Federal prosecutors are investigating possible campaign finance violations in connection with a Wyoming-based covert operation that aimed to infiltrate progressive groups, political campaigns and the offices of elected representatives ahead of the 2020 election, according to two people familiar with the matter and documents related to the Caixa.
As part of the operation, revealed in 2021 by The New York Times, participants used large campaign donations and cover stories to gain access to their targets and gather dirt to sabotage the reputations of individuals and organizations deemed threats to the ‘President Donald J. Trump’s agenda.
In recent days, prosecutors have issued subpoenas to at least two of the people The Times identified as part of the operation, including Richard Seddon, a former British spy, and Susan Gore, a Wyoming heiress to the fortune of Gore-Tex, the people. said The citations were previously reported by CNN.
According to one of the subpoenas reviewed by The Times, prosecutors and FBI agents in Washington are seeking a trove of information related to the political spying operation, including documents related to Mr. Seddon, Branch Six Consulting International, along with at least two others. entities registered in their name.
Prosecutors also sought communications, documents or financial records linked to Erik Prince, the international security consultant, as well as former agents who worked for the conservative group Project Veritas and its founder. Mr. Prince and Mr. Seddon are long-time partners.
Agents working for Mr. Seddon made several major political donations, including $20,000 to the Democratic National Committee, which allowed them to participate in a Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas in 2020. They also donated to the election campaigns of Senator Mark Kelly and Colorado. Secretary of State Jena Griswold, as well as the Wyoming Democratic Party.
Mr Seddon used Ms Gore’s money to fund the operation. Mrs. Gore has said publicly that she did not know her money was being used for sabotage operations. Robert Driscoll, attorney for Mr. Seddon, declined to comment. Nicholas Gravante, a Manhattan lawyer for Ms. Gore who represents many high-profile clients, also declined to comment.
It is unclear whether the operatives who made the donations — Beau Maier and Sofia LaRocca — did so at the behest of someone and were reimbursed. Both were named in the subpoena reviewed by The Times. It was also unclear whether the couple had been subpoenaed or were cooperating with federal authorities.
The FBI declined to comment.
Mr Seddon closely managed the two operatives, who provided him with weekly intelligence reports on their activities and targets, according to a person with direct knowledge of the operation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details secrets
Under federal law, it is illegal to make campaign donations at the behest of another person and to be reimbursed by them. So-called straw donations have been central to several federal investigations.
According to interviews and documents obtained by The Times, the operation began in 2018, when Mr. Seddon convinced several former employees of Project Veritas—the conservative group that conducts covert garbage operations—to move to Wyoming and participate in his new venture.
Mr. Seddon, who was working for Ms. Gore at the time, wanted to set up spy operations in which undercover agents would infiltrate progressive groups and the offices of elected officials and potentially recruit others to help gather information.
It is not clear how much information Mr.’s operatives gathered. Seddon, or what else the operation achieved. But his use of professional intelligence-gathering techniques to try to manipulate the politics of several states showed greater sophistication than more traditional “dirty tricks” political operations.
It also showed a level of paranoia in some ultra-conservative Republican circles that America’s electoral map could be shifting to its disadvantage. Specifically, there was concern that even a core Republican state like Wyoming could gradually swing to the Democrats, just as nearby Colorado and Arizona had.
Republicans have tried to install allies in various positions at the state level to gain an advantage on the electoral map. Secretaries of state, for example, play a crucial role in certifying election results every two years, and some became targets of Mr. Trump and his allies in their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
One of the targets of the spy ring was Karlee Provenza, a police reform advocate who won a seat in the Wyoming Legislature representing one of the state’s few Democratic districts. Ms. Provenza said she was encouraged that federal authorities have not ignored the episode, while Wyoming officials have not acted.
“I’m glad to see that the Department of Justice is investigating efforts to try to dismantle democracy in Wyoming,” he said. “The actions of Susan Gore and the people she supports have not been scrutinized since this spying operation was revealed.”
In 2017, Mr. Seddon was recruited to join Project Veritas by Mr. Prince, the former head of Blackwater Worldwide and brother of Betsy DeVos, who was the education secretary of Mr. Trump at the time. According to people familiar with Mr. Prince, believed that Mr. Seddon could turn Project Veritas into a more professional intelligence gathering operation.
Shortly after, Mr. Seddon was designing an effort to discredit perceived enemies of Mr. Trump inside the U.S. government, including a planned 2018 sting operation against Mr. Trump at the time, HR McMaster. He also helped set up operations to secretly record FBI employees and other government officials.
