Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
What exactly did Ashley Biden say about the diary allegations during her public statements?
Executive summary
Available reporting shows Ashley Biden acknowledged in a 2024 court letter that a stolen diary was hers and said its contents — which have circulated online — were private and have been distorted, but she did not give a public, verbatim recitation of every diary passage; fact-checkers and outlets note both the diary’s theft and that some entries describing “showers with dad” and fears of molestation were published or discussed [1] [2] [3]. Coverage describes legal findings about the theft and confirms the diary’s existence while also noting disputes over how its contents have been used and reported [3] [4].
1. What Ashley Biden publicly said: she confirmed the diary belonged to her and complained about distortion
In an April 2024 letter to a New York judge cited by multiple fact-checkers and outlets, Ashley Biden acknowledged the journal was hers and wrote that she was “deeply saddened” its private writing was stolen and could be viewed online; she also said passages from it had been “constantly distorted and manipulated” as part of her plea for accountability for those who stole and sold it [1] [2] [5]. Reports and fact checks treat that court filing as the principal public statement from Ashley establishing ownership and expressing harm from publication [1] [2].
2. What the published pages say, as reported by media: references to showers and fears of molestation
News articles and some outlets reproducing leaked pages have described diary passages in which Ashley Biden wrote about “showering with her father” at a young age and described it as “probably not appropriate,” and about fears that she “might have been molested,” although reporting emphasizes these are diary entries rather than sworn testimony [6] [7] [2]. Fact-checkers note that the diary’s leaked pages include such language, and mainstream outlets that covered the legal case summarized those claims while also stressing the provenance and privacy concerns [4] [3].
3. Independent verification, prosecution, and fact‑checking: diary exists; contents disputed in their use
Federal court records and guilty pleas against people who stole and sold the diary establish that items belonging to Ashley Biden were taken and sold to Project Veritas or intermediaries; Reuters reports two people pleaded guilty in that scheme and Project Veritas paid for the material, though it did not publish all of it [3]. Snopes and other fact-checkers updated prior ratings after Ashley Biden’s letter, concluding there is strong evidence the diary existed and that she acknowledged it, while continuing to treat the interpretation and selective publication of pages as a separate issue [1] [2].
4. How different outlets have framed Ashley’s statements — competing narratives
Conservative outlets and commentators have emphasized the diary passages about showers and possible molestation to advance political critiques of Joe Biden, presenting the diary as a corroborated personal account [6] [7]. Mainstream fact-checkers and some news outlets stress the distinction between private journal entries and corroborated allegations, and they foreground the criminality of the theft and the concern about private material being weaponized [1] [4]. Reporting therefore splits between treating the diary as an authentic but private document whose excerpts raise questions, and treating its use in political debate as ethically and legally problematic [2] [3].
5. What Ashley did not publicly do, according to available reporting
Available sources do not show Ashley Biden making a public sworn statement or press conference repeating every diary assertion or turning the journal entries into formal allegations against a named individual in court; rather, her public, cited statement in reporting was the letter acknowledging ownership and complaining about distortion and theft [1] [2]. If you are looking for a transcript where she publicly narrates the diary passages as allegations, that is not found in the current reporting [1].
6. Why this matters: privacy, provenance, and political use
The reporting emphasizes three intertwined issues: the criminal theft and sale of private property (two people pleaded guilty) [3]; the fact that Ashley Biden acknowledged the diary’s existence and objected to its public dissemination [1]; and the reality that leaked excerpts have been used in partisan contexts, with divergent interpretations across outlets [4] [6]. Each of those facts is documented in the sources; whether diary passages constitute corroborated allegations beyond the private entries remains framed in the reporting as unresolved or context-dependent [2].
Limitations: this summary uses only the provided sources and does not assert facts those sources do not mention; where reporting documents contradictions in how the diary has been treated, this answer reflects those competing viewpoints [6] [1] [3].