McMaster, Trump's national security adviser, and other officials were not aware of the proposals.ĬIA Director Mike Pompeo has publicly promised that the agency would become “much more vicious” and aggressive. “The idea they are pitching is absurd on its face,” he said, “and it is not going anywhere.”Ī spokesperson for the National Security Council said that Army Lt. The CIA declined to comment, but a US government official downplayed the proposals' significance. The proposals sound like a convoluted movie plot, but two of the sources familiar with the project say discussions have been held recently with top national security officials. They say that the people involved have the information and capabilities to snatch the two suspects and transport them to the US or a third country. People involved in the highly unusual project have asked BuzzFeed News not to name the country or the targets because of concerns about the safety of operatives who, they say, are on the ground. In keeping with that proposal, people close to the company are tracking two specific suspects in a Middle Eastern country, the sources said, for possible “rendition” to the United States.Ī source speaking on behalf of the company stressed that while Amyntor officials are aware of and involved in the rendition plan, the company itself would not be involved. Amyntor’s officials and employees include veterans of a variety of US covert operations, ranging from the Reagan-era Iran–Contra affair to more recent actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.Īmyntor declined to discuss the proposals, but a lawyer for the company said in a statement to BuzzFeed News that the type of contract being contemplated would be legal “with direction and control by the proper government authority.”Īnother proposal presented to US officials would allow individuals affiliated with the company to help capture wanted terrorists on behalf of the United States. One of the proposals would involve hiring a private company, Amyntor Group, for millions of dollars to set up a large intelligence network and run counterterrorist propaganda efforts, according to the sources. According to another Times report, the pair helped recruit ex-spies from the United Kingdom and the United States in a similar effort to infiltrate liberal groups.WASHINGTON - The White House and CIA have been considering a package of secret proposals to allow former US intelligence officers to run privatized covert actions, intelligence gathering, and propaganda missions, according to three sources who’ve been briefed on or have direct knowledge of the proposals. The news comes about four years after reports broke that both Prince and Seddon were aiding the right wing disinformation outlet Project Veritas, which uses undercover operatives to promote fake stories and deceptively edited videos designed to discredit journalists and elected officials. The main locale, however, was solid-red Wyoming, where Prince met with an heiress from the state, Susan Gore, who would later become one of the project's main backers.Īccording to the Times: "Prince’s role in the effort, which has not been previously disclosed, sheds further light on how a group of ultraconservative Republicans employed spycraft to try to manipulate the American political landscape." The undercover agents established networks in Wyoming, Colorado, and Arizona and made thousands of dollars in donations to Democratic candidates and causes, in a likely violation of campaign finance laws prohibiting straw donors. His involvement sheds new light on how a group of ultraconservative Republicans used spycraft to try to manipulate the American political landscape. Erik Prince raised money for a venture to use undercover agents to infiltrate opponents of Donald Trump.
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