American social worker and daughter of US President Ashley Biden speaks at the Human Rights Campaign 2024 Los Angeles Dinner at Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on March 23, 2024.
McCartland | AFP | Getty Images
Ashley Biden, the daughter of President Joe Biden, wrote to a judge saying she would not participate in the criminal sentencing of the woman who stole her diary earlier this month because “it would only add to my pain.”
The emotional letter comes more than three weeks after U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain sentenced Aimee Harris to one month in federal prison and three months of home detention. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain unsealed it.
“My goal in asking your honor for a prison sentence is to ensure that another woman is never bullied and humiliated like this again,” Ashley Biden wrote. “The hopelessness I feel on a regular basis never truly goes away. But I ask Your Honor, hold Ms. Harris accountable so that she thinks twice before doing this to anyone else.”
She also asked Swain to jail the Florida resident and put him on lengthy probation, according to the letter unsealed Thursday in Manhattan federal court.
The letter was unsealed at the request of The New York Times, and its lawyer David McCaw pointed out to Swain that Ashley Biden and prosecutors did not object to the release of the letter and that Harris did not respond to the request. Take a stand.
Harris, 41, was also ordered to serve three years of probation and forfeit $20,000 she received from selling the stolen diaries.
Harris pleaded guilty in August 2022 to conspiring with 61-year-old Robert Kurlander two years ago to steal Biden’s diaries and other belongings from his previous home in Florida and return them to Shipped across state lines to right-wing group Project Veritas.
Project Veritas did not publish the diary, but another right-wing outlet did so shortly before the 2020 presidential election, which Joe Biden won.
US President Joe Biden and his daughter Ashley Biden attend the Juneteenth Concert at the White House on June 13, 2023 in Washington, USA.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Prosecutors said at sentencing that Harris’ motive for stealing the diaries was to hurt Biden politically.
Kurland also pleaded guilty in the case and is expected to be sentenced on October 25.
A lawyer for Biden attended Harris’ sentencing on April 9.
“I am even compelled to write this letter because I am deeply saddened that my personal diary was stolen and sold for profit,” Biden wrote in the April 8 letter.
“I believe the purpose of the theft was to be able to peddle outlandish lies by twisting my stream of consciousness thoughts,” Biden wrote. “I have decided not to attend tomorrow’s sentencing in person as it would only add to my pain. Nonetheless, I still write to ask your honor to sentence the defendant to prison.”
Biden said Harris’ stealing of her diary and other items “constitutes one of the most egregious forms of bullying, not to mention a complete invasion of my privacy and personal dignity.”
“I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being the victim of a crime in my early twenties,” Biden wrote, without elaborating on the nature of the crime.
“The stolen diaries were part of my efforts to heal from my trauma. I was a private citizen who was targeted simply because my father happened to be running for president. In other words, a lot of the work I had done to move past my trauma was in vain.” Harris Lady behavior.
US President Joe Biden and his daughter Ashley Biden attend the Juneteenth Concert at the White House on June 13, 2023 in Washington, USA.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Biden also wrote, “The defendant’s actions created an environment of constant anxiety, fear, and intimidation in which my inner thoughts were continually distorted and manipulated.”
She also wrote that even though the theft occurred more than three years ago, when Joe Biden was running for president, “because it brought public attention — just as Ms. Harris hoped it would — I kept coming back to Be traumatized.
“I will always have to face the fact that my personal diary is available online,” Biden wrote. “I have repeatedly heard others grossly misinterpret my once private writings and make false accusations that defame me and the people I work for.” The character of the person you love.”
“Her actions not only re-traumatized me, but constituted horrific trauma in their own right. This ongoing harm is a direct result of Ms. Harris’ intentional actions,” the letter said.
In asking Sweeney to sentence Harris to prison and lengthy probation, Ashley wrote: “She should be held accountable for what she has done.”
“Not only has she shown a complete lack of morality, but she has also shown a complete lack of respect for the rule of law,” Biden wrote. “I have spent much of my life trying to be a voice for those who have no voice. I have been blessed to find my voice, and I use it today and every day to make sure bullies are held accountable.”
“Ultimately, I worry that a non-custodial sentence would send a message to her and others like her that it is okay to violate and exploit others for personal gain, regardless of the humiliation and pain it causes,” Biden said. wrote. “Please send the message that this type of destructive criminal behavior will not be tolerated.”
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