(TheRedWire.com) – FBI agents raided Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe’s home in November. They seized his cell phone looking for information about an allegedly stolen diary belonging to President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden. O’Keefe said he obtained the journal legally but never published or revealed any of its contents and contacted law enforcement after it came into his possession. While portions of the diary were leaked, there’s no evidence it came from Project Veritas or O’Keefe.
On Wednesday, December 8, Federal Judge Analisa Torres ruled the Department of Justice (DOJ) must immediately stop extracting information from O’Keefe’s phone. O’Keefe’s lawyers argued that there is sensitive donor data and private attorney-client privileged content on the phone related to a separate case involving the DOJ.
A federal judge has appointed a special master to review information seized from Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe by the FBI "in light of the potential First Amendment. concerns."
She will decide which materials the government seized can be seen by investigators. pic.twitter.com/gUALsnhGkJ
— Brad Heath (@bradheath) December 8, 2021
Judge Torres agreed and appointed a retired federal judge named Barbara S. Jones to serve as a special master. The judge tasked Jones with going through the phone to ensure the DOJ does not have access to information it’s not legally allowed to see. The judge also laid out a process to ensure the team reviewing the phone is separate from those investigating O’Keefe.
Recently, several media outlets and the American Civil Liberties Union labeled the raid an assault on freedom of the press.
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