The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has cautioned that the Department of Justice's raid on Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe’s home undermines freedom of the press in the United States under the Constitution.
In a statement, the ALCU warned that unless the government had strong enough belief that Project Veritas journalists had stolen Ashley Biden’s diary, the Justice Department did not have the proper jurisdiction to raid their homes and property, according to Fox News.
"Project Veritas has engaged in disgraceful deceptions, and reasonable observers might not consider their activities to be journalism at all," said the ACLU in a news release Sunday. "Nevertheless, the precedent set in this case could have serious consequences for press freedom."
The FBI raid last week was based around Project Veritas' arguments that it had legally obtained a stolen diary belonging to President Joe Biden’s daughter, which they did not grant to any media outlets and instead, turned it over to law enforcement last year, according to Breitbart News.
“This is just beyond belief,” said University of Minnesota law professor Jane Kirtley, a former executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, according to Politico. “I’m not a big fan of Project Veritas, but this is just over the top. I hope they get a serious reprimand from the court because I think this is just wrong.”
Project Veritas founder O’Keefe is known for his undercover video reports, which opposition has argued does not qualify as legitimate journalism. However, O’Keefe’s lawyer has issued his own statement regarding the FBI's actions, stating, “despite his evident political bent and his unorthodox — sometimes deceptive — tactics, he qualifies as a journalist under a federal statute and Justice Department regulations aimed at sharply restricting the use of search warrants and similar steps against members of the media," according to Politico.
