And, you know, they targeted somebody from the State Department, and they targeted somebody from GAO. GOLDMAN: Project Veritas is founded by James O'Keefe. 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. He passed away recently. 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. 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.. Neither party wants to be infiltrated like this. And so, you know, I can't tell you right now it hasn't, that somebody else isn't doing this. Mr. Published October 16, 2017. The special counsels report said that Mr. Richard Seddon, in 2018, I guess, decided to stop working with Project Veritas. But when I learned about Beau and Sofia last year - there's a website, Project Veritas Exposed. Presented with the details of the operation, Ledeen told the Times she was just a messenger, "not part of a plot.". This espionage operation was aimed at perceived enemies of Trump and included a planned sting operation against former national security adviser H.R. In 2016, a Project Veritas operative infiltrated Democracy Partners using a fake name and fabricated rsum and made secret recordings of the staff. 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. To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a subscription. #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. It's a conservative organization. They went after a Democratic staffer in Washington. Prince submitted his own declaration to presiding U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson in September, disputing The Intercepts reporting and laying out some of his bona fides as a Wyomingite. They were, in fact, undercover spies who had been building a cover as eager Democrats when, in fact, they were anything but that. What are traditional political dirty tricks? Meanwhile, Prince is once again registered as a Park County voter. What was going on there? } If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free web account by clicking here. Last month, Project Veritas made public secretly recorded video of a longtime ABC News correspondent who was critical of the networks political coverage and its emphasis on business considerations over journalism. zoneId = '3'; And then Seddon - you know, he stays on. They've targeted CNN. 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 . A spokesman for Mr. But, you know, O'Keefe brags on the Instagram photo that they're going to be the world's best intelligence agency - I believe that's what it says - not the world's best journalists. DAVIES: So an active player in the Trump world. The financial document also listed the names of others who gave much smaller amounts to Project Veritas last year. 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. Was he primarily the guy who got this thing moving? DAVIES: That's a really fascinating example of the power of, you know, database reporting now because you knew they were doing the thing in Georgetown, but their campaign contributions in Wyoming have to be publicly reported. And they targeted - Project Veritas had a whole series. 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.. DAVIES: What did you learn about how Beau and Sofia met? 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. I don't know. A man named Samuel Chamberlain who matched the description of the one employed by Mr. OKeefe denied he worked for Project Veritas. The document is dated December 2018 and said that Mr. Talbott was another of the names of corrupt individuals from Marti.. The companys principal office is listed as being at the Prince familys ranch in Wapiti, though the mailing address is a property in Virginia. She and Mr. So I thought to myself, why are they giving money to these people, these Democratic politicians? document.write ("'><\/scr"+"ipt>"); 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? 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. Erik Prince, the former head of Blackwater Worldwide and the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, has at times served as an informal adviser to Trump administration officials. It argues the article was not defamatory and the challenged statements would be protected as opinion based on disclosed facts., The dispute over jurisdiction could have a direct impact on the case. He gave the examples of Jones Creek and CMNS Systems. However, neither of those entities appear to be registered to do business in Wyoming; the only reference the Tribune could find to a company named CMNS Systems was an LLC formed in Delaware in August months after Prince filed his suit. I also think that - I think recently, too, O'Keefe, did a photo op or made a video with Donald Trump. 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. Adam Goldman, welcome back to FRESH AIR. And, you know, there were a whole range of people they went after. But in a pending lawsuit, Prince asserts the April 13 story from The Intercept was false, defamatory and aimed at Wyoming. Because of the article, Prince says his reputation and professional opportunities within Wyoming suffered, along with his business interests and reputation in general. But "one of the most brazen operations of the campaign" was an attempt to take down H.R. And then he stays on working for a Project Veritas till roughly June of '18. 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.. DAVIES: Right. DAVIES: That's the Government Accountability Office. And they received what was essentially clandestine training at a ranch in Wyoming that's owned by the family of Erik Prince. Valued at roughly $12 million by the Park County Assessors Office, the property includes a 17,470-square-foot residence that ranks among the largest in the area; county records show Prince owns a smaller home on an adjoining 10-acre parcel. There's a long backstory there. Do we know why? DAVIES: And then Beau and Sofia married, right? met with White House and Pentagon officials. She said the support she got from other teams was 'overwhelming. I know that, you know, one of the first instances of his association with this - or maybe the first instance of his association - was in an Intercept article in which O'Keefe had posted a picture of himself firing a pistol with a silencer on Instagram. DAVIES: Right. "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. 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. 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. 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. You know, Princes are pretty savvy. He said that he did not think so. He's proposed similar things in other countries, hasn't he? 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. Why did they want to embarrass him and get him out of the government? Tell us about them. DAVIES: Adam Goldman, thank you so much for speaking with us. That got a lot of attention, was investigated by Robert Mueller. Funneling money surreptitiously to campaigns through other donors known as straw man donations would violate federal campaign finance laws. Trump, of course, wanted to pull out. Mr. They broke into the DNC. There was a year-long lease that was signed that allowed Project Veritas to put its operatives in that fancy house. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. I mean, this is - you know, he no doubt sees them as a conservative ally, like other conservative networks. And then I talked to somebody else. We're speaking with New York Times reporter Adam Goldman, one of a team of Times reporters who've been writing about an effort by conservatives to train operatives in undercover operations to infiltrate progressive groups, unions and the offices and campaigns of Democratic and moderate Republican candidates and elected officials. 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. And as I was reporting this, somebody said, well, you know, her picture, you know, she's on that website. 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. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. GOLDMAN: You know, individuals - we're not exactly sure who was behind this effort - but it's clear that they believe that, you know, H.R. And I realized they were giving money to Democrats in Wyoming, Arizona and Colorado. Defendants wrote and published a false and defamatory article about a Wyoming residents Wyoming-based business activities knowing that it would cause harm principally in Wyoming, New York attorney Matthew Schwartz charged in one filing. Erik Prince decides that Project Veritas needs something new. Regardless, Princes residency is not the real issue in the case. GOLDMAN: Yeah, and the Justice Department prosecuted a number of individuals. if (document.context) document.write ("&context=" + escape(document.context)); There was eventually litigation about that, wasn't there? DAVIES: Right. 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. You'd have to ask Mr. O'Keefe. Mr. This is FRESH AIR. And Glenn Beck, Beau's uncle, gave a toast. So he's certainly moved in this world before. DAVIES: Do we know of connections between Project Veritas and James O'Keefe and Trump, Donald Trump or the Trump family? State records show Moyock Medical Supplies was formed in Wyoming by an associate of Princes on April 15 two days after The Intercept published its article. They were critical of Donald Trump and his agenda. The documents give new details about efforts to manipulate the politics of Wyoming. GOLDMAN: Yes, very wealthy and very conservative. (Photo: Gerry Broome/AP) MIDDLEBURG, Va. A cheery fire warmed the glass-walled conservatory of the Goodstone Inn in Virginia's. The job put her in a position to gain valuable information about which Republican candidates the group was supporting with independent advertising. 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.