Activists and Ex-Spy Said to Have Plotted to Discredit Trump ‘Enemies’ in Government

[NewfieMom]

Erik Prince, a close ally of Donald Trump and the brother of former Secretary of Education Betsy De Vos, recruited a former British spy, Richard Seddon, to run Project Veritas. Last year "The New York Times" reported on the actions of Project Veritas to infiltrate trade unions and Democratic Congressional campaigns, but gradually the mission of the organization changed. The conservative network mounted an effort to discredit the perceived enemies of Donald Trump. They planed a sting operation against FBI agents and National Security Adviser H.R.McMaster. This project operated secretly ad well funded (The Prince Family used their Wyoming ranch to train operatives at one point) simply to fight Trump's perceived "enemies" within the United States government which would effectively shield him from any oversight.

"The operation against Mr. McMaster was hatched not long after an article appeared in BuzzFeed News about a private dinner in 2017. Exactly what happened during the dinner is in dispute, but the article said that Mr. McMaster had disparaged Mr. Trump by calling him an 'idiot' with the intelligence of a 'kindergartner.'
That dinner, at an upscale restaurant in downtown Washington, was attended by Mr. McMaster and Safra A. Catz, the chief executive of Oracle, as well as two of their aides. Not long after, Ms. Catz called Donald F. McGahn II, then the White House counsel, to complain about Mr. McMaster’s behavior, according to two people familiar with the call.
White House officials investigated and could not substantiate her claims, people familiar with their inquiry said. Ms. Catz declined to comment, and there is no evidence that she played any role in the plot against Mr. McMaster.
Soon after the BuzzFeed article, however, the scheme developed to try to entrap Mr. McMaster: Recruit a woman to stake out the same restaurant, Tosca, with a hidden camera. According to the plan, whenever Mr. McMaster returned by himself, the woman would strike up a conversation with him and, over drinks, try to get him to make comments that could be used to either force him to resign or get him fired."

Activists and Ex-Spy Said to Have Plotted to Discredit Trump ‘Enemies’ in Government (Published 2021)

The campaign included planned operations against President Trump’s national security adviser at the time, H.R. McMaster, and F.B.I. employees, according to documents and interviews.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Mycroft]

Erik Prince, a close ally of Donald Trump and the brother of former Secretary of Education Betsy De Vos, recruited a former British spy, Richard Seddon, to run Project Veritas. Last year "The New York Times" reported on the actions of Project Veritas to infiltrate trade unions and Democratic Congressional campaigns, but gradually the mission of the organization changed. The conservative network mounted an effort to discredit the perceived enemies of Donald Trump. They planed a sting operation against FBI agents and National Security Adviser H.R.McMaster. This project operated secretly ad well funded (The Prince Family used their Wyoming ranch to train operatives at one point) simply to fight Trump's perceived "enemies" within the United States government which would effectively shield him from any oversight.

"The operation against Mr. McMaster was hatched not long after an article appeared in BuzzFeed News about a private dinner in 2017. Exactly what happened during the dinner is in dispute, but the article said that Mr. McMaster had disparaged Mr. Trump by calling him an 'idiot' with the intelligence of a 'kindergartner.'
That dinner, at an upscale restaurant in downtown Washington, was attended by Mr. McMaster and Safra A. Catz, the chief executive of Oracle, as well as two of their aides. Not long after, Ms. Catz called Donald F. McGahn II, then the White House counsel, to complain about Mr. McMaster’s behavior, according to two people familiar with the call.
White House officials investigated and could not substantiate her claims, people familiar with their inquiry said. Ms. Catz declined to comment, and there is no evidence that she played any role in the plot against Mr. McMaster.
Soon after the BuzzFeed article, however, the scheme developed to try to entrap Mr. McMaster: Recruit a woman to stake out the same restaurant, Tosca, with a hidden camera. According to the plan, whenever Mr. McMaster returned by himself, the woman would strike up a conversation with him and, over drinks, try to get him to make comments that could be used to either force him to resign or get him fired."

