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 Betsy DeVos, recruited a motley crew of home-grown American operatives from the conservative group Project Veritas and elsewhere to lead an initiative to infiltrate state-level Democratic party organizations and campaigns, according to a new report.|A former British spy and Republican megadonor Erik Prince was a founder and leader of Blackwater, the private military contractor. He is also the brother of former U.S Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
According to a new report, the group recruited a number of American operatives from Project Veritas and other conservative groups to help him lead an effort to infiltrate state Democratic party campaigns and organizations.}
Prince, alongside the ex-MI6 officer he recruited to head the project, Richard Seddon, also targeted moderate Republican officials and those deemed as insufficiently dedicated to the hardline right-wing agenda favored by former President Donald Trump, Daily reuters reported Friday.|Along with Richard Seddon (an ex-MI6 officer he recruited) he also targeted moderate Republican officials as well as those deemed insufficiently committed to the hardline rightwing agenda favored former President Donald Trump. Daily reuters reported Friday.
According to the newspaper, the duo were funded by Susan Gore (longtime conservative donor and heiress of the Gore-Tex fortune), and they trained their operatives at a Wyoming ranch in areas such as “basics and espionage” or “political sabotage.”
Although it is not clear what level of success they achieved, the Times notes that Seddon and Prince placed two spy spies — Beau Maier (the nephew of conservative commentator Glenn Beck) and Sofia LaRocca deep into Democratic political organisations in Wyoming, Arizona and Colorado.
According to The Times, Democratic operatives began to be suspicious of LaRocca’s story.
Some were suspicious of her behavior. Ms. LaRocca lived in Fort Collins, Colo. (about 45 miles from Cheyenne), Wyoming’s capital. However, some Democrats were curious about how the couple planned to organize a grassroots campaign to flip the state. Ms. LaRocca claimed she couldn’t rent a Cheyenne home because she had a pet dog. This explanation was absurd.
Ms. LaRocca also introduced herself as Cat Debreau to party officials. She finally told a story about why her name changed to Sofia LaRocca. She said she was the victim of an internet stalker but that she decided to use her original name again because she had been told by police that her stalker had changed.
Nina Hebert, at the time the digital director of the Wyoming Democratic Party, stated that “her story from the beginning rang very untrue.” “The police won’t call you to say that your stalker is worse.
Project Veritas and its long-time head, frequent Fox News guest James O’Keefe, did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
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Wyoming Governor was one of the main targets of the operation. Mark Gordon, a Republican whom Trump’s supporters viewed as too moderate and whose candidacy Gore vigorously opposed, was one of the most prominent targets of the operation.
Maier and LaRocca also managed to get into the Wyoming-based progressive group, Better Wyoming. The plot was discovered months later after they were well integrated into Better Wyoming operations. Nate Martin, the head of the group, said that he believed the plan was to “digest this information and then you sit on it till you can really destroy someone.”
According to the report, Maier and LaRocca were wed last week in Wyoming. Glenn Beck made a toast at reception.