Fred Klonsky, retired teacher in Illinois, recounts Erik Prince’s long history of engaging in espionage against his fellow citizens.
He writes:
The story in the Times details how Prince recruited ex-U.S. and British spies to infiltrate organizations including, but not even closely limited to, teacher unions.
Erik Prince is Betsy DeVos’ brother. DeVos is Trump’s Secretary of Education. Devos also has close ties to many Michigan-based right-wing, anti-union organizations. Among them is the Mackinaw Center for Public Policy.
One of the former spies, an ex-MI6 officer named Richard Seddon, helped run a 2017 operation to copy files and record conversations in a Michigan office of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest teachers’ unions in the nation. Mr. Seddon directed an undercover operative to secretly tape the union’s local leaders and try to gather information that could be made public to damage the organization, documents show.
Of course, this is nothing new.
For example, in 2011 all my work emails and personnel files were the subject of a FOIA filed by Ben Velderman of the Michigan-based Education Action group which had ties to the Mackinaw Center and Betsy DeVos.
This was just after having served as president of my NEA union local for ten years.
(The operations reported in the Times were) run by Project Veritas, a conservative group that has gained attention using hidden cameras and microphones for sting operations on news organizations, Democratic politicians and liberal advocacy groups. Mr. Seddon’s role in the teachers’ union operation — detailed in internal Project Veritas emails that have emerged from the discovery process of a court battle between the group and the union — has not previously been reported, nor has Mr. Prince’s role in recruiting Mr. Seddon for the group’s activities.
This is a step up from the days when these groups were using hacks like Ben Velderman to do their dirty work.
Now they are using professional spies.
Is this legal? Can’t Erik Prince be sued for violating the civil rights of others?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The outfit Eric Prince is working with has a long history of spying, promoting conspiracy theories, and using doctored videos. See more here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_O%27Keefe
Good to see the Trump people are all working hard on the public’s business.
No wonder they can’t get any work done- they’re too busy spying on their political enemies.
They’re incompetents. They’ve had since January to plan some response to this virus and they have nothing. They can’t even manage to distribute a test.
Turn the country over to the governors. No one should have to pay these Trump people for this lousy work. They can all go home. They perform no useful work of any kind anyway.
On the 31st of this month, the Trump-and-McConnell-packed Supreme Court will hear arguments in the cases of Trump v. Mazars and Trump v. Deutsche Bank. In both, Trump has sued to prevent his lawyers and accountants from turning over records in response to Congressional subpoenas. If the Supremes side with Trump on these, they will be overturning long precedent in the U.S. and basically creating new law to protect Trump and give him king-like freedom from scrutiny or check by the legislative branch. O Brave New World!
Spying on citizens by semiprivate spy agencies. Presidents against the law.
And the vast majority of Trumpeteers out there in the country are clueless about this stuff and about what it means for democracy in the long term.
These cases will be decided before the Supremes take their summer break at the end of June.
Secret police/spies doing the the President’s personal business. A judicial system rigged to make the President above the law. A “Justice Department” enabling both.
Welcome to the U.S. as banana republic.
How far from “banana republic” (haha) to fascism?
Years ago I was in Lima, Peru. I was walking with a local person I knew. We passed the Palace of Justice. I asked, “What’s that building?”
“El Palacio sin Justicia,” she replied.
Born too late. He would have been a natural as a govt employee – working for J Edgar Hoover.
But Erik is a billionaire. He wouldn’t work for the FBI. He would buy it
I gather that Prince probably cannot be sued for violating civil rights, but may be guilty of fraud in infiltrating opposing groups and institutions.
I read that Eric Prince had to change the name of his army of mercenaries (after all the horrible things his thugs did in Iraq and Afghanistan) and moved his operations to China.
Blackwater, then Xe Services, then Acadami
Is DeVos going to issue any guidance to public schools on closures due to this virus, or are they too busy spying on teachers unions?
Ridiculous. It’s a shame anyone has to pay these people for their work on Donald Trump’s political campaign. Does anyone do any actual WORK in the Trump Administration or is it all in service to their embarassing, cult-like worship of Donald Trump? Why don’t these people have any self respect? Were they this vulnerable to joining a cult all along?