Fact-checking outlet Snopes changed its answer on whether Ashely Biden accused her father of inappropriate behavior from “unproven” to “true” after she authenticated the contents in a legal document.
Biden’s diary was stolen and sold to Project Veritas for $40,000 several weeks before the 2020 election. The president’s daughter detailed her suffering from being “hyper-sexualized” as a child, notably mentioning showers with her father at a young age that she deemed “probably not appropriate,” according to circulated photographs first published by the National File. (RELATED: Did Ashley Biden Shower With Her Father? Here’s The Evidence)
Snopes updated its “unproven” rating to “true” on April 29 after reviewing an April 8 letter from the president’s daughter to Chief U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who sentenced Aimee Harris for conspiring to transport and sell the diary. The outlet also updated the headline of the fact check Tuesday to “Did Ashley Biden Call Childhood Showers with Her Father ‘Probably Inappropriate’ in Leaked Diary?” from “Did Ashley Biden Accuse Joe Biden of Inappropriate Behavior in a ‘Leaked Diary’?”
“The wording of both the headline and the claim of this fact check have been revised for more specificity,” the outlet said in an editor’s note.
This quote—in broken English, no less—is not in Ashley Biden’s diary. Hoaxes like these have been floating around for months—they must stop. Her exact quote is attached.
We spent 2 months transcribing the diary: https://t.co/Boc2cWNyIx
The original: https://t.co/AWXD8X0aXV https://t.co/c7E8zvaT64 pic.twitter.com/cPaf2gcfZ3— Marco Polo (@MarcoPolo501c3) January 16, 2023
“I will forever have to deal with the fact that my personal journal can be viewed online,” Biden wrote in the letter. “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’ intentional actions.”
The fact check deemed this letter to be direct proof of the diary’s authenticity, leading to the change.
Audio of a phone call between Biden and Project Veritas circulated online in 2023, indicating that the diary belonged to the president’s daughter. Biden requested the diary be returned and admitted to the book belonging to her. (RELATED: Did Ashley Biden Shower With Her Father? Here’s The Evidence)
If You’re Not Caught Up On Ashley Biden’s Diary I Suggest You Watch This. Ashley Biden’s Diary Phone Call Never Before Released To The Public
“After years of public speculation and internal deliberation, we are finally releasing our conversation with Ashley Biden about her diary… pic.twitter.com/goUdV5I6Ps
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) September 4, 2023
Snopes said in March 2023 that the phone call was evidence that the diary belonged to her, though Project Veritas reportedly withheld the publication of the document, as its former founder James O’Keefe said they could not confirm that it belonged to the president’s daughter, according to the updated fact-check. (RELATED: Ashley Biden’s Diary Back In The News As DOJ Seeks Crack Down On Thief)
The photograph detailing the alleged father-daughter showers was later revealed to be transferred from Project Veritas to the National File in October 2020, according to The Intercept. The diary came into the possession of two people as they moved into an apartment previously occupied by Biden, according to The Associated Press.
Both Harris and Jonathan Kurlander pleaded guilty in August 2022 to conspiring to transport the diary across state lines and selling it. A New York federal judge sentenced Harris to one month in prison and three years’ probation.
James O’Keefe told Fox News in Nov. 2021 that he was “in a state of shock” after the FBI woke him up in a “pre-dawn raid.” He said that “ten FBI agents with a battering ram, [and] white blinding lights” came to his home despite Project Veritas never publicly releasing the diary’s contents due to authentication issues. (RELATED: Did Ashley Biden Shower With Her Father? Here’s The Evidence)
“Project Veritas gave the diary to law enforcement to ensure it could be returned to its rightful owner. We never published it,” O’Keefe said. “Now, Ms. Biden’s father’s Department of Justice, specifically the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, appears to be investigating the situation, claiming the diary was stolen. We don’t know if it was, but it begs the question: In what world is the alleged theft of a diary investigated by the President’s FBI and his Department of Justice? A diary?”
Update: The leading quote of the Caller’s headline, ‘Did Ashley Biden Accuse Joe Biden Of Inappropriate Behavior?’, has since been updated to reflect the changes to Snopes’ own headline.