Activists and Ex-Spy Said to Have Plotted to Discredit Trump ‘Enemies’ in Government (Published 2021)

The campaign included planned operations against President Trump’s national security adviser at the time, H.R. McMaster, and F.B.I. employees, according to documents and interviews.

www.nytimes.com

I see nothing wrong with operations to identify and expose those government employees who act as part of the "deep state". Lord knows, they have done a tremendous amount of damage to the then sitting President...even to the extent of such criminal activity as unauthorized release of classified government documents...and, the fact is, they are extremely hard to identify and remove.

Since the Trump hating media had no interest in exposing deep state criminals, I'm happy that there was, at least, one organization that was willing to take on the job they ignored.

 

[TomFitz]

I see nothing wrong with operations to identify and expose those government employees who act as part of the "deep state". Lord knows, they have done a tremendous amount of damage to the then sitting President...even to the extent of such criminal activity as unauthorized release of classified government documents...and, the fact is, they are extremely hard to identify and remove.

Since the Trump hating media had no interest in exposing deep state criminals, I'm happy that there was, at least, one organization that was willing to take on the job they ignored.

You can’t even define “deep state”.

It’s just a word your savior and fuhrer made up which you repeat like a chant.

You see no problem with a mercenary working in league with a known right wing political fraudster to undermine officials in your government.

But this is exactly the sort of thing that happens in facist states. It’s what happened in Nazi Germany.

And here you are, cheering for it, and spouting meaningless empty right wing buzzwords as an excuse.

 

[Rogue Valley]

Erik Prince, a close ally of Donald Trump and the brother of former Secretary of Education Betsy De Vos, recruited a former British spy, Richard Seddon, to run Project Veritas. Last year "The New York Times" reported on the actions of Project Veritas to infiltrate trade unions and Democratic Congressional campaigns, but gradually the mission of the organization changed. The conservative network mounted an effort to discredit the perceived enemies of Donald Trump. They planed a sting operation against FBI agents and National Security Adviser H.R.McMaster. This project operated secretly ad well funded (The Prince Family used their Wyoming ranch to train operatives at one point) simply to fight Trump's perceived "enemies" within the United States government which would effectively shield him from any oversight.

This is how dictatorships operate. A secret operation to discredit anyone on the inside who fails to sufficiently bend the knee to Donald Trump.

 

[j brown's body]

One fascinating thing about this story is that after spending tens of thousands of dollars, engaging in secret training on a western ranch, there is no evidence that they could get anyone to say that Trump is an idiot on camera, even though polls show that about half the nation and most of DC believe this and plenty of people Trump placed in high-level positions publicly had admitted it.

 

[j brown's body]

I see nothing wrong with operations to identify and expose those government employees who act as part of the "deep state". Lord knows, they have done a tremendous amount of damage to the then sitting President...even to the extent of such criminal activity as unauthorized release of classified government documents...and, the fact is, they are extremely hard to identify and remove.

Since the Trump hating media had no interest in exposing deep state criminals, I'm happy that there was, at least, one organization that was willing to take on the job they ignored.

They weren't trying to expose criminals.

 

[dixon01767]

You can’t even define “deep state”.

It’s just a word your savior and fuhrer made up which you repeat like a chant.

Actually it was made up by Mike Lofgren in his 2014 book "The Anatomy of the Deep State"

 

[j brown's body]

Actually it was made up by Mike Lofgren in his 2014 book "The Anatomy of the Deep State"

Thanks for mentioning this. I had not heard of this. He had a more specific definition in mind. He defines it as a military-industrial apparatus that enables government to pass laws limiting our freedom in the name of "national security."

"The Deep State does not consist of the entire government. It is a hybrid of national security and law enforcement agencies: the Department of Defense, the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Justice Department. I also include the Department of the Treasury because of its jurisdiction over financial flows, its enforcement of international sanctions and its organic symbiosis with Wall Street. All these agencies are coordinated by the Executive Office of the President via the National Security Council. Certain key areas of the judiciary belong to the Deep State, such as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, whose actions are mysterious even to most members of Congress. Also included are a handful of vital federal trial courts, such as the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of Manhattan, where sensitive proceedings in national security cases are conducted. The final government component (and possibly last in precedence among the formal branches of government established by the Constitution) is a kind of rump Congress consisting of the congressional leadership and some (but not all) of the members of the defense and intelligence committees. The rest of Congress, normally so fractious and partisan, is mostly only intermittently aware of the Deep State and when required usually submits to a few well-chosen words from the State’s emissaries.

