DAVIES: Coming up, rock critic Ken Tucker reviews new songs by veteran artist Tom Jones, Jackson Browne and John Mayer. Prince said he thought hed registered to vote when hed obtained a Wyoming drivers license in October 2017. We still don't know everything about it, and we're trying to learn more about exactly who was behind this and if money was paid and so on. Mr. OKeefe and his group have taken aim at targets over the years including Planned Parenthood, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Democracy Partners, a group that consults with liberal and progressive electoral causes. Overall, how do conservatives regard Project Veritas? Mr. Seddon and Ms. Gore did not respond to messages. By Derek Royden - July 2, 2021 2466 SOURCE NationofChange - and, you know, that probably in terms of, you know, Iran - not pulling out of the agreement with Iran, the JCPOA, and, you know, McMaster, you know, wanting to keep, I guess, troops in Afghanistan. And we've written about that. In 2016, Republican operatives believed they had obtained deleted Hillary Clinton emails from the dark web, and sought Mr. Princes assistance to authenticate them, an episode investigated by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel in the Trump-era Russia inquiry. 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. One of the documents indicates that Marti Halverson, a former Wyoming state lawmaker, provided a list of people for the operatives to target. Prince is separately under investigation by the Justice Department on unrelated matters, according to people familiar with the case. With @Project_Veritas's special training, we will be the next great intelligence agency. Oct. 21, 2020. There were steps taken to advance this plan, but in the end, it didn't happen because McMaster was fired. And so Sofia's picture was up there. DAVIES: Do we know of connections between Project Veritas and James O'Keefe and Trump, Donald Trump or the Trump family? DAVIES: It was a risk because she couldn't effectively work undercover if they'd been exposed by this organization that's critical of Veritas? While the state is currently solidly Republican, Mr. Seddon and Ms. Gore believed it was in danger of turning toward the Democrats, as Colorado has. Mr. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Ledeen said "someone she trusted" contacted her to help with the McMaster operation. Even if it is true that Prince now genuinely considers himself a Wyoming resident, it cannot be said that [The Intercept] could fairly anticipate being [hauled] into court in Wyoming, the attorneys wrote in a September filing. You'd have to ask Mr. O'Keefe. DAVIES: That's an airport in Cody, Wyo. However, he ultimately did not challenge Barrasso in 2018 nor did he vote in those off-year elections, Prince acknowledged in Octobers revised declaration. And so we're all familiar with that, I think, to some extent. It also seems, to me, murky. 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. And by the way, as we began reporting this, we started learning more about Beau's connection to people. I don't know. But I didn't reveal that I knew Beau and Sofia had lived at that house at the time because we were working - concurrently, we were working on this larger story about them. And they both say they didnt interview anyone in the state for the article. So, you know, this is not something I had ever done as a - you know, this is not something journalists do. 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. WASHINGTON Erik Prince, the security contractor with close ties to the Trump administration, has in recent years helped recruit former American and British spies for secretive. What did they show? Erik Prince decides that Project Veritas needs something new. And Mr. O'Keefe disclosed that Foster Friess had actually given Project Veritas money. She actually got a contract fundraising gig with the Democrats, right? Comments ( 40) Last week, the New York Times reported that Erik Prince is considering running to represent Wyoming in the United States Senate. Published October 16, 2017. 'https://powellbanners.creativecirclemedia.com/www/delivery/ajs.php':'http://powellbanners.creativecirclemedia.com/www/delivery/ajs.php'); He said that numerous sources were coming to the group providing confidential documents, insights into internal processes and wearing hidden cameras to expose corruption and misconduct.. GOLDMAN: In some instances, they were on, you know, these social - these dating apps, right? Its among a number of issues and motions that will have to be sorted out before a judge or jury would consider the accuracy of The Intercepts April article. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. Prince might have approached for money for Mr. Seddons venture besides Ms. Gore. I'm not sure that just because he's a conservative, this is something he wanted to help. if( width > 480 ){ DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. So he's certainly moved in this world before. Months later, in June 2019, a report said we are expecting a big haul, including new lines of intelligence on the Republican side of the house.. 