And the operatives had to give a - you know, had to give a cover story under duress. Previously, he covered national security for The Washington Post and worked on the investigative team at the Associated Press, where he and his colleagues revealed the New York Police Department's Muslim spying programs. (SOUNDBITE OF GOGOL BORDELLO'S "NOT A CRIME"). James OKeefe, a conservative activist, founded Project Veritas. What was this about? GOLDMAN: Richard Seddon is a former MI6 spy. And they start trying to make inroads in the Wyoming Democratic Party. [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. It also seems, to me, murky. What's interesting about that Instagram post - and you can see it yourself, it's still out there - they like to describe themselves as journalists. Adam Goldman reports on the FBI and national security for the Times and was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for national reporting on Russia's meddling in the presidential election. 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. So he's going to pop up in all sorts of different places. They've targeted CNN. DAVIES: Right. When does he do this, and do we know why? The financial document also listed the names of others who gave much smaller amounts to Project Veritas last year. The two men had known each other since Mr. Princes days running Blackwater, and shared an affinity for guns and the American West. Other Project Veritas employees on the emails include Joe Halderman, an award-winning former television producer who in 2010 pleaded guilty to trying to extort $2 million from the comedian David Letterman. 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'll be back to talk more about his stories on undercover operations by conservatives to infiltrate democratic and progressive groups after this short break. Erik Prince, a political novice and former Navy SEAL who made a fortune in contracting security services to the U.S. Military, said in an interview with Breitbart that he will announce in the coming weeks whether he will challenge Barrasso in the Republican primary. Friday crash claims lives of Powell sisters, Powell resident now leads open lands organization, Authorities say they caught Cody man selling meth, Game and Fish plan set for aquatic invasive species threat, 128 South Bent StreetPowell, WY 82435 DAVIES: They'd gotten formal training in this. The documents give new details about efforts to manipulate the politics of Wyoming. For example, Rolling Stone published an investigative piece in October asserting Prince participated in a plan to dampen turnout among Black voters in the 2016 election. And I realized they were giving money to Democrats in Wyoming, Arizona and Colorado. Mr. Seddon owns a cabin that he keeps stocked with guns, food and other supplies as preparation for a cataclysmic event in the United States. Despite making multiple comments about Princes ties to Virginia, The Intercepts legal team said its immaterial to their jurisdictional arguments, which center on the publications own lack of ties to Wyoming. Let me reintroduce you. It is unclear how many potential donors Mr. Presiding Judge Johnson, who is based in Cheyenne, has himself signaled some uncertainty about whether Wyoming is the right place for Princes case to be heard; in early November, Johnson asked the parties to submit additional briefs on either transferring the case to another district or delving further into the issues related to jurisdiction. But then they got reversed stung by the Post, which was quite a moment. You know, this is something we haven't seen, right? And, you know, Seddon then reached out to, you know, a family - an old friend who had worked at the FBI. But when I learned about Beau and Sofia last year - there's a website, Project Veritas Exposed. There's a long backstory there. They targeted NPR. It's not clear to me how close he is to Trump. Ms. Jorge, 25, did not respond to email addresses associated with her Liberty University account. You know, Princes are pretty savvy. Prince said he thought hed registered to vote when hed obtained a Wyoming drivers license in October 2017. And they stopped the - they would actually stop the operatives in a car. Princes attorneys responded that, if the judge has any doubts about Wyoming being the appropriate venue for the case, they should be allowed to learn the identity of The Intercepts confidential sources. Wyoming is not the place for security contractor Erik Prince to sue a New York-based publication, a federal judge says. DAVIES: That's an airport in Cody, Wyo. McMaster. But if the case was transferred to New York, that states laws could apply. According to Prince, the tech adviser determined that the emails were not authentic.. An attorney for The Intercept reportedly told Princes lawyer in the spring the piece was one in a series of planned articles concerning Mr. Princes activities, though it has not published any further pieces to date. Whether any Trump administration officials or advisers to the president were involved in the operations, even tacitly, is unclear. So Erik Prince, the private security contractor who is an ally and avid supporter of President Trump, connects with Project Veritas, who does these videos, and then they develop this whole different operation. They need some spy training and covert military, paramilitary training at his ranch. 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.. Emails sent to Mr. Seddon went unanswered. Mr. DAVIES: But Sofia was just - she was active. Erik Prince, a Park County resident and founder of the controversial private military firm Blackwater, is suing a national news organization in federal court in Wyoming after it published an. 