I saw this submissiveness on many occasions. One memorable incident was passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments Act of 2008. This legislation retroactively legalized the Bush administration’s illegal and unconstitutional surveillance first revealed by The New York Times in 2005 and indemnified the telecommunications companies for their cooperation in these acts. The bill passed easily: All that was required was the invocation of the word “terrorism” and most members of Congress responded like iron filings obeying a magnet. One who responded in that fashion was Senator Barack Obama, soon to be coronated as the presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. He had already won the most delegates by campaigning to the left of his main opponent, Hillary Clinton, on the excesses of the global war on terror and the erosion of constitutional liberties.

As the indemnification vote showed, the Deep State does not consist only of government agencies. What is euphemistically called “private enterprise” is an integral part of its operations. In a special series in The Washington Post called “Top Secret America,” Dana Priest and William K. Arkin described the scope of the privatized Deep State and the degree to which it has metastasized after the September 11 attacks. There are now 854,000 contract personnel with top-secret clearances — a number greater than that of top-secret-cleared civilian employees of the government. While they work throughout the country and the world, their heavy concentration in and around the Washington suburbs is unmistakable: Since 9/11, 33 facilities for top-secret intelligence have been built or are under construction. Combined, they occupy the floor space of almost three Pentagons — about 17 million square feet. Seventy percent of the intelligence community’s budget goes to paying contracts. And the membrane between government and industry is highly permeable: The Director of National Intelligence, James R. Clapper, is a former executive of Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the government’s largest intelligence contractors. His predecessor as director, Admiral Mike McConnell, is the current vice chairman of the same company; Booz Allen is 99 percent dependent on government business. These contractors now set the political and social tone of Washington, just as they are increasingly setting the direction of the country, but they are doing it quietly, their doings unrecorded in the Congressional Record or the Federal Register, and are rarely subject to congressional hearings."

Essay: Anatomy of the Deep State | BillMoyers.com

In a must-read essay, former GOP congressional analyst Mike Lofgren analyzes America's "Deep State," in which elected and unelected figures collude to serve powerful vested interests.

billmoyers.com

 

[jonny5]

Erik Prince, a close ally of Donald Trump and the brother of former Secretary of Education Betsy De Vos, recruited a former British spy, Richard Seddon, to run Project Veritas. Last year "The New York Times" reported on the actions of Project Veritas to infiltrate trade unions and Democratic Congressional campaigns, but gradually the mission of the organization changed. The conservative network mounted an effort to discredit the perceived enemies of Donald Trump. They planed a sting operation against FBI agents and National Security Adviser H.R.McMaster. This project operated secretly ad well funded (The Prince Family used their Wyoming ranch to train operatives at one point) simply to fight Trump's perceived "enemies" within the United States government which would effectively shield him from any oversight.

"The operation against Mr. McMaster was hatched not long after an article appeared in BuzzFeed News about a private dinner in 2017. Exactly what happened during the dinner is in dispute, but the article said that Mr. McMaster had disparaged Mr. Trump by calling him an 'idiot' with the intelligence of a 'kindergartner.'
That dinner, at an upscale restaurant in downtown Washington, was attended by Mr. McMaster and Safra A. Catz, the chief executive of Oracle, as well as two of their aides. Not long after, Ms. Catz called Donald F. McGahn II, then the White House counsel, to complain about Mr. McMaster’s behavior, according to two people familiar with the call.
White House officials investigated and could not substantiate her claims, people familiar with their inquiry said. Ms. Catz declined to comment, and there is no evidence that she played any role in the plot against Mr. McMaster.
Soon after the BuzzFeed article, however, the scheme developed to try to entrap Mr. McMaster: Recruit a woman to stake out the same restaurant, Tosca, with a hidden camera. According to the plan, whenever Mr. McMaster returned by himself, the woman would strike up a conversation with him and, over drinks, try to get him to make comments that could be used to either force him to resign or get him fired."