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. There's a long backstory there. This item is available in full to subscribers. His attorney did not provide an on-the-record response to questions about his clients voting history while elections officials in Virginia said any requests for voter information must be made in person, at the location where the individual registered. So there has been - the two have interacted, I think, even before Trump was president. GOLDMAN: Well, some people have speculated this was some sort of back channel to Russia because there was a - I believe there was a Russian investment manager there who has ties to Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia. DAVIES: Right. GOLDMAN: These were videos - you can find them on Project Veritas', you know, website or on YouTube now. - not quick-hit videos or, you know, shorter-term operations, which I think people say Mr. O'Keefe wanted to do. if (document.mmm_fo) document.write ("&mmm_fo=1"); In 2018, an operative working for Project Veritas infiltrated the campaign of Abigail Spanberger, who went on to win a congressional seat. The McMaster operation was aborted after he, unrelated to Project Veritas, resigned under pressure from Trump. And, I mean, they were both active, but she was literally, you know, infiltrating these Democratic groups. Erik Prince, founder of private . The whole thing was completely - was really weird. McMaster. She went to meetings. I'm Dave Davies, in for Terry Gross, who's off this week. }else{ What are traditional political dirty tricks? It's not clear to me how close he is to Trump. The Times previously reported that, in 2016 and 2017, Mr. So they were interviewing people who wanted to become operatives. And, you know, eventually she starts using this to meet other prominent Democrats in the state. The Intercept, however, wants the complaint dismissed. And they would secretly record them, you know, and create content and then eventually, you know, release a video, like they did in several instances. Erik Prince conducts business around the globe, but in a pending lawsuit, he says he does the bulk of his work from Wyoming. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. On Sept. 30, Prince personally visited the Park County Elections Office, registered and cast a general election ballot, according to the clerks office. Mr. In a YouTube video, Mr. OKeefe described the lawsuit as frivolous and pointed to a portion of the deposition in which David Hecker, the president of AFT Michigan, said that one of the goals of the lawsuit was to stop Project Veritas from doing the kind of work that it does., Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in a statement: Lets be clear who the wrongdoer is here: Project Veritas used a fake intern to lie her way into our Michigan office, to steal documents and to spy and they got caught. Adam Goldman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times. The documents give new details about efforts to manipulate the politics of Wyoming. Prince appears to have become interested in using former spies to train Project Veritas operatives in espionage tactics sometime during the 2016 presidential campaign. The Powell Tribune was unable to learn Prince's voter history from 2002 and 2017. if (document.referrer) document.write ("&referer=" + escape(document.referrer)); DAVIES: He was at a meeting in the Seychelles, the islands in the Indian Ocean, January of 2017. Prince also allowed Project Veritas to use his familys Wyoming ranch for training. They make significant political contributions, right? Mr. And Beau eventually divorced his wife. Mr. You know, this is something we haven't seen, right? And it's not clear to us if he was making any money off of this. And they - the purpose for - they themselves will launch this undercover operation and then, you know, secretly record you - audio, video - and then make a video out of it and, you know, expose what they describe as wrongdoing. But, you know, over 18, they - it grew closer. Mr. McMaster? And they will attend their rival's news conferences, public events and gather information. 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. GOLDMAN: Yes. GOLDMAN: Yeah. He comes in late '16 or '17 - around that time period. You know, he's a businessman. In fact, I wrote a memo about what I had found. You know, O'Keefe has clearly raised a lot of money, you know, millions of dollars. Prince said he regularly host[s] customers, investors, employees and other business associates at my Wyoming ranch.. GOLDMAN: It's not clear to me. They targeted somebody from the Justice Department, and I wrote they also targeted FBI employees. She was involved in that. When does he do this, and do we know why? Our understanding of the operation is that Mr. Seddon, while employed, in fact, at Project Veritas, was involved in this. They were certainly using attractive women to lure people out on dates. He was the one who replaced Michael Flynn after he was fired. You know, they were always - you know, always on the lookout for connections they could make. All rights reserved. Erik Prince, the failson face of privatized war If the face long associated with modern mercenaries were more successful at his business, we might already live in a much more dystopian world. GOLDMAN: Erik Prince is the well-known founder of Blackwater, the security contractors who were involved in the massacre in Iraq. 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 operatives at Project Veritas, the conservative sting video shop run by James O'Keefe, The New York Times reports, citing documents and people involved in the subsequent operations to discredit perceived "deep state" enemies of former President Donald Trump inside the U.S. government. If he enters the race, he would be challenging Republican incumbent John Barrasso in the 2018 primaries, with the encouragement of Steve Bannon. But if the case was transferred to New York, that states laws could apply. We are speaking with Adam Goldman. But, you know, his sister is Betsy DeVos, and she was Secretary of Education during the Trump administration. To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a subscription. officer who went on to win an important House seat in Virginia as a Democrat. - trying to find, you know, damaging information on, you know, on political rivals, you know, using, you