‘CONSERVATIVE SPIES’

Justice Department Probing GOP-Led Efforts to Infiltrate DNC in 2020: Report

The undercover operation in Wyoming reportedly came before the 2020 election.

The Department of Justice is investigating an undercover, GOP-backed operation in Wyoming to infiltrate the Democratic National Committee ahead of the 2020 election, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. In 2021, The New York Times reported that “conservative spies” posed as Democratic activists to gatecrash “progressive groups, political campaigns and the offices of Democratic as well as moderate Republican elected officials,” according to interviews and documents. The goal of the operatives was to “gather dirt that could sabotage the reputations of people and organizations considered threats to a hard-right agenda advanced by President Donald J. Trump,” the Times reported. Now, federal prosecutors have subpoenaed ex-British intelligence official Richard Seddon and Republican donor Susan Gore, sources told CNN. The subpoenas demand Seddon, Gore, and other implicated individuals cough up certain documents and communications from January 2018 to the present. The Times’ investigation also found that Seddon recruited and trained operatives who then made significant donations to Democratic groups and candidates. One subpoena seeks information behind the operatives and donations, according to CNN. Attorneys for Seddon and Gore declined to comment.