Activists and Ex-Spy Said to Have Plotted to Discredit Trump ‘Enemies’ in Government (Published 2021)

The campaign included planned operations against President Trump’s national security adviser at the time, H.R. McMaster, and F.B.I. employees, according to documents and interviews.

www.nytimes.com

So what?

 

[j brown's body]

So what?

Its like , wow, I inherited a lot of wealth. I can do whatever I want with it. Should I use it to help others who weren't as fortunate as me? No, I think I'll use it to build my own right-wing army to wage a clandestine, yet ineffective, war against my political opponents. Yeah, that's the ticket.

 

[TomFitz]

Actually it was made up by Mike Lofgren in his 2014 book "The Anatomy of the Deep State"

Yes, but Trump took the term and used it to describe anyone he didn’t like. In much the same way he turned “fake news”, the term used to describe the websites that FSB operatives disguised to look like legitimate established news organizations, into his all purpose term to deny the obvious.

Trump loves the deep state. At least the one the Lofgren described.

 

[TomFitz]

So what?

So what?

Hiring girls and having them date FBI men so they could secretly record them if they said anything bad about the fuhrer.........

Not in this country.

Unless you’re a Trumpster.

 

[jonny5]

So what?

Hiring girls and having them date FBI men so they could secretly record them if they said anything bad about the fuhrer.........

Not in this country.

Unless you’re a Trumpster.

Im not, but the op didnt post any original thoughts, so Im trying to determine what this debate is about.

 

[Hatuey]

I see nothing wrong with operations to identify and expose those government employees who act as part of the "deep state". Lord knows, they have done a tremendous amount of damage to the then sitting President...even to the extent of such criminal activity as unauthorized release of classified government documents...and, the fact is, they are extremely hard to identify and remove.

Since the Trump hating media had no interest in exposing deep state criminals, I'm happy that there was, at least, one organization that was willing to take on the job they ignored.

Make up a conspiracy, and then you see nothing wrong with chasing people around over it.

Sounds convenient.

 

[americanwoman]

I see nothing wrong with operations to identify and expose those government employees who act as part of the "deep state". Lord knows, they have done a tremendous amount of damage to the then sitting President...even to the extent of such criminal activity as unauthorized release of classified government documents...and, the fact is, they are extremely hard to identify and remove.

Since the Trump hating media had no interest in exposing deep state criminals, I'm happy that there was, at least, one organization that was willing to take on the job they ignored.

Why do you think H.R. McMaster was part of some deep state plot?

 

[dixon01767]

Yes, but Trump took the term and used it to describe anyone he didn’t like.

What nonsense.

 

[TomFitz]

Im not, but the op didnt post any original thoughts, so Im trying to determine what this debate is about.

That’s about the most pathetic dodge I’ve ever seen!

A known right wing fraudster in league with a mercenary closely allied with the TRump regieme employs gestapo tactics to try and undermine anyone who might criticize the fuhrer.

That’s what this is about. That’s what Trump was doing. (He did it out in the open too). And it’s not as if Project Vertias ever had any legitimacy, and Eric Prince is, and always was a shady criminal.

That’s the back office of Trump world.

Corruption and facism. That’s what this clearly is.

 

[TomFitz]

What nonsense.

Prove it.

 

[j brown's body]

What nonsense.

He didn't? Anyone who wasn't personally loyal to him was suspiciously looked upon as part of the "deep state."

That's one of the interesting things about the Trump presidency. He wasn't really "the president". He didn't speak for the nation so much as he spoke for himself and his base. He didn't see himself as part of a democratic institution. He was willing to destroy any part of that institution for his own ends. He railed against his own government of which he, himself, was the leader. He declined to use it to help anyone other than himself. And his supporters loved him for it.

 

[j brown's body]

Why do you think H.R. McMaster was part of some deep state plot?

Anyone not showing fealty to Trump was certainly "part of some deep state plot."

 

[TomFitz]

He didn't? Anyone who wasn't personally loyal to him was suspiciously looked upon as part of the "deep state."