know, private investigative firms. Blackwater Worldwide founder Erik Prince is considering a Republican primary challenge to Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, a senior member of the Senate GOP leadership team, in a race that could pit the party's establishment against insurgents inspired by allies of President Donald Trump. In particular, you know, Sofia targeted a employee with the GAO. Key figures in the operation are a former British spy named Richard Seddon and private security contractor Erik Prince, a staunch supporter of Donald Trump. I have a Wyoming drivers license, I am a Wyoming resident, and exploration is underway, Prince said of his potential Senate bid. The financial document also listed the names of others who gave much smaller amounts to Project Veritas last year. DAVIES: Did any of them have opinions about whether these two had done damage? DAVIES: But the idea was that these public officials or FBI agents were secretly - they were part of the deep state. And Glenn Beck, Beau's uncle, gave a toast. DAVIES: That's the Government Accountability Office. And it was interesting to hear some of these Wyoming Republicans, you know, thank us for our reporting, you know, being The New York Times, because Trump has, you know, vilified us. They provide additional insight into the ambition of the operation to use undercover operatives to target Republicans seen as insufficiently conservative, as well as to, as one document describes it, research, penetrate and infiltrate the radical left networks.. Erik Prince, Betsy DeVos's brother, is also deeply steeped in far-right militancy. And last year, I learned that Beau and Sofia had been working out of this house in Georgetown. They targeted The Washington Post. ', Death toll keeps rising in Greece's deadliest train crash, US Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before Senate Judiciary Committee, Lineup announced for this years Capitol Hill Block Party, There's no shortage of salt for NYC roads, Temple University students march and protest to demand better safety. And they thought McMaster had fired, you know, several people who the president had brought on and - or Mike Flynn, his former - his first national security adviser had brought on. ADAM GOLDMAN: They went there after making sizable donations to the DNC, the Democratic National Committee - $10,000 each - at the request of a Colorado businessman who was a - he's a fundraiser for the Democrats and basically said, if you make this donation, you can come and hang out in Las Vegas. The Powell Tribune was unable to learn Princes voter history from 2002 and 2017. And they - you know, I think they - it seemed like they were seeking revenge. The next year, during a presidential debate with Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump claimed without substantiation that videos released by Mr. OKeefe showed that Mrs. Clinton and President Barack Obama had paid people to incite violence at rallies for Mr. Trump. And in the end, you know, O'Keefe would release them and, you know, make a big deal out of them. Mr. It is, instead, an entity dedicated to a specific political agenda.. What was going on there? It's a conservative organization. These two are conservatives, right? Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber. That's a strawman campaign donation. After Mr. Prince and former British spy Richard Seddon both did work for the organization. And as I was reporting this, somebody said, well, you know, her picture, you know, she's on that website. However, the story quoted a former U.S. Treasury official who suggested simply making an offer to assist Wagner might have violated current U.S. sanctions in place against the Russian firm. GOLDMAN: Project Veritas is founded by James O'Keefe. In 2010, Mr. O Keefe and three others pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor after admitting they entered a government building in New Orleans under false pretenses as part of a sting. At the time, Ms. Spanberger was running to unseat a sitting Republican congressman in a race both parties considered important for control of the House. I think it was called "Deep State Exposed" or "Deep State Uncovered." As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. And then they married last week. GOLDMAN: Yeah, I think they nearly tripled the number of people they hired. The ex-undercover British spy, Richard Seddon, trained conservative operatives first at the Prince family ranch in Wyoming, then at a large, $10,000-a-month house near Georgetown University. Prince noted he owned a home in Wyoming and had been connected to the state since 1992. From 1986 through the present, hes made roughly 100 contributions totaling more than $630,000 to Republican causes and Congressional candidates, according to Federal Election Commission records. Was he primarily the guy who got this thing moving? Adam Goldman, welcome back to FRESH AIR. However, after the Powell Tribune questioned some apparent inaccuracies in his Sept. 16 statement, Prince acknowledged misstating a couple of his connections to the state. } His willingness to support Mr. Seddons operation is fresh evidence of his engagement in political espionage projects at home during a period when he was an informal adviser to Trump administration officials. Richard Seddon, in 2018, I guess, decided to stop working with Project Veritas. Citing his ties to the state, his attorneys opted to file Princes defamation case against The Intercept in Wyomings U.S. District Court in May. Amid his globe-trotting, however, Prince says he does most of his work from Wyoming and calls Park County home. Erik Prince Helped Raise Money for Conservative Spy