It sounds like a ScandalOr maybe it’s a nightmare. But it’s true—the diary of Ashley Biden, President Joe Biden’s daughter, was “passed around a Trump fundraiser in Florida at the home of a donor” ahead of the 2020 presidential election, The New York Times reported. Biden, 40, kept the journal during the time she was seeking treatment to overcome her addiction.
According to the TimesProject Veritas, a right-wing group, purchased Biden’s diary and paid $40,000. The federal criminal investigation into how the group obtained the diary is now underway. The group has denied that it violated the law. National File, a right-wing blog published the entries from the diary. The newspaper first reported the story. TimesThe criminal investigation is continuing in November 2021. However, new details are emerging every day.
If you have ever kept a journal or a diary, the idea that a private citizen could have your most personal thoughts taken and used to make a political statement touches a nerve. The details of the story are fascinating, but it’s difficult not to notice a pattern: the one of the women who shared the diary with the public. This is the story of a right-wing group that was founded by a man and worked to elect another man. He spent much of his time in Oval Office to strip women of their rights over their bodies. It’s also about the women who helped Trump win office.
It’s the story about a poor woman who wanted to sell her diary to fund a custody battle. A wealthy woman discovered the diary and connected it with donors at her Trump fundraiser. Project Veritas was tipped off by the daughter of a wealthy woman. When we talk about right-wing power, and those who want to deny women bodily autonomy we tend to focus only on straight white men. Sometimes we act as if women are not often complicit in political actions that harm other women. The Ashley Biden diary story is an example of how women can be handmaidens for Republican men. Sometimes feminists argue that any woman who has power is a good thing. These women’s stories are a perfect example of how simplistic and flawed that argument is.
How did Ashley Biden’s personal diary become a political tool, then? Let’s look at the details.
How did the diary slip through the cracks?
According to reports from the TimesAshley Biden was a Florida resident who had been staying at a friend’s house for several months during the pandemic. She left behind some personal items, including the diary, and planned to return for them in a few months.
In July 2020, a new tenant moved in to the house—Aimee Harris, a single mother of two. August saw the installation of the TimesHarris told Robert Kurlander, a friend, that she had found the diary. Harris, a Trump supporter, planned to sell it with Kurlander’s help. According to reports, she hoped to use the funds for legal fees to settle her custody dispute. Kurlander reached out Elizabeth Fago (owner of a group a nursing homes and a Trump donor), to discuss the matter. Harris and Kurlander were there for a Trump fundraiser in September, two months before the election. They brought their diary. Donald Trump Jr. was present at this fundraiser, though he was not there. Times reports that it is “unclear” who at the party saw the diary.
Source: Glamour