erik prince wyoming ranch

So it was a fascinating moment in time last year when I realized what I suspected Beau and Sofia were doing. DAVIES: Right. GOLDMAN: I think - yeah, I think the latest is - you know, he's worked - his latest adventure is in Libya. Later that year, Mr. You know, I think part of Mr. O'Keefe's motto - I think it's important for him to have regular and consistent content - right? For instance, Princes 2014 memoir said he splits his time between homes in Virginia and Abu Dhabi, where he pursues a variety of business ventures.. DAVIES: Adam Goldman, thank you so much for speaking with us. We are speaking with Adam Goldman. But it was not her real name. Erik Prince, the founder of private military company Blackwater, whose sister Betsy DeVos was Trump's education secretary, trained the spies Their job was to find out who was disparaging Trump. GOLDMAN: Richard Seddon is a former MI6 spy. However, in all of the 74 campaign donations hes made since 2002 including a $3,042.86 donation to the Wyoming Republican Party in 2016 Prince has been identified with a Virginia address. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. They targeted The Washington Post. They - you know, there's a wide range of targets, and many of them have been exposed. Mr. Halderman was copied on several messages providing updates about the Michigan operation, and in one message, he gave instructions to Ms. Jorge. Using a different alias the next year, the same undercover operative infiltrated the congressional campaign of Abigail Spanberger, then a former C.I.A. Where we're not - what we hadn't really seen was an actual British spy, somebody trained in clandestine activities, launching a secret operation using undercovers with false - basically false cover stories to infiltrate political circles, gather information and collect it for whatever purpose, I guess, because ultimately, as our story says, this appeared to be a paper play. Last week, our guest, reporter Adam Goldman, co-authored a story about a couple who ingratiated themselves with Democrats in Wyoming, often making substantial political contributions to ensure their access to valuable information. And her picture wasn't her name GOLDMAN: It was a fake name, Maria. 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. They need some spy training and covert military, paramilitary training at his ranch. The financial document also listed the names of others who gave much smaller amounts to Project Veritas last year. And they were doing this - it appears that they were doing this from the house where Beau and Sofia lived with others. If you would like to purchase a subscription click here. She said the support she got from other teams was 'overwhelming. 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. 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. Accuracy and availability may vary. GOLDMAN: Yeah. 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. ', Death toll keeps rising in Greece's deadliest train crash, US Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before Senate Judiciary Committee, Lineup announced for this years Capitol Hill Block Party, There's no shortage of salt for NYC roads, Temple University students march and protest to demand better safety. You know, there was one exercise, I believe, where they had a cop - you know, a local cop who was there. He's proposed similar things in other countries, hasn't he? What does that tell us about Erik Prince? 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.. And, you know, these were - they were not really long-term operations. In fact, I wrote a memo about what I had found. They targeted NPR. Do we know why? In particular, you know, Sofia targeted a employee with the GAO. DAVIES: Right. 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. Mr. I'm Dave Davies, in for Terry Gross, who's off this week. Efforts to locate Mr. Thomas were unsuccessful. While he has not been actively involved in Wyoming politics specifically, Prince comes from a political family he is the brother of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and is an active political donor. 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.. 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. You know, a big question about the stories that you've described is, is this activity illegal, what the couple did in Wyoming, you know, presenting themselves as - dishonestly as active Democrats in order to get information? After Mr. Im not ashamed of the methods that we use or the recordings that we use, he said. DAVIES: So how did you come upon this couple, Beau and Sofia? var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'? And as we quoted an expert in our story, you know, if there's a sudden pattern of somebody giving money to the Democrats and they had never done that before, you know, that could also raise suspicions. Along with gathering intel, Maier and LaRocca sought to bait individuals associated with Better Wyoming into making statements they could secretly record and hand over to their clients. They were critical of Donald Trump and his agenda. And it was interesting to hear some of these Wyoming Republicans, you know, thank us for our reporting, you know, being The New York Times, because Trump has, you know, vilified us. The job put her in a position to gain valuable information about which Republican candidates the group was supporting with independent advertising. GOLDMAN: Well, again, this is a little murky. However, lawyers for the publication say they should not have to reveal who told them about Princes alleged meeting with Wagner Group or where they were told it occurred. And this is FRESH AIR. 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. His uncle is the conservative commentator Glenn Beck. GOLDMAN: Yeah, and the Justice Department prosecuted a number of individuals. It seems like the Democrats have figured out this party switch deal to their advantage, Mr. Friess wrote in an email obtained by Wyofile, a political news site in Wyoming. DAVIES: Right - Erik Prince, the security contractor who we'll talk more about. DAVIES: He was at a meeting in the Seychelles, the islands in the Indian Ocean, January of 2017. Erik Prince Recruits Ex-Spies to Help Infiltrate Liberal Groups, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/07/us/politics/erik-prince-project-veritas.html. I'm Dave Davies. 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. Fast-forward to 2007, and Erik Prince was living in McLean, Virginia, and spending time on his Middleburg property, Blackwater Ranch, designed as a family retreat just as his parent's home in Cody had been originally.