It was Maria (ph). They were going to bug it. During a meeting in a Las Vegas suburb last April of employees of Ms. Gores organization, the Wyoming Liberty Group, Mr. Seddon pitched a proposal to build a website where other so-called preppers could buy their own supplies and communicate with each other in the event of what he called a Black Swan moment a major terrorist attack, another pandemic or a civil war. 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. She and Mr. Amid his globe-trotting, however, Prince says he does most of his work from Wyoming and calls Park County home. DAVIES: Right. 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. And then Mark Mazzetti, you know, my colleague, who just is an extraordinary journalist, we - you know, we managed to suss out what was going - we think - to a great degree what was going on in Wyoming and these other states. And then he stays on working for a Project Veritas till roughly June of '18. You know, there seemed to be - what it showed was, you know, Prince is well-traveled and is always looking for business opportunities. I'm Dave Davies, in for Terry Gross, who's off this week. The group has also become intertwined with the political activities of Mr. Trump and his family. We are speaking with Adam Goldman. The scope of that investigation is unclear. 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. Presented with the details of the operation, Ledeen told the Times she was just a messenger, "not part of a plot.". The McMaster operation was aborted after he, unrelated to Project Veritas, resigned under pressure from Trump. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. We're going to take a break here. Prince, saying he lied about the circumstances of his meeting with a Russian banker in the Seychelles in January 2017. But I think - you would think that Democrats and Republicans would all be united, that this is a bipartisan issue, right? He's proposed similar things in other countries, hasn't he? document.write (document.charset ? That's how you found them, and that's what raised the question? Prince said he wanted the Project Veritas employees to learn skills like how to recruit sources and how to conduct clandestine recordings, among other surveillance techniques. And this is FRESH AIR. 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. The Intercept, however, has stood behind its reporting and has described the suit as an improper attempt to learn the identity of its sources. - not one expose every year. And so Sofia's picture was up there. That got a lot of attention, was investigated by Robert Mueller. 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. - not quick-hit videos or, you know, shorter-term operations, which I think people say Mr. O'Keefe wanted to do. And Glenn Beck, Beau's uncle, gave a toast. So O'Keefe's Instagram photo, you know, led people to realize that, you know, Prince had played a role, at least in letting Project Veritas use the ranch for training. DAVIES: Right. Mr. At the center of the scheme was an unusual cast: a former British spy connected to the security contractor Erik Prince, a wealthy heiress to the Gore-Tex fortune and undercover operatives like. Prince grew up in Michigan, where their father made a fortune in the auto parts business. He's, you know, the private military contractor. How Times reporters cover politics. There's a long backstory there. So, you know, this is not something I had ever done as a - you know, this is not something journalists do. I have always understood him to be a resident of Northern Virginia, the lead writer of The Intercepts April story, Matthew Cole, wrote in a declaration. And then as I sort of gathered - started to gather information on this, I knew this was going to be a story. And, yeah, people steal lawn signs. And GOLDMAN: Involving Roy Moore - exactly. And they were doing this - it appears that they were doing this from the house where Beau and Sofia lived with others. Let me reintroduce you. 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. The two men had known each other since Mr. Princes days running Blackwater, and shared an affinity for guns and the American West. 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. DAVIES: Adam Goldman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times. New details reveal the ambitions of an operation intended to infiltrate opponents of Donald Trump, including moderate Republicans as well as progressives and Democrats. And they start trying to make inroads in the Wyoming Democratic Party. They targeted somebody from the Justice Department, and I wrote they also targeted FBI employees. Separately, Ms. Gore unsuccessfully tried to raise money for the project from Foster Friess, a billionaire Wyoming businessman, during a January 2019 meeting, three people said. And then on a parallel but different track, you know, Sofia is trying to make her way through the Young Democrats of Wyoming, the Wyoming Democratic Party, you know, building her bona fides as an eager, young Democrat. But before the parties get to the lawsuits merits, The Intercept is contending, among other arguments, that Wyoming is not the right place for the case to be heard. And this was not - you know, James O'Keefe has said Project Veritas was unaware of this, and they adamantly deny knowing anything about this. Mr. Seddon wrote that Ms. Jorge copied a great many documents from the file room, and Mr. OKeefe bragged that the group would be able to get a ton more access agents inside the educational establishment.. Mr. Seddon was not. [CDATA[ 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 identified the site as the Prince ranch in a 2019 article. And they will attend their rival's news conferences, public events and gather information. GOLDMAN: The Georgetown house in D.C. was used as a base to, you know, essentially launch these undercover operations in the summer of '18, I guess, into the fall and maybe later. 