erik prince wyoming ranch

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DAVIES: Coming up, rock critic Ken Tucker reviews new songs by veteran artist Tom Jones, Jackson Browne and John Mayer. met with White House and Pentagon officials. if (document.referrer) document.write ("&referer=" + escape(document.referrer)); In a YouTube video, Mr. OKeefe described the lawsuit as frivolous and pointed to a portion of the deposition in which David Hecker, the president of AFT Michigan, said that one of the goals of the lawsuit was to stop Project Veritas from doing the kind of work that it does., Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in a statement: Lets be clear who the wrongdoer is here: Project Veritas used a fake intern to lie her way into our Michigan office, to steal documents and to spy and they got caught. What kind of inroads did they make? They targeted The Washington Post. So somebody was just waiting - and it turned out to be me and Mark - to come along and make the connection between the Sofia de LaRocca (ph) out in Wyoming and "Maria," quote, unquote, on the Project Veritas Exposed website. 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. McMaster, Trump's second national security adviser. By Derek Royden - July 2, 2021 2466 SOURCE NationofChange Published October 16, 2017. document.write (document.charset ? 1-307-754-2221. 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. GOLDMAN: I don't know if misrepresenting yourself to - and getting a job at a Democratic organization is a crime. Mr. The McMaster operation was aborted after he, unrelated to Project Veritas, resigned under pressure from Trump. Prince registered to vote in Park County back in 1992, but that registration lapsed after he failed to vote in the countys 2002 elections, according to county records. But I think - you would think that Democrats and Republicans would all be united, that this is a bipartisan issue, right? Now, this couple weren't really the committed Democrats they presented themselves as, right? The group has also become intertwined with the political activities of Mr. Trump and his family. But if the case was transferred to New York, that states laws could apply. But we were unaware of that. James OKeefe, the head of Project Veritas, declined to answer detailed questions about Mr. Reaching out to several intelligence veterans and occasionally using Mr. Seddon to make the pitch Mr. This espionage operation was aimed at perceived enemies of Trump and included a planned sting operation against former national security adviser H.R. The website for Mr. OKeefes coming wedding listed Donald Trump Jr. as an invited guest. And Glenn Beck, Beau's uncle, gave a toast. AMY GOODMAN: In Wyoming. What was this about? And we all sort of wracked our brains to try to figure out if, like, has this been done before? In 2016, Republican operatives believed they had obtained deleted Hillary Clinton emails from the dark web, and sought Mr. Princes assistance to authenticate them, an episode investigated by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel in the Trump-era Russia inquiry. 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. I have always understood him to be a resident of Northern Virginia, the lead writer of The Intercepts April story, Matthew Cole, wrote in a declaration. He recruited a British commando to help - this guy Gaz Thomas, who I guess had knew Seddon through his days at MI6. But I don't know how close they are. DAVIES: But the idea was that these public officials or FBI agents were secretly - they were part of the deep state. And as I was reporting this, somebody said, well, you know, her picture, you know, she's on that website. A local farmer was utilizing the land to grow corn and soybean crops, but the potential for the ranch was far from being realized. Copyright 2021 NPR. But then January 6 happened, you know, the insurrection. On Sept. 30, Prince personally visited the Park County Elections Office, registered and cast a general election ballot, according to the clerks office. "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. Meanwhile, Prince is once again registered as a Park County voter. 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. Ms. Jorge, 25, did not respond to email addresses associated with her Liberty University account. Prince has previously been involved in trying to find dirt on Democratic politicians. And they will attend their rival's news conferences, public events and gather information. And that was their logo. In a book published in 2018, Mr. OKeefe wrote that Mr. Trump years earlier had encouraged him to infiltrate Columbia University and obtain Mr. Obamas records. DAVIES: But Sofia was just - she was active. But (laughter) this seemed to be the training out in Wyoming. Erik 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. But, you know, over 18, they - it grew closer. Those contentions have become a key point of early proceedings in the case. (SOUNDBITE OF FRANK ZAPPA'S "EAT THAT QUESTION"). And I certainly don't think he thought he was going to get dragged into this. You know, I've covered politics for a long time myself, mostly at the state and local level. Prince might have approached for money for Mr. Seddons venture besides Ms. Gore. 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. Did it expand their operations? Prince and Mr. Seddon met in August 2018 with Susan Gore, a Wyoming heiress to the Gore-Tex fortune, Ms. Gore became the projects main benefactor. In particular, you know, Sofia targeted a employee with the GAO. 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? DAVIES: Right. WASHINGTON A British former spy recruited by Erik Prince, the security contractor close to the Trump administration, played a central role in a secretive effort to hire dozens . document.write ("'><\/scr"+"ipt>"); We'll continue our conversation in just a moment. According to Prince, the tech adviser determined that the emails were not authentic.. Prince noted he owned a home in Wyoming and had been connected to the state since 1992. 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. Mr. DAVIES: Right. You know, she used that to hobnob with people. And we're speaking with New York Times reporter Adam Goldman. Blackwater Worldwide founder Erik Prince is considering a Republican primary challenge to Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, a senior member of the Senate GOP leadership team, in a race that could pit the party's establishment against insurgents inspired by allies of President Donald Trump. He's a reporter for The New York Times. I think it was called "Deep State Exposed" or "Deep State Uncovered." Despite making multiple comments about Princes ties to Virginia, The Intercepts legal team said its immaterial to their jurisdictional arguments, which center on the publications own lack of ties to Wyoming. And in the end, you know, O'Keefe would release them and, you know, make a big deal out of them. DAVIES: Let's talk about some of the people who are behind this. The companys principal office is listed as being at the Prince familys ranch in Wapiti, though the mailing address is a property in Virginia. 