While the party offered LaRocca training, Hebert said she and the party’s digital director limited her access to party infrastructure, leaving the party largely unexposed to her infiltration attempts. Members of the Wyoming Democratic Party encountered similar red flags, noticing an overeager quality from LaRocca and inconsistent details about her life, communications director Nina Hebert said.
But I think they had an assumption that behind a closed door, we’d drop the mask.” “You burn through all your bridges too rapidly. “Living in the least-populated state in the union, you just couldn’t afford to do that,” Burlingame continued. “But every person they talked to agreed that not only was unethical, but it was also not strategic. “The things that they themselves were guilty of, they projected onto us, and assumed that we would also be guilty of,” Burlingame said. She also lacked a working understanding of Wyoming’s politics, Burlingame said. LaRocca had few ties to the state and hadn’t resided here long. LaRocca told Burlingame she wanted to spy on Republicans, Burlingame said.
Burlingame told WyoFile LaRocca pitched her on the concept for an advocacy organization intended to “flip Wyoming blue,” an idea Burlingame told her was unrealistic.īurlingame detected red flags about the woman, she said. In 2019, one of the infiltrators, Sophia LaRocca, traveled to Cheyenne to meet with LGBTQ activist Sara Burlingame, then a Democratic member of the Wyoming House of Representatives. Others believe it was not the liberal groups’ activities that drew the interlopers’ attention, but a false perception of their influence by conservative groups that have grown to believe Wyoming’s Republican Party is rife with liberal politicians backed by special interest groups. “They’re not driving the bus in this state, you know.” Cale Case (R-Lander), a longtime acquaintance of Gore and a former board member for her advocacy organization, the Wyoming Liberty Group. “I don’t really understand why you would try and infiltrate the Democrats,” said Sen. Storer Foundation is a major donor to WyoFile.) News of the espionage operation stunned many in Wyoming politics, not only for the nature of the operation, but for its chief targets: The Wyoming Democratic Party, the high-powered liberal donor Liz Storer and the progressive advocacy group Better Wyoming and its director, Nate Martin. