ACLU Defends Project Veritas After the FBI Raids the Home of Journalist James O’Keefe

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is sounding the alarm about federal overreach after the FBI raided the home of Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe and two of his former employees earlier this month.

The feds trumped up charges that O’Keefe and Veritas had stolen the diary of Ashley Biden in order to justify the raid. O’Keefe has pioneered a hidden camera journalism operation that has uncovered a vast amount of government and corporate corruption. The raid was clearly designed to have a chilling effect on their work and all journalism in general.

“Project Veritas has engaged in disgraceful deceptions, and reasonable observers might not consider their activities to be journalism at all,” said Brian Hauss, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project.

“Nevertheless, the precedent set in this case could have serious consequences for press freedom. Unless the government had good reason to believe that Project Veritas employees were directly involved in the criminal theft of the diary, it should not have subjected them to invasive searches and seizures,” Hauss continued.

“We urge the court to appoint a special master to ensure that law enforcement officers review only those materials that were lawfully seized and that are directly relevant to a legitimate criminal investigation,” he added.

It is feared that O’Keefe could get the same brutal treatment that is being endured by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for reporting about corruption.

Liberty Conservative News has reported on the cruel conditions imposed on Assange as he awaits extradition to the U.S. where he has been charged with 17 felony counts, most of which are under the Espionage Act:

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has paid a great cost for revealing truth to the world, and his father fears that it may end up costing him his life.

John Shipton told reporters in Geneva on Friday that he believes his son may ultimately perish behind bars. He came to this conclusion after seeing Assange in a disheveled state during a recent visit to the Belmarsh prison in London where he is being held.

“Julian may die in jail over a nine-year persecution for revealing the truth of war crimes,” Shipton said. “It is beyond obscene.”

“This is not the bitter disappointment of a father, this is simply fact,” he added.

International authorities are also severely concerned about Assange, whose health has taken a turn for the worse since he was hauled out of the Ecuadorean embassy in Britain.

“Unless the UK urgently changes course and alleviates his inhumane situation, Mr. Assange’s continued exposure to arbitrariness and abuse may soon end up costing his life,” said Nils Melzer, the UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, in a statement.

The UK court recently rejected Assange’s appeal to delay his extradition hearing due to his mounting health problems.”

It is about time that the ACLU actually attempt to defend civil liberties. The tremendous injustice that O’Keefe has endured is heinously illegal and against the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.