That's one of the interesting things about the Trump presidency. He wasn't really "the president". He didn't speak for the nation so much as he spoke for himself and his base. He didn't see himself as part of a democratic institution. He was willing to destroy any part of that institution for his own ends. He railed against his own government of which he, himself, was the leader. He declined to use it to help anyone other than himself. And his supporters loved him for it.

He also didn’t give a damn about doing the actual job. All he really cared about was putting on a show for his audience, and avenging what he saw as personal slights.

He spent most of his tenure in snowflake mode, sulking over his bad press, while doing everything to earn it.

 

[Integrityrespec]

Erik Prince, a close ally of Donald Trump and the brother of former Secretary of Education Betsy De Vos, recruited a former British spy, Richard Seddon, to run Project Veritas. Last year "The New York Times" reported on the actions of Project Veritas to infiltrate trade unions and Democratic Congressional campaigns, but gradually the mission of the organization changed. The conservative network mounted an effort to discredit the perceived enemies of Donald Trump. They planed a sting operation against FBI agents and National Security Adviser H.R.McMaster. This project operated secretly ad well funded (The Prince Family used their Wyoming ranch to train operatives at one point) simply to fight Trump's perceived "enemies" within the United States government which would effectively shield him from any oversight.

"The operation against Mr. McMaster was hatched not long after an article appeared in BuzzFeed News about a private dinner in 2017. Exactly what happened during the dinner is in dispute, but the article said that Mr. McMaster had disparaged Mr. Trump by calling him an 'idiot' with the intelligence of a 'kindergartner.'
That dinner, at an upscale restaurant in downtown Washington, was attended by Mr. McMaster and Safra A. Catz, the chief executive of Oracle, as well as two of their aides. Not long after, Ms. Catz called Donald F. McGahn II, then the White House counsel, to complain about Mr. McMaster’s behavior, according to two people familiar with the call.
White House officials investigated and could not substantiate her claims, people familiar with their inquiry said. Ms. Catz declined to comment, and there is no evidence that she played any role in the plot against Mr. McMaster.
Soon after the BuzzFeed article, however, the scheme developed to try to entrap Mr. McMaster: Recruit a woman to stake out the same restaurant, Tosca, with a hidden camera. According to the plan, whenever Mr. McMaster returned by himself, the woman would strike up a conversation with him and, over drinks, try to get him to make comments that could be used to either force him to resign or get him fired."

Activists and Ex-Spy Said to Have Plotted to Discredit Trump ‘Enemies’ in Government (Published 2021)

The campaign included planned operations against President Trump’s national security adviser at the time, H.R. McMaster, and F.B.I. employees, according to documents and interviews.

www.nytimes.com

This isn't news. The democrats made the standard for dirty politics with the Trump Russian Collusion Hoax, followed up with Ukrainegate.

 

[TomFitz]

This isn't news. The democrats made the standard for dirty politics with the Trump Russian Collusion Hoax, followed up with Ukrainegate.

Actually, this IS news.

But if you’re going to use the “old news” dodge, just remember that it a tell tale that you know it’s true.

Of course, if you think it’s OK for a sitting president to use a mercenary and a fraudster to run a scheme to entrap people who might say bad things about your fuhrer........well.......

And Russian collusion was real, and very well documented. It hasn’t gone away. The Ukraine blackmail episode was equally dishonorable and equally obvious.

Once, not so long ago, a US President was the most important of world leaders. Trump reduced himself to international pariah.

 

[j brown's body]

This isn't news. The democrats made the standard for dirty politics with the Trump Russian Collusion Hoax, followed up with Ukrainegate.

This is more right-wing acceptance of corruption because "everybody does it." Very dangerous. Hannah Arendt ties it to fascism.

About Ukrainegate. It isn't complicated

 

[j brown's body]

He also didn’t give a damn about doing the actual job. All he really cared about was putting on a show for his audience, and avenging what he saw as personal slights.

He spent most of his tenure in snowflake mode, sulking over his bad press, while doing everything to earn it.

Like most tyrants, he's all about the spectacle.