His uncle is the conservative commentator Glenn Beck. Did it expand the number of people that they had? And they would find people, and they would go out with them. Remind us who he is. MATTHEW COLE: In. We know that because Glenn put it up on his Instagram account. But what is clear is if Beau and Sofia made these campaign contributions - right? She actually got a contract fundraising gig with the Democrats, right? You know, this is something we haven't seen, right? And this is FRESH AIR. They were going to bug it. I don't know. The whole thing was completely - was really weird. Did you receive the spare camera yet?. 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 they received what was essentially clandestine training at a ranch in Wyoming that's owned by the family of Erik Prince. 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. You mentioned that he was recruited by Erik Prince. "He's a very nice man," Prince said of Barrasso in the Breitbart interview. There were steps taken to advance this plan, but in the end, it didn't happen because McMaster was fired. A spokesman for Mr. And Glenn Beck, Beau's uncle, gave a toast. And, of course, that was an entree into a larger circle of prominent Democrats. 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. DAVIES: Right. 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. And then Seddon - you know, he stays on. 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. 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. You know, she attended that. contractor who is best known as the founder of the private military firm Blackwater and whose sister, Betsy DeVos, was Mr. Trumps education secretary has drawn scrutiny over the years for Blackwaters record of violence around the world and his subsequent ventures training and arming foreign forces. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. 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. In particular, you know, Sofia targeted a employee with the GAO. 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. Our understanding of the operation is that Mr. Seddon, while employed, in fact, at Project Veritas, was involved in this. Prince have ties to President Trumps aides and family. 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. Mr. Halderman was copied on several messages providing updates about the Michigan operation, and in one message, he gave instructions to Ms. Jorge. GOLDMAN: Yeah, I would say an active - sure, an active player in certain parts of Trump's world, yeah, or conservative - the conservative world. There's a long backstory there. There was a year-long lease that was signed that allowed Project Veritas to put its operatives in that fancy house. The former Navy SEAL gained fame for the supporting role his Blackwater firm played in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the security contractor became infamous when its employees killed 14 Iraqi civilians and wounded 17 others in Baghdad in 2007. But, you know, his sister is Betsy DeVos, and she was Secretary of Education during the Trump administration. 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. You'd have to ask Mr. O'Keefe. 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. Both Project Veritas and Mr. And so we're all familiar with that, I think, to some extent. And that was their logo. Ms. Jorge was eventually exposed and kicked out of the campaign office. In 2018, an operative working for Project Veritas infiltrated the campaign of Abigail Spanberger, who went on to win a congressional seat. They had a - someone came to the Post. Let me reintroduce you. Richard Seddon, in 2018, I guess, decided to stop working with Project Veritas. One of the documents indicates that Marti Halverson, a former Wyoming state lawmaker, provided a list of people for the operatives to target. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. 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. He said that he did not think so. Beyond involving a different pool of jurors and a different judge, Prince may have a better chance of learning the identity of The Intercepts sources if the case stays in Wyoming, where there is no specific shield law protecting the confidentiality of reporters sources. "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. They make significant political contributions, right? And if they were given money, if the money was distributed by this former spy, Richard Seddon, and they pulled from that pot of money, which was part of that operation, that could also be problematic. 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. Last year, the House Intelligence Committee made a criminal referral to the Justice Department about Mr. The year after the sting, Democracy Partners sued Project Veritas, and its lawyers have since deposed Mr. OKeefe. 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. The Intercept, however, wants the complaint dismissed. I mean, he - it seems that - it's our understanding that Prince introduced Seddon to Project Veritas. Well, that and - by the way, at some point - I don't know the time period. As the founder of Blackwater USA, now Academi, a private military company, Prince headed the organization. These two are conservatives, right? And his son - he brought his son, who was a former army officer, on board to help. The website for Mr. OKeefes coming wedding listed Donald Trump Jr. as an invited guest. Given Mr. Princes extensive personal and professional ties to Wyoming, it is certainly plausible that some or all of [The Intercepts] sources to the extent they exist at all were located in Wyoming, Princes legal team wrote. But if the case was transferred to New York, that states laws could apply. But it was not her real name. 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. James OKeefe, the head of Project Veritas, last year at a White House social media summit. The Defense Department didn't go for it. Erik Prince, founder of private security contractor Blackwater and brother of former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, recruited a former British spy in 2016 to professionalize the undercover. 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. They had a private security firm. Jim Mattis, then the defense secretary, rejected the idea. There is little publicly available information about the company, but multiple Prince ventures, including Blackwater, have been based out of Moyock, North Carolina. You know, we had - we talked to many, many people who worked there, and, you know, they described Seddon as wanting to do more long-term operations - right? 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. The financial document also listed the names of others who gave much smaller amounts to Project Veritas last year. Presented with the details of the operation, Ledeen told the Times she was just a messenger, "not part of a plot.". 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. Prince declined to comment. And we're speaking with New York Times reporter Adam Goldman. Mr. OKeefe earned about $387,000. 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. DAVIES: Right. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. So flesh out the picture a bit. Mr. Seddon regularly updated Mr. OKeefe about the operation against the Michigan teachers union, according to internal Project Veritas emails, where the language of the groups leaders is marbled with spy jargon. AMY GOODMAN: In Wyoming. It's a conservative organization. Prince said he regularly host[s] customers, investors, employees and other business associates at my Wyoming ranch.. A former British spy and Republican mega-donor Erik Prince, a founder of the private military contractor Blackwater (now rebranded as "Academi) and brother to former U.S. Education Secretary. And, you know, these were - they were not really long-term operations. 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. In fact, I wrote a memo about what I had found. 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? GOLDMAN: Beau does. 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. Seddon left the project in 2018, before O'Keefe started releasing low-impact "unmasking the deep state" videos. She was attending, you know, Democratic fundraisers. Of course. 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. 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. Erik Prince, founder of private . 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. So what exactly was the plan to (laughter) catch McMaster saying something he shouldn't? 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