Former Blackwater Head And Trump Loyalist Erik Prince Hired Spies To Infiltrate Progressive Groups, Dem Campaigns — Report

In a stunning and jaw-dropping report published on Saturday, it was revealed that Erik Prince, brother to President Donald Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and former head of the infamous Blackwater security firm, had hired ex-British and American spies to infiltrate progressive organizations, labor groups, and Democratic congressional campaigns.

Working in conjunction with Project Veritas, a conservative group that uses secret recording methods (and selective editing) to discredit and embarrass Democrats or progressive organizations, Prince helped to hire the spies for the purpose of infiltrating those groups in clandestine ways, a report from the New York Times detailed.

The spies had helped Project Veritas to infiltrate a congressional campaign in Virginia, as well as a Michigan chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, in addition to others. Documents showcasing the operation by Prince and PV were obtained during a discovery process in a lawsuit from AFT alleging the spying took place.

Efforts from the spies included attempting to copy private files of the organization, and recording private conversations of group members without permission to do so. Michigan law is complicated when it comes to recording conversations, but the suit is a civil matter.

Breaking News: Erik Prince, the security contractor close to the Trump administration, recruited former U.S. and British spies to help infiltrate liberal groupshttps://t.co/44gTIamTgX — The New York Times (@nytimes) March 7, 2020

Prince’s role in working with Project Veritas wasn’t previously known until these documents emerged, the Times noted. The suit also shows that Prince wanted to use former spies initially and as early as 2016 to train Project Veritas workers in the art of clandestine operations.

Prince is currently under a Department of Justice investigation for possibly lying under oath while testifying during the Russia investigation to a congressional committee. He allegedly failed to mention meeting with the Trump 2016 presidential campaign, telling lawmakers under oath that his involvement with Trump was no more than “writing papers, [and] putting out yard signs.”

In an interview last year, Prince placed himself in a bit of a pickle when he admitted that he also talked “about Iran policy” with the Trump campaign — something he had not revealed to Congress.

Prince and Trump have strong connections to one another, and the former has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars toward the election efforts of the latter. Trump has suggested in the past (and continues to do so today) that efforts to spy on his campaign by the FBI, which have since been found to be legitimate, were inappropriate and illegal.