various orders and subpoenas also sought emails and contacts from a human resources manager.

Separately, search warrants were carried out at the homes of O’Keefe, Cochran and Meads in November 2021, alarming free speech advocates, including Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project. A special master was appointed to determine what seized information could be shared with prosecutors.

Editor’s Note: This report has been corrected to reflect that the March 5 warrant was sealed for one year, not two as previously reported.