But, yeah, this kind of actual infiltration and spying, I don't think I've run across that. 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. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR, and our guest is Adam Goldman. We'll talk about Project Veritas in a moment. Tell us about them. She and 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. Prince declined to comment. So they were interviewing people who wanted to become operatives. She was involved in that. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. It's a conservative organization. It's not clear, though, if any of that was actually used in a way that thwarted anybody's candidacy or damaged their political reputation. Ms. Jorge, 25, did not respond to email addresses associated with her Liberty University account. Wagner which The Intercept described as a semi-private military force that operates in countries or conflicts where the Russian government seeks plausible deniability for its activities reportedly turned down Princes offer. So it was a fascinating moment in time last year when I realized what I suspected Beau and Sofia were doing. A man named Samuel Chamberlain who matched the description of the one employed by Mr. OKeefe denied he worked for Project Veritas. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. And, of course, that was an entree into a larger circle of prominent Democrats. 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. Mr. Seddons recruitment of Mr. You know, was it effective? 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. 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. It also seems, to me, murky. Mr. Seddon directed an undercover operative to secretly tape the unions local leaders and try to gather information that could be made public to damage the organization, documents show. Mr. Seddon was not. GOLDMAN: These were videos - you can find them on Project Veritas', you know, website or on YouTube now. And they received what was essentially clandestine training at a ranch in Wyoming that's owned by the family of Erik Prince. Prince also allowed Project Veritas to use his familys Wyoming ranch for training. There was eventually litigation about that, wasn't there? In the case of the FBI, you know, they were looking for bias to see if somebody - they could get somebody to say something anti-Trump, which, of course, fit the theme at the time because, you know, these infamous text messages between these two FBI officials who had worked on the Russia investigation - the FBI's Russia investigation had come out, 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. That's how you found them, and that's what raised the question? Of course, everybody's familiar with Watergate, right? Blackwater founder Erik Prince arranged for political activist James O'Keefe's conservative group Project Veritas to receive more than one round of "training in intelligence and elicitation. This item is available in full to subscribers. DAVIES: Let me reintroduce you again. And, of course, this was really weird because they work for Project Veritas. Was he primarily the guy who got this thing moving? This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. The Intercept, however, wants the complaint dismissed. Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, a private security contractor firm used extensively by the administration of George W Bush, is said to be "seriously considering" challenging Wyoming. 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. Emails sent to Mr. Seddon went unanswered. A spokesman for the firm said that Alston & Bird has never contributed to Project Veritas on its own behalf, nor is it a client of ours. The spokesman declined to say on whose behalf the contribution was made. 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? By Derek Royden - July 2, 2021 2466 SOURCE NationofChange Adam Goldman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times. Two other employees, Gaz Thomas and Samuel Chamberlain, were also identified in emails and appeared to play important roles in the Michigan operation. 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. DAVIES: Right. Last year, the House Intelligence Committee made a criminal referral to the Justice Department about Mr. 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. GOLDMAN: Beau does. We know that because Glenn put it up on his Instagram account. 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. 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. DAVIES: Now, one of the more well-known operations - because, well, you reported on this - was an effort to embarrass Trump's national security adviser, H.R. Oct. 21, 2020. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. Erik Prince, founder of the private military firm Blackwater, helped raise money for a political-intelligence operation run by Richard Seddon, a former British spy. 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. 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. There's an annual one, Nellie T. Ross Banquet, and I believe it's in Cheyenne every February. I'm Dave Davies, in for Terry Gross, who's off this week. They targeted somebody from the Justice Department, and I wrote they also targeted FBI employees. And then as I sort of gathered - started to gather information on this, I knew this was going to be a story. Prince noted he owned a home in Wyoming and had been connected to the state since 1992. Remind us who they are and what they've done. document.write (document.charset ? Prince, saying he lied about the circumstances of his meeting with a Russian banker in the Seychelles in January 2017. The two men had known each other since Mr. Princes days running Blackwater, and shared an affinity for guns and the American West. 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. During the 2018 meeting with Ms. Gore, according to one person familiar with it, Mr. 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. 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. You know, they were always - you know, always on the lookout for connections they could make. They went after a Democratic staffer in Washington. 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. And I think the Intercept geolocated that photo and determined it was Erik Prince's ranch. (SOUNDBITE OF GOGOL BORDELLO'S "NOT A CRIME"). DAVIES: They'd gotten formal training in this. The campaign discovered the operative and fired her. The Powell Tribune was unable to learn Princes voter history from 2002 and 2017. 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. Project Veritas tax filings list Mr. Halderman as a project manager.. Ledeen said "someone she trusted" contacted her to help with the McMaster operation. This is FRESH AIR. 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. And they start trying to make inroads in the Wyoming Democratic Party. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. And, you know, there were a whole range of people they went after. That same day Oct. 9, 2017 Prince obtained a Wyomings drivers license, which he touted in another interview with Breitbart a few days later. Meanwhile, Prince is once again registered as a Park County voter. DAVIES: Adam Goldman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times. 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. And then Seddon - you know, he stays on. Funneling contributions through a third party is a feature of the federal election code and most state election codes. But then January 6 happened, you know, the insurrection. Drawing on information from three unnamed sources, The Intercept reported Prince met with a top official from Russias Wagner Group at an undisclosed location earlier this year and offered his mercenary forces to support the firms operations in Libya and Mozambique.. GOLDMAN: They were thwarting the president's agenda. DAVIES: Coming up, rock critic Ken Tucker reviews new songs by veteran artist Tom Jones, Jackson Browne and John Mayer. And, you know, and he is - you know, he's an international businessman. Blackwater founder Erik Prince used the rise of Donald Trump to stage an unlikely comeback that apparently included funding spy training for far-right propagandist James O'Keefe and his Project. Trump, of course, wanted to pull out. In 2018, an operative working for Project Veritas infiltrated the campaign of Abigail Spanberger, who went on to win a congressional seat. And then I started Googling them and doing some research on them. The financial document also listed the names of others who gave much smaller amounts to Project Veritas last year. DAVIES: So how did you come upon this couple, Beau and Sofia? Back in December, county commissioners approved a rezoning request for a multi-billionaire to develop an exclusive guest ranch in the southernmost part of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. And as part of this effort, Richard Seddon was brought on to handle training and really professionalize Project Veritas' undercover operations. Prince noted he owned a home in Wyoming and had been connected to the state since 1992. Now, you mentioned Project Veritas. 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. The year after the sting, Democracy Partners sued Project Veritas, and its lawyers have since deposed Mr. OKeefe. 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 GOLDMAN: Involving Roy Moore - exactly. WASHINGTON During the summer of 2018, as Richard Seddon, a former British spy, was trying to launch a new venture to use undercover agents to infiltrate progressive groups, Democratic campaigns and other opponents of President Donald J. Trump, he turned for help to a longtime friend and former colleague: Erik Prince, the private military contractor. I'm Dave Davies, in for Terry Gross, who's off this week. And they were deeply critical of Trump. The McMaster operation was aborted after he, unrelated to Project Veritas, resigned under pressure from Trump. But what is clear is if Beau and Sofia made these campaign contributions - right? 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. GOLDMAN: What - the training they got was when they worked for an outfit called Project Veritas. Prince provided funding to hire a tech adviser to ascertain the authenticity of the emails. DAVIES: Right. 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