A judge has rejected Project Veritas’ First Amendment claim, and criminal prosecutors will soon be able to view over 900 documents related to the alleged theft a diary belonging President Joe Biden’s daughter.

Jeffrey Lichtman, an attorney for the nonprofit, said Monday that they are considering appealing U.S. district judge Analisa Turres’ ruling from last Thursday in Manhattan. The judge stated in her written decision that the documents could be handed over to investigators no later than January 5.

The documents were found during raids authorized in November 2021. Three members of Project Veritas were also arrested for possessing electronic devices, including mobile phones, at their homes.

Project Veritas was founded in 2010. It describes itself as a media organization. It is most well-known for its hidden camera stings, which have embarrassed media outlets, unions and Democratic politicians.

In written arguments, Project Veritas’ and O’Keefe’s lawyers said that the government’s probe “seems to be undertaken not to vindicate a real interest of justice but rather to stifle any press investigation into the President’s Family.”

They added that it was impossible to imagine a government investigation of an abandoned diary, or perhaps other items left behind along with it, if the diary had not been written by a person with the last names ‘Biden’.

The judge rejected Project Veritas’ First Amendment arguments in her ruling, saying that they were inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent. She also pointed out that Project Veritas couldn’t claim that it was protecting a confidential source by preventing public disclosure of their identity after two people publicly pleaded guilt in the case.

She was referring to the guilty pleas in August 2022 of Aimee Harriman and Robert Kurlander for conspiracy to commit interstate transport of stolen property. Both are awaiting sentencing.

The appeals were made two years after Harris, Kurlander, two Florida residents not employed by Project Veritas, discovered that Ashley Biden had kept items, including a diary, at a friend’s Delray Beach house, Florida.

Prosecutors say they said that initially, they hoped to sell stolen property to Donald Trump’s then-campaign, but were turned down by a representative who told them to give the material to FBI.

Prosecutors said that Project Veritas eventually paid each pair $20,000 to deliver to New York the diary with “highly private entries,” as well as a digital card containing family photos and tax documents. The two also delivered clothes, luggage, and a digital card storing personal family pictures.

Project Veritas has not been charged with a crime. The group claims that its activities are news gathering and ethical and legal.

Hannah Giles, the chief executive of Project Veritas quit her position two weeks ago. She wrote on social media that she “stepped into a mess unsalvageable — one with strong evidence of previous illegality and financial improprieties.”

In an email, Lichtman stated on behalf of Project Veritas, and the residents whose homes were raided, “As far as the ongoing investigation is concerned, the government has not sought any prison sentences for either defendant, who claims to be the one who stole the Ashley Biden journal, which in our opinion speaks volumes.”