They used a code name LibertyU for their operative inside the organization, Marisa Jorge, who graduated from Liberty University in Virginia, one of the nations largest Christian colleges. GOLDMAN: I believe that O'Keefe has interacted with Trump. How Times reporters cover politics. DAVIES: But the idea was that these public officials or FBI agents were secretly - they were part of the deep state. You know, there seemed to be - what it showed was, you know, Prince is well-traveled and is always looking for business opportunities. But, you know, his sister is Betsy DeVos, and she was Secretary of Education during the Trump administration. DAVIES: You know, the other thing that I wanted to just clarify to the extent I can is how much of a driving force Erik Prince was in this. According to the documents, Mr. Seddons operatives also aimed to dig up information on Steve Harshman, the Republican speaker of the House in Wyoming at the time, who was also seen by some conservatives as not sufficiently supportive of Mr. Trump. Of course, everybody's familiar with Watergate, right? Erik Prince, founder and CEO of Blackwater Worldwide, in 2008. In 2017, he met with White House and Pentagon officials to pitch a plan to privatize the Afghan war using contractors in lieu of American troops. And this is FRESH AIR. And he ends up giving, you know, $6,000 to Wyoming Democratic Party and also money to other political figures. Prince is separately under investigation by the Justice Department on unrelated matters, according to people familiar with the case. The Trump Foundation gave $20,000 to Project Veritas in 2015, the year that Mr. Trump began his bid for the presidency. This item is available in full to subscribers. Prince might have approached for money for Mr. Seddons venture besides Ms. Gore. And the operatives had to give a - you know, had to give a cover story under duress. He's a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times. Erik Prince, founder of private security contractor Blackwater and brother of former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, recruited a former British spy in 2016 to professionalize the undercover. [I] was a Wyoming resident for many years, he told Brietbart. They targeted The Washington Post. DAVIES: And when we say they targeted these public officials or FBI agents, what would they do? If you already have a web account, but need to reset it, you can do so by clicking here. You know, Princes are pretty savvy. Both operations were run by Project Veritas, a conservative group that has gained attention using hidden cameras and microphones for sting operations on news organizations, Democratic politicians and liberal advocacy groups. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause. if (document.context) document.write ("&context=" + escape(document.context)); A document that month said that Mr. Seddons operatives had identified three potential sources in the new governors administration and have begun accelerated cultivations with a view to early recruitment., Later in January, the operatives wrote that they had successfully recruited another source with a role in the new governors administration, adding that the source has agreed to provide insights, help expose corruption and assist with eventual placement of undercovers.. By Derek Royden - July 2, 2021 2466 SOURCE NationofChange And I got swept away reporting on that and eventually was able to come back to it. DAVIES: What are Erik Prince's contacts or associations with Donald Trump and the Trump family? Reached by phone, Ms. Halverson said: Frankly, I have nothing to say on the subject. She then hung up. He is married to an American diplomat, Alice Seddon, who is serving in the American consulate in Lagos, Nigeria. The job put her in a position to gain valuable information about which Republican candidates the group was supporting with independent advertising. Mr. Seddon regularly updated Mr. OKeefe about the operation against the Michigan teachers union, according to internal Project Veritas emails, where the language of the groups leaders is marbled with spy jargon. It was Maria (ph). Emails sent to Mr. Seddon went unanswered. Prince and Mr. Seddon said the goal of the private spying operation was to gather dirt both on Democrats and RINOs slang in conservative circles for Republicans in name only. The plan was to begin in Wyoming, they said, and expand operations from there. One of the former spies, an ex-MI6 officer named Richard Seddon, helped run a 2017 operation to copy files and record conversations in a Michigan office of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest teachers unions in the nation. The New York Times published an article chronicling a Wapiti, Wyoming-based espianoge effort. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. And, I mean, they were both active, but she was literally, you know, infiltrating these Democratic groups. Wapiti resident Erik Prince is one of several people associated with a Wyoming-based effort to infiltrate political campaigns and get "dirt" to sabotage candidates. After Mr. Gordon won a close Republican primary battle against Mr. Friess, the billionaire, in August 2018, Mr. Friess blamed his loss on Democrats switching parties on Election Day to vote for Mr. Gordon. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The group has also become intertwined with the political activities of Mr. Trump and his family. But then they got reversed stung by the Post, which was quite a moment. if (document.mmm_fo) document.write ("&mmm_fo=1"); [I] was a Wyoming resident for many years,, That same day Oct. 9, 2017 Prince obtained a Wyomings drivers license, which he touted, In early 2017, Prince reportedly welcomed James OKeefe and others from the conservative group Project Veritas, which describes itself as an army of guerrilla journalists. That February, OKeefe tweeted an image of himself taking aim with a silenced handgun amid snowy mountains, saying the team was undergoing intense training from a classified location as we make Project Veritas the next great intelligence agency. The Intercept ultimately, Other outlets, however, have continued writing about the contractor. While he has not been actively involved in Wyoming politics specifically, Prince comes from a political family he is the brother of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and is an active political donor. Those contentions have become a key point of early proceedings in the case. document.write ("'><\/scr"+"ipt>"); Erik Prince, the founder of private military company Blackwater, whose sister Betsy DeVos was Trump's education secretary, trained the spies Their job was to find out who was disparaging Trump. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. document.write ("&loc=" + escape(window.location)); Richard Seddon, in 2018, I guess, decided to stop working with Project Veritas. [CDATA[ He's a reporter for The New York Times. '&charset='+document.charset : (document.characterSet ? I mean, we know that Erik Prince was trying to sell a plan to the Trump administration to put these - for him, in fact, to put a private, you know, army of a bunch of mercenaries in Afghanistan and sort of take over those responsibilities from the government, sort of, in some ways, replace the U.S. forces on the ground there. And his supporters have vilified us. The Powell Tribune has expanded its online content. DAVIES: But Sofia was just - she was active. The parties are currently awaiting a ruling from Judge Johnson, who could choose to allow the case to proceed in Wyoming; permit some more limited fact-gathering about the appropriate jurisdiction; transfer the case to New York; or throw it out entirely. He'll be back to talk more about his stories on undercover operations by conservatives to infiltrate democratic and progressive groups after this short break. contractor who is best known as the founder of the private military firm Blackwater and whose sister, Betsy DeVos, was Mr. Trump's education secretary has drawn. Erik Prince conducts business around the globe, but in a pending lawsuit, he says he does the bulk of his work from Wyoming. So they were looking to mine that, to exploit that territory. You know, there was one exercise, I believe, where they had a cop - you know, a local cop who was there. And so I was able to piece that together. Accuracy and availability may vary. Over the past year and a half, The New York Times has reported on an effort by conservatives to train operatives in undercover spy techniques to infiltrate progressive groups, political campaigns, unions and the offices of Democratic and moderate Republican elected officials. Two weeks later, on Oct. 14, Prince submitted a new sworn statement in his defamation case, in which he acknowledged he had not registered to vote in Wyoming in 2017. He was dismayed, three former Project Veritas employees told the Times, with "O'Keefe's desire to produce quick media content rather than to run long-term infiltration operations." DAVIES: Right. He was leading training. GOLDMAN: Well, I think it was - our latest story revealed, you know, at least one person who had been working for the Democrats thought that Sofia likely might have gotten some damaging information about Democratic efforts to help, you know, moderate Republicans. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. DAVIES: What did you learn about how Beau and Sofia met? He's a former British intelligence officer who served in Washington, D.C., and in Pakistan and eventually leaves the British Secret Intelligence Service and develops some relationship with Erik Prince, a security contractor, and ends up being director of field operations at the conservative group known as Project Veritas. He is not registered in Park County or [Wyoming] presently, unless he is not going by Erik Dean Prince and has changed his name, Park County Elections Deputy Pat Cole said in a Sept. 17 email; he said Prince hadnt voted in Wyoming since 2000. (SOUNDBITE OF BRUNO COULAIS' "SPINK AND FORCIBLE"). He worked with the former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn during the presidential transition. When a muckraking news site published a story alleging private security contractor and Blackwater founder Erik Prince had offered his services to a Russian mercenary firm, the connections to Wyoming were not obvious; the state was never mentioned in the piece. The New York Times broke the news of Princes potential run on Oct. 8, 2017, saying hed recently traveled to Wyoming to explore ways to establish residency there., The following day, Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow asked Prince whether the Times report was real or fake news, mentioning, Im not 100% positive on your connection to Wyoming.. And another individual named Barbara Ledeen, who worked for a prominent senator, his committee - Chuck Grassley - she admitted her involvement, and she had actually said she had met with a Project Veritas operative. DAVIES: Right. - trying to find, you know, damaging information on, you know, on political rivals, you know, using, you know, private investigative firms. So, you know, this is not something I had ever done as a - you know, this is not something journalists do. Beau picks up - starts working this marijuana legalization angle to try to make contacts with people - elected officials who are, in fact, pushing this bill to legalize marijuana. He did not mention the inquiries from the Powell Tribune about his lapsed registration that preceded his vote. document.write (" Catholic Prayer For Baby In Nicu,
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