A Politico report said on Saturday that the recent Justice Department searches of the residence of Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe and those of his associates raised questions about the Biden administration’s commitment to the government. first amendment.

Josh Gerstein, senior legal reporter for Politico, wrote a report explaining details of the FBI raids on the alleged theft of Ashley Biden’s diary. He also noted the objections of the First Amendment pundits who sound the alarm bells regardless of their opinions on the Veritas project.

Biden’s daughter’s alleged diary ended up in the hands of Project Veritas last fall, though the organization decided not to publish it and turned it over to law enforcement.

JAMES O’KEEFE OF THE VERITAS PROJECT SPEAKS OUT AFTER FBI AFTER HOME TRACK: “THIS IS AN ATTACK ON THE FIRST AMENDMENT”

Politico quoted University of Minnesota law professor Jane Kirtley, former executive director of the Journalists’ Committee for Press Freedom, who described the raids as “just beyond belief.”

“I’m not a big fan of Project Veritas, but it’s just above. I hope they get a serious reprimand from the court because I think that’s just plain wrong,” he said. Kirtley said.

Conservative political activist James O’Keefe speaks at the Annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., March 1, 2019 (MANDEL NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)

Politico also noted that Trevor Timm of the Freedom of the Press Foundation tweeted against the raids, writing, “Personally, I don’t like Project Veritas at all, but imagine it was a liberal organization under Trump. It’s not a good precedent.”

District Court Judge Analisa Torres for the Southern District of New York on Thursday ordered the DOJ to stop extracting information from O’Keefe’s phones, which were confiscated by the FBI. The judge also acceded to the request of O’Keefe’s legal team for an independent “special master” to be appointed to oversee the examination of his devices.

President Joe Biden embraces family First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, son Hunter Biden and daughter Ashley after being sworn in during his inauguration on the Western Front at the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Drew Angerer / Getty Images)

“We are delighted that the Department of Justice has been ordered to stop extracting and examining confidential and privileged information obtained during their raids on our journalists, including legal communications, donors and sources. confidential, “O’Keefe’s attorney Harmeet Dhillon told Fox News. “The First Amendment won a temporary victory today, but Project Veritas still has a long way to go to hold the DOJ and the FBI accountable for their actions.”

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Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity about last week’s raid, O’Keefe said, “I’ve heard that ‘process is punishment.’ I didn’t quite understand this that meant until this weekend. And Sean, I don’t wish that on any reporter. “

Joseph A. Wulfsohn of Fox News contributed to this report.