As the founder of Blackwater USA, now Academi, a private military company, Prince headed the organization. They were going to bug it. It's not clear to us why Prince decided to help Project Veritas. This item is available in full to subscribers. 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. And they were doing this - it appears that they were doing this from the house where Beau and Sofia lived with others. if (!document.MAX_used) document.MAX_used = ','; Their reporting on the department won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. The Powell Tribune has expanded its online content. These were videos of - you know, in one case, Democrats or people working for the government who were - you know, it seemed like they were slow rolling the president's agenda or trying to thwart it or using - they were part of, you know, the DSA, the Democratic Socialists of America. And I think the end goal was make a video and, if necessary, try to get the White House to fire McMaster. Currently, Prince leads a Hong Kong-based firm providing security, logistics, insurance and infrastructure services in parts of Africa and other high-conflict areas. They were, in fact, undercover spies who had been building a cover as eager Democrats when, in fact, they were anything but that. At the time, Prince was exploring the possibility of mounting a Republican primary challenge to incumbent U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. DAVIES: So he is the guy who hires this British spy, Richard Seddon, to train operatives to, you know, gather intelligence from, you know, Democrats and progressives. And they both say they didnt interview anyone in the state for the article. DAVIES: But Sofia was just - she was active. The job put her in a position to gain valuable information about which Republican candidates the group was supporting with independent advertising. But it was not her real name. officer who went on to win an important House seat in Virginia as a Democrat. He was the one who replaced Michael Flynn after he was fired. It is, instead, an entity dedicated to a specific political agenda.. Later that year, Mr. I'm Dave Davies, in for Terry Gross, who's off this week. His uncle is the conservative commentator Glenn Beck. If you would like to purchase a subscription click here. Did it expand the number of people that they had? So he's going to pop up in all sorts of different places. Mr. Mr. Sofia is from Maryland. DAVIES: So how did you come upon this couple, Beau and Sofia? And then Seddon - you know, he stays on. 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. He was dismayed, three former Project Veritas employees told the Times, with "O'Keefe's desire to produce quick media content rather than to run long-term infiltration operations." var width = jQuery(window).width(); 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. Meanwhile, Prince is once again registered as a Park County voter. 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.. And in the end, you know, O'Keefe would release them and, you know, make a big deal out of them. 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. 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. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. You know, they were angry too, right? Prince a former C.I.A. I don't know. This is FRESH AIR. Two other employees, Gaz Thomas and Samuel Chamberlain, were also identified in emails and appeared to play important roles in the Michigan operation. They were critical of Donald Trump and his agenda. That includes a pair of donations he made in March and October, in which he apparently listed his address as a post office box in Middleburg, Virginia. 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. Wapiti resident Erik Prince is one of several people associated with a Wyoming-based effort to infiltrate political campaigns and get "dirt" to sabotage candidates. His contributions to the 2022 Whitney Biennial, on view through Sept. 5 three fanciful portraits of Erik Prince, the financier and founder of the private security firm Blackwater depict a. 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. They were, in fact, going to use a former Project Veritas operative named Tarah Price, who lives in the Dallas area, to, you know, possibly ensnare McMaster at a restaurant, get him to say something ill toward or maybe negative about Trump, something that would compromise him. The Intercept, however, wants the complaint dismissed. She was attending, you know, Democratic fundraisers. The financial document also listed the names of others who gave much smaller amounts to Project Veritas last year. Overall, how do conservatives regard Project Veritas? DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. GOLDMAN: These were videos - you can find them on Project Veritas', you know, website or on YouTube now. And it's a fascinating story. According to its latest publicly available tax filing, Project Veritas received $8.6 million in contributions and grants in 2018. The website for Mr. OKeefes coming wedding listed Donald Trump Jr. as an invited guest. 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 Prince, a security contractor, and ends up being director of field operations at the conservative group known as Project Veritas. Erik Prince doesn't live in the state, he's from the same party as the incumbent, Sen. John Barrasso, and he's best known for founding a private security firm, Blackwater, that was kicked out of . Prince, a contractor close to the Trump administration, contacted veteran spies for operations by Project Veritas, the conservative group known for conducting stings on news organizations and other groups. What does that tell us about Erik Prince? According to Prince, the tech adviser determined that the emails were not authentic.. 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? The documents also show that, beyond Ms. Gore, other prominent Republicans in Wyoming were involved in Mr. Seddons spying operation. The year after the sting, Democracy Partners sued Project Veritas, and its lawyers have since deposed Mr. OKeefe. Neither party wants to be, you know, exposed to this kind of spycraft - right? And as part of this effort, Richard Seddon was brought on to handle training and really professionalize Project Veritas' undercover operations. Prince, Mr. Seddon and other topics, but he called his group a proud independent news organization that is involved in dozens of investigations. DAVIES: What did you learn about how Beau and Sofia met? 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. 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? Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. DAVIES: Did any of them have opinions about whether these two had done damage? The McMaster operation was aborted after he, unrelated to Project Veritas, resigned under pressure from Trump. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. 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. DAVIES: Adam Goldman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times. 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 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.. DAVIES: Right. 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. Regardless, Princes residency is not the real issue in the case. McMaster, Trump's second national security adviser. But what we know is there was an arrangement made, and Erik Prince allowed Project Veritas to use his farm to train its operatives. 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. We'll talk about Project Veritas in a moment. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. And they received what was essentially clandestine training at a ranch in Wyoming that's owned by the family of Erik Prince. GOLDMAN: Well, that's a great question and one we struggle with at the Times in trying to put this in context. Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Thomas were on the list. And his son - he brought his son, who was a former army officer, on board to help. - not quick-hit videos or, you know, shorter-term operations, which I think people say Mr. O'Keefe wanted to do. 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 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. if (document.mmm_fo) document.write ("&mmm_fo=1"); McMaster. Park County records show he also skipped Augusts primary election, but Prince said he had intended to vote in Wyoming this year. Prince said he learned he wasnt registered when I went to cast my early vote for the general election in late September. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. 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. 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. Part of it involved a rented, rather large house in Georgetown in Washington, D.C., right? Remind us who they are and what they've done. One of the undercover operatives also got a job working for a consortium of wealthy liberal donors the Wyoming Investor Network which had made a strategic decision to support Republican moderate candidates over those more closely aligned with Mr. Trumps agenda, the documents say. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. O'Keefe writes about it in his book. Prince noted he owned a home in Wyoming and had been connected to the state since 1992. 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.. 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. It's a conservative organization. But when I learned about Beau and Sofia last year - there's a website, Project Veritas Exposed. Is that what these interviews were about? But I think - you would think that Democrats and Republicans would all be united, that this is a bipartisan issue, right? And, you know, these were - they were not really long-term operations. 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