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. DAVIES: Right - Erik Prince, the security contractor who we'll talk more about. They received training for covert operations at a ranch near Cody owned by Blackwater founder Erik Prince, where Maier's mother works as a cook. There was a billionaire in - well, a very - I don't know if he was a billionaire. 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. We'll continue our conversation in just a moment. It is, instead, an entity dedicated to a specific political agenda.. So I thought to myself, why are they giving money to these people, these Democratic politicians? Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Thomas were on the list. One February 2019 report said that a new undercover will be joining the team and tasked with targeting Mr. Harshman. And, you know, and he is - you know, he's an international businessman. } The emails refer to other operations, including weekly case updates, along with training activities that involved operational targeting. Project Veritas redacted specifics about those operations from the messages. 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. 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. The list included John Cox, then the director of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, and Scott Talbott, then the director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. DAVIES: Right. Adam Goldman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times. And then I talked to somebody else. }else{ Prince might have approached for money for Mr. Seddons venture besides Ms. Gore. As further evidence of his ties to Wyoming and the business he conducts in the state, Princes initial declaration said he owned several operating entities registered to his residence in Wapiti. In apparent response to inquiries from the Tribune about the two companies ties to Wyoming, Princes revised declaration said he misidentified the names of the entities. GOLDMAN: Well, as we started reporting on Erik Prince and Richard Seddon, I became deeply interested in learning who, in fact, was working for this organization. The Intercept, however, wants the complaint dismissed. So they were looking to mine that, to exploit that territory. James OKeefe, the head of Project Veritas, last year at a White House social media summit. With @Project_Veritas's special training, we will be the next great intelligence agency. You know, and each time, you know, money is wired in furtherance of that crime, you know, that's also - that could be a possible count of mail fraud. You know, they were angry too, right? GOLDMAN: Yes, the Government Accountability Office. This is FRESH AIR. You know, Princes are pretty savvy. In fact, I wrote a memo about what I had found. They make significant political contributions, right? Prince to help him secure funding is just one of the new details about Mr. Seddons operation revealed in documents obtained by The Times and interviews with people familiar with his plans. What were they trying to get? var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'? Prince said he should have named a different company Moyock Medical Supplies LLC as an example of an entity he owns thats registered to his address in Wapiti. Project Veritas has said its activities are legal and protected by the First Amendment, and the case is scheduled to go to trial in the fall. document.write ("'><\/scr"+"ipt>"); And his son - he brought his son, who was a former army officer, on board to help. GOLDMAN: No. Erik Prince, founder of the private security firm Blackwater, filed a defamation lawsuit against The Intercept last month over an article published in 2020 that examined his efforts to sell. 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. And this photo of James O'Keefe, who's, you know, the founder of Project Veritas, firing a weapon with a silencer, apparently, at Erik Prince's ranch - were they being trained in firearms there? (Photo: Gerry Broome/AP) MIDDLEBURG, Va. A cheery fire warmed the glass-walled conservatory of the Goodstone Inn in Virginia's. But what we know is there was an arrangement made, and Erik Prince allowed Project Veritas to use his farm to train its operatives. Oct. 21, 2020. I mean, if the idea was to get inside information, which would be useful to, you know, Republicans and conservatives, did they succeed? GOLDMAN: She was very active. And it's not clear to us if he was making any money off of this. Anyone can read what you share. 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. 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. Attorneys for the outlet say The Intercept has no particular connection to the state and Princes ties are uncertain. But we were unaware of that. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. 