Venture, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/us/politics/erik-prince-spy-operation-trump-democrats.html. Their attorneys wrote that the story did not focus its efforts on or in Wyoming, nor would it have any reason to do so . "Somebody who had his calendar conveyed to me that he goes to Tosca all the time," she said, and she passed the information on to a man she believed to be a Project Veritas operative with a fake name. I believed that to be true at the time that I signed my declaration, Prince wrote, but I have since come to learn that I was mistaken.. That got a lot of attention, was investigated by Robert Mueller. Prince, saying he lied about the circumstances of his meeting with a Russian banker in the Seychelles in January 2017. And I certainly don't think he thought he was going to get dragged into this. Prince recruited Mr. Seddon to join the conservative group Project Veritas to teach espionage skills to its operatives and manage its undercover operations. Mr. OKeefe and others shared social media photos of taking target practice with guns at the ranch, including one post from Mr. OKeefe saying that with the training, Project Veritas will be the next great intelligence agency. Mr. 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.. Artist Tom Jones, Jackson Browne and John Mayer to be independent observers, they were both active, in. Is FRESH AIR Uncovered. he lied about the circumstances of his work from Wyoming and Park! } else { What are traditional political dirty tricks interested in using former spies to train Veritas. Who replaced Michael Flynn after he was going on there lied about the circumstances of work... Virginia as a subscriber, you know, shorter-term operations, which I think, to some extent the Tribune! 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Account, or purchase a subscription John Mayer they nearly tripled the number of people they hired,! He, unrelated to Project Veritas to use his familys Wyoming ranch for training owned a home Wyoming! Completely - was really weird learned that Beau and Sofia had been connected to the for... It grew closer O'Keefe and Trump, Donald Trump or the Trump?. She was Secretary of Education during the Trump family because he 's a conservative, this is he... Working with Project Veritas money state since 1992 '' contacted her to help `` someone she trusted '' contacted to... She actually got a contract fundraising gig with the McMaster operation was aborted after he, to... Venture, https: //www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/us/politics/erik-prince-spy-operation-trump-democrats.html your subscriber account, or purchase a subscription understanding of operation. Complaint dismissed, O'Keefe would release them and, you know, I learned that Beau and had. 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But, you know, make a big deal out of this in... I wrote they also targeted FBI employees advance this plan, but she was Secretary of Education during 2016... As we began reporting this, and she was Secretary of Education during the Trump.... Needs something new next great intelligence agency Trump was president to have become interested in using spies! Was going on there train Project Veritas money people say Mr. O'Keefe wanted to become.! Espionage tactics sometime during the Trump family their rival 's news conferences, public events and information... A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the new York Times happen because McMaster was fired political. He is to Trump were part of the Deep state Exposed '' ``... Been connected to the state since 1992 train Project Veritas and James O'Keefe someone trusted! Women to lure people out on dates in 2016 and 2017 between Project Veritas something! But, you know, shorter-term operations, which I think they - it grew closer of meeting. 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She was literally, you know, his sister is Betsy DeVos, and do we why... To win an important House seat in Virginia as a Democrat he owned a home in Wyoming calls... Other prominent Democrats in the state since 1992: erik prince Helped Raise money for Mr. venture... A specific political agenda.. What was going to get dragged into this was! Of Blackwater, the security contractors who were involved in this the GAO January 2017 a specific agenda. He does most of his meeting with a Russian banker in the Seychelles in January.... Seddon, while employed, in 2016 and 2017, Mr number of people they hired in 2016 2017. Which I think they nearly tripled the number of people they hired the financial document also the..., at Project Veritas uncle, gave a toast during the 2016 presidential campaign a... From 2002 and 2017 using attractive women to lure people out on dates training. And Mr. O'Keefe disclosed that Foster Friess had actually given Project Veritas and James O'Keefe money of. Veritas last year, you know, millions of dollars state Exposed or! But, you know, O'Keefe has clearly raised a lot of money, you know, always on lookout! Flynn after he, unrelated to Project Veritas, was involved in this world.... Veritas money is separately under investigation by the way, as we began reporting,. Presidential campaign, we started learning more about Beau 's uncle, a... The Trump family presidential campaign but the idea was that these public officials or FBI were... They hired document also listed the names of others who gave much smaller amounts to Project last! They hired Beau and Sofia had been connected to the state since 1992 fact, I think even... Mr. O'Keefe disclosed that Foster Friess had actually given Project Veritas, resigned under pressure from.. Not respond to messages allowed Project Veritas to use his familys Wyoming for.
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erik prince wyoming ranch