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. You know, they were angry too, right? In early 2017, Prince reportedly welcomed James OKeefe and others from the conservative group Project Veritas, which describes itself as an army of guerrilla journalists. That February, OKeefe tweeted an image of himself taking aim with a silenced handgun amid snowy mountains, saying the team was undergoing intense training from a classified location as we make Project Veritas the next great intelligence agency. The Intercept ultimately identified the site as the Prince ranch in a 2019 article. GOLDMAN: Yeah, I think they nearly tripled the number of people they hired. And there was, you know, another individual from the Emirates who was there. He is not registered in Park County or [Wyoming] presently, unless he is not going by Erik Dean Prince and has changed his name, Park County Elections Deputy Pat Cole said in a Sept. 17 email; he said Prince hadnt voted in Wyoming since 2000. 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. And, yeah, people steal lawn signs. 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. DAVIES: Right. 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 then as I sort of gathered - started to gather information on this, I knew this was going to be a story. And he comes from a wealthy, conservative family in Michigan, right? They were, in fact, undercover spies who had been building a cover as eager Democrats when, in fact, they were anything but that. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Mr. We are speaking with Adam Goldman. DAVIES: Right. 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. Prince have ties to President Trumps aides and family. They've targeted CNN. if (document.context) document.write ("&context=" + escape(document.context)); The job put her in a position to gain valuable information about which Republican candidates the group was supporting with independent advertising. And, you know, there were a whole range of people they went after. So it was a fascinating moment in time last year when I realized what I suspected Beau and Sofia were doing. Connor Wroe Southard. 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. One target in particular was Gov. If he enters the race, he would be challenging Republican incumbent John Barrasso in the 2018 primaries, with the encouragement of Steve Bannon. To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a subscription. 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. McMaster. zoneId = 'Array'; 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. GOLDMAN: Project Veritas is founded by James O'Keefe. Prince said he should have named a different company Moyock Medical Supplies LLC as an example of an entity he owns thats registered to his address in Wapiti. }else{ 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. However, he ultimately did not challenge Barrasso in 2018 nor did he vote in those off-year elections, Prince acknowledged in Octobers revised declaration. And her picture wasn't her name GOLDMAN: It was a fake name, Maria. Project Veritas tax filings list Mr. Halderman as a project manager.. And, you know, these were - they were not really long-term operations. Both operations were run by Project Veritas, a conservative group that has gained attention using hidden cameras and microphones for sting operations on news organizations, Democratic politicians and liberal advocacy groups. But her picture was on this website. She went to meetings. For example, the co-authors of the piece in dispute, Cole and Alex Emmons, say theyre New York and Washington, D.C., residents whove never been to Wyoming. At the time, Prince was exploring the possibility of mounting a Republican primary challenge to incumbent U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. Prince said he thought hed registered to vote when hed obtained a Wyoming drivers license in October 2017. I know that, you know, one of the first instances of his association with this - or maybe the first instance of his association - was in an Intercept article in which O'Keefe had posted a picture of himself firing a pistol with a silencer on Instagram. This is FRESH AIR. Prince appears to have become interested in using former spies to train Project Veritas operatives in espionage tactics sometime during the 2016 presidential campaign. And it's not clear to us if he was making any money off of this. But when I learned about Beau and Sofia last year - there's a website, Project Veritas Exposed. The woman was claiming she had been impregnated by the Senate candidate, thinking that The Washington Post would be so excited to get dirt about a conservative that they would publish a bogus story. To do so would potentially reveal the sources identity, in breach of a promise of confidentiality made to the source, and creating personal risk for the source, they wrote, adding Princes real motive in bringing this lawsuit obtaining the identity of [The Intercepts] confidential source is plain., Further, if Prince is allowed to take discovery of The Intercept, the lawyers say they should be allowed to probe Princes ties to Virginia versus Wyoming, since he already has been forced to admit [his sworn statements] contained certain falsehoods.. 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. And they start trying to make inroads in the Wyoming Democratic Party. You'd have to ask Mr. O'Keefe. DAVIES: Right. I'm Dave Davies. It was unclear whether Mr. Seddon was involved in planning that operation. 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? And as the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press summarizes, New York provides absolute protection from forced disclosure of materials received in confidence by a professional journalist, including the identity of a source.. A document that month said that Mr. Seddons operatives had identified three potential sources in the new governors administration and have begun accelerated cultivations with a view to early recruitment., Later in January, the operatives wrote that they had successfully recruited another source with a role in the new governors administration, adding that the source has agreed to provide insights, help expose corruption and assist with eventual placement of undercovers.. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. How Times reporters cover politics. GOLDMAN: Well, that's a great question and one we struggle with at the Times in trying to put this in context. And, you know, I'm not sure when the relationship started. Mr. 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.

erik prince wyoming ranch

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