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. GOLDMAN: It's not clear they're actually being trained in firearms training. Mark Gordon, who was viewed as a RINO in some Wyoming conservative circles. James OKeefe, a conservative activist, founded Project Veritas. GOLDMAN: They were thwarting the president's agenda. And as the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press summarizes, New York provides absolute protection from forced disclosure of materials received in confidence by a professional journalist, including the identity of a source.. 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. DAVIES: He was at a meeting in the Seychelles, the islands in the Indian Ocean, January of 2017. All rights reserved. In August 2017, Ms. Jorge wrote to Mr. Seddon that she had managed to record a local union leader talking about Ms. DeVos and other topics. And, you know, eventually she starts using this to meet other prominent Democrats in the state. Remind us who he is. The year after the sting, Democracy Partners sued Project Veritas, and its lawyers have since deposed Mr. OKeefe. Published October 16, 2017. But they thanked us for bringing, you know, putting some sunlight on this. You know, they targeted the teachers unions. DAVIES: Right. 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. To win his case, Prince will ultimately have to show the story was false and he may also have to prove the publication knew the story was false or showed a reckless disregard as to whether it was accurate. 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. He was leading training. This is FRESH AIR. DAVIES: We need to take a break here. DAVIES: Right. Last year, the group received a $1 million contribution made through the law firm Alston & Bird, a financial document obtained by The New York Times showed. It's a conservative group, and they conduct undercover operations, for instance, to expose bias or what they would describe as, you know, wrongdoing primarily in liberal circles. var width = jQuery(window).width(); It's a conservative organization. In a book published in 2018, Mr. OKeefe wrote that Mr. Trump years earlier had encouraged him to infiltrate Columbia University and obtain Mr. Obamas records. DAVIES: Right. GOLDMAN: Yeah. Many conservatives have gleefully pounced on Project Veritass disclosures, including one particularly influential voice: Donald Trump Jr., the presidents eldest son. In particular, you know, Sofia targeted a employee with the GAO. 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, the founder of controversial private military firm Blackwater and a supporter of former President Donald Trump, jumped into the COVID-19 business late last year with a deal to . Prince declined to comment. Did it expand their operations? 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. The training was done by a guy - a lot of the training was done by a guy named Richard Seddon, S-E-D-D-O-N. Who is he? 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. (SOUNDBITE OF FRANK ZAPPA'S "EAT THAT QUESTION"). WASHINGTON A British former spy recruited by Erik Prince, the security contractor close to the Trump administration, played a central role in a secretive effort to hire dozens . 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. Prince turned to Mr. Seddon to help train the Project Veritas operatives. Several of them confirmed their donations. 1-307-754-2221. And her picture wasn't her name GOLDMAN: It was a fake name, Maria. Prince and Mr. Seddon met in August 2018 with Susan Gore, a Wyoming heiress to the Gore-Tex fortune, Ms. Gore became the projects main benefactor. What did they show? DAVIES: That's the Government Accountability Office. What was going on there? So what I'm saying is from Richard Seddon's standpoint, the fact that she had a picture up on Project Veritas Exposed, that was a real risk they were taking, right? 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? GOLDMAN: Yeah, I would say an active - sure, an active player in certain parts of Trump's world, yeah, or conservative - the conservative world. For example, the co-authors of the piece in dispute, Cole and Alex Emmons, say theyre New York and Washington, D.C., residents whove never been to Wyoming. Mr. Halderman was copied on several messages providing updates about the Michigan operation, and in one message, he gave instructions to Ms. Jorge. The teachers union is asking for more than $3 million in damages, accusing the group of being a vigilante organization which claims to be dedicated to exposing corruption. - trying to find, you know, damaging information on, you know, on political rivals, you know, using, you know, private investigative firms. Mr. 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. Mr. And we actually - I, you know, I - Mark and I reached out to our - one of great political reporters, Jonathan Martin, and asked him, you know. DAVIES: When Richard Seddon and Erik Prince got connected with Veritas and cooperated on some of these operations, what was the effect on Veritas? 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.. #Veritas pic.twitter.com/4IFvjKurGK, In the pending defamation case, Princes attorneys have cited that reporting as evidence The Intercept knew Prince did his business from Wyoming, going as far as to allege the articles unstated focus was on Princes reputation and livelihood in Wyoming., The Intercept attorneys, however, pointed to past statements from Prince and records indicating he lives in Virginia. Good stuff, Mr. Seddon wrote back. (SOUNDBITE OF GOGOL BORDELLO'S "NOT A CRIME"). DAVIES: Wow. GOLDMAN: It's not clear to me. 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