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. We'll continue our conversation in just a moment. And so we're all familiar with that, I think, to some extent. DAVIES: What was on those videos? The special counsels report said that Mr. But her picture was on this website. They - you know, there's a wide range of targets, and many of them have been exposed. And that one was made public. This is FRESH AIR. And they would find people, and they would go out with them. GOLDMAN: I was going to say, you know, talking to Republicans, moderate Republicans, I mean, moderate - these guys are pretty conservative, by the way - when we're describing it as moderate Republicans they were targeting. 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. The Trump Foundation gave $20,000 to Project Veritas in 2015, the year that Mr. Trump began his bid for the presidency. 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. 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. Given Mr. Princes extensive personal and professional ties to Wyoming, it is certainly plausible that some or all of [The Intercepts] sources to the extent they exist at all were located in Wyoming, Princes legal team wrote. Princes parents, Elsa Prince and the late Edgar Prince, bought the 940-acre Double E Ranch in the Wapiti Valley in the early 1990s. And we've written about that. GOLDMAN: Beau does. And by the way, as we began reporting this, we started learning more about Beau's connection to people. 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. For example, Rolling Stone published an investigative piece in October, The New York Times broke the news of Princes potential run on Oct. 8, 2017, in another interview with Breitbart a few days later, identified the site as the Prince ranch in a 2019 article, asserting Prince participated in a plan to dampen turnout among Black voters, Powered by Creative Circle Media Solutions. This is when there was the special Senate election in Alabama, right? In 2018, Ms. Jorge infiltrated the congressional campaign of Ms. Spanberger, posing as a campaign volunteer. What were they trying to get? DAVIES: Right. Connor Wroe Southard. 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. Prince and former British spy Richard Seddon both did work for the organization. So they were interviewing people who wanted to become operatives. What kind of inroads did they make? And they were doing this - it appears that they were doing this from the house where Beau and Sofia lived with others. Of course, everybody's familiar with Watergate, right? His uncle is the conservative commentator Glenn Beck. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. 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. Oct. 21, 2020. But we were unaware of that. Remind us who he is. They were going to bug it. Mr. Seddons role in the teachers union operation detailed in internal Project Veritas emails that have emerged from the discovery process of a court battle between the group and the union has not previously been reported, nor has Mr. Princes role in recruiting Mr. Seddon for the groups activities. Mr. Princes role in the effort, which has not been previously disclosed, sheds further light on how a group of ultraconservative Republicans employed spycraft to try to manipulate the American political landscape. document.write ("'><\/scr"+"ipt>"); Private property rights are a major cornerstone to how Wyoming operates, but so is prioritizing a rural, quiet lifestyle - ultimately, the former won out in Sublette County. The documents also show that, beyond Ms. Gore, other prominent Republicans in Wyoming were involved in Mr. Seddons spying operation. Female undercover operatives tried to entrap FBI agents, sometimes using fake dating app profiles, and State Department employees, the Times reports. After Mr. The life of Erik Prince has been a complicated globe-trotting journey complete with extensive mercenary activities, spying on American citizens, brokering arms deals with despotic regimes and essentially taking advantage of any situation he can in order to line his personal pockets. Erik Prince Recruits Ex-Spies to Help Infiltrate Liberal Groups, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/07/us/politics/erik-prince-project-veritas.html. GOLDMAN: It's not clear they're actually being trained in firearms training. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. She was involved in that. And so these people were brought on to help manage these many, many, many, many operations. You know, was it effective? According to its latest publicly available tax filing, Project Veritas received $8.6 million in contributions and grants in 2018. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. I knew something was off immediately. And this website is devoted to revealing the identities of Project Veritas operatives. DAVIES: They targeted ACORN. They'd been recruited and trained in an operation led by a former British spy and security contractor Erik Prince, an avid supporter of Donald Trump. He was asked whether he had provided any of the groups secret recordings of Democracy Partners to the Republican National Committee or any member of the Trump family. And, you know, I'm not sure when the relationship started. So somebody was just waiting - and it turned out to be me and Mark - to come along and make the connection between the Sofia de LaRocca (ph) out in Wyoming and "Maria," quote, unquote, on the Project Veritas Exposed website. But "one of the most brazen operations of the campaign" was an attempt to take down H.R. Prince a former C.I.A. Im not ashamed of the methods that we use or the recordings that we use, he said. And, you know, typically they would have a male individual working for Project Veritas who would accompany these women on these dates as sort of, like, security. document.write ("

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