Other Project Veritas employees on the emails include Joe Halderman, an award-winning former television producer who in 2010 pleaded guilty to trying to extort $2 million from the comedian David Letterman. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. And he ends up giving, you know, $6,000 to Wyoming Democratic Party and also money to other political figures. Over the past year and a half, The New York Times has reported on an effort by conservatives to train operatives in undercover spy techniques to infiltrate progressive groups, political campaigns, unions and the offices of Democratic and moderate Republican elected officials. His attorneys allege the outlet is trafficking in lies, showed an obvious and intentional disregard for the truth and effectively made Prince out to be a traitor. Prince recruited Mr. Seddon to join the conservative group Project Veritas to teach espionage skills to its operatives and manage its undercover operations. And his son - he brought his son, who was a former army officer, on board to help. DAVIES: So an active player in the Trump world. He's a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times. They - you know, there's a wide range of targets, and many of them have been exposed. This is FRESH AIR. And this photo of James O'Keefe, who's, you know, the founder of Project Veritas, firing a weapon with a silencer, apparently, at Erik Prince's ranch - were they being trained in firearms there? Emails sent to Mr. Seddon went unanswered. And it's a fascinating story. - trying to find, you know, damaging information on, you know, on political rivals, you know, using, you know, private investigative firms. I mean, this is - you know, he no doubt sees them as a conservative ally, like other conservative networks. Months later, in June 2019, a report said we are expecting a big haul, including new lines of intelligence on the Republican side of the house.. At the time, Prince was exploring the possibility of mounting a Republican primary challenge to incumbent U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. And they thought McMaster had fired, you know, several people who the president had brought on and - or Mike Flynn, his former - his first national security adviser had brought on. And so these people were brought on to help manage these many, many, many, many operations. GOLDMAN: I was going to say, you know, talking to Republicans, moderate Republicans, I mean, moderate - these guys are pretty conservative, by the way - when we're describing it as moderate Republicans they were targeting. She and Mr. And as part of this effort, Richard Seddon was brought on to handle training and really professionalize Project Veritas' undercover operations. It seems like the Democrats have figured out this party switch deal to their advantage, Mr. Friess wrote in an email obtained by Wyofile, a political news site in Wyoming. And so, you know, I can't tell you right now it hasn't, that somebody else isn't doing this. But in a pending lawsuit, Prince asserts the April 13 story from The Intercept was false, defamatory and aimed at Wyoming. Because of the article, Prince says his reputation and professional opportunities within Wyoming suffered, along with his business interests and reputation in general. DAVIES: What are Erik Prince's contacts or associations with Donald Trump and the Trump family? DAVIES: Right. (SOUNDBITE OF FRANK ZAPPA'S "EAT THAT QUESTION"). In that deposition, Mr. OKeefe defended the groups undercover tactics, saying they were part of a long tradition of investigative journalism going back to muckraking reporters like Upton Sinclair. And the operatives had to give a - you know, had to give a cover story under duress. DAVIES: That's the Government Accountability Office. GOLDMAN: Well, they - you know, they - Beau is from Cody, Wyo., so he had some Wyoming roots. And this website is devoted to revealing the identities of Project Veritas operatives. If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free web account by clicking here. Im not ashamed of the methods that we use or the recordings that we use, he said. You know, they targeted the teachers unions. In 2016, Republican operatives believed they had obtained deleted Hillary Clinton emails from the dark web, and sought Mr. Princes assistance to authenticate them, an episode investigated by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel in the Trump-era Russia inquiry. Two weeks later, on Oct. 14, Prince submitted a new sworn statement in his defamation case, in which he acknowledged he had not registered to vote in Wyoming in 2017. A man named Samuel Chamberlain who matched the description of the one employed by Mr. OKeefe denied he worked for Project Veritas. The plan was reportedly to send a female operative to Tosca, a restaurant McMaster frequented, to engage him in drinks and conversation and record him disparaging Trump or making other inappropriate remarks on camera. But they thanked us for bringing, you know, putting some sunlight on this. You know, they were angry too, right? The website for Mr. OKeefes coming wedding listed Donald Trump Jr. as an invited guest. Funneling money surreptitiously to campaigns through other donors known as straw man donations would violate federal campaign finance laws.