The New York Times reports:
A network of conservative activists, aided by a British former spy, mounted a campaign during the Trump administration to discredit perceived enemies of President Trump inside the government, according to documents and people involved in the operations.
The campaign included a planned sting operation against Mr. Trump’s national security adviser at the time, H.R. McMaster, and secret surveillance operations against F.B.I. employees, aimed at exposing anti-Trump sentiment in the bureau’s ranks.
The operations against the F.B.I., run by the conservative group Project Veritas, were conducted from a large home in the Georgetown section of Washington that rented for $10,000 per month. Female undercover operatives arranged dates with the F.B.I. employees with the aim of secretly recording them making disparaging comments about Mr. Trump.
Read the full article.
Project Veritas last appeared on JMG in November 2020 when they presented a Pennsylvania mailman who claimed to have witnessed ballot fraud. The mailman later admitted he’d made the story up.
O’Keefe, as you may recall, has conducted multiple similar stunts, most of which went nowhere due to his group’s “comical incompetence” – as one article characterized them.
Last year he appeared on JMG when it was revealed that Erik Prince’s outfit had attempted to train Project Veritas staffers, but they were “too stupid to learn.”
In 2018, O’Keefe claimed that Trump had repeatedly asked him to break into Columbia University and steal Barack Obama’s student transcripts. In 2017, O’Keefe flamed out spectacularly when he attempted to sting the Washington Post with a fake Roy Moore accuser.
Also in 2017, O’Keefe was banned from soliciting donations in Florida due to his criminal record. Despite that, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas presented him with a right wing group’s “Impact Award” during a ceremony held that month at Trump’s DC hotel.
In 2010, O’Keefe and three collaborators pleaded guilty to breaking into the office of then-Sen. Mary Landrieu. O’Keefe was sentenced to three years of probation and 100 hours of community service.
“Whether any of Mr. Trump’s White House advisers had direct knowledge of the campaign is unclear…”
Seems like this plot would be a good topic for a Congressional committee to investigate. Could question former WH aides under oath, subpoena emails, etc. https://t.co/VwAV5lGn1v
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) May 13, 2021
The campaign included a planned sting operation against Trump’s national security adviser at the time, H.R. McMaster, and secret surveillance operations against FBI employees, aimed at exposing anti-Trump sentiment in the bureau’s ranks. https://t.co/N7Yrjx5M5U pic.twitter.com/m0gxYyTht3
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 13, 2021
Project Veritas assigned female undercover operatives to arrange dates with FBI employees and other officials and secretly record them, with the aim of capturing any disparaging comments made about Trump. The women had code names like “Brazil” and “Tiger.” https://t.co/N7Yrjx5M5U
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 13, 2021
The campaign shows the obsession that some of Trump’s allies had about a shadowy “deep state” trying to blunt his agenda — and the lengths that some were willing to go to try to purge the government of those believed to be disloyal to the president. https://t.co/N7Yrjx5M5U
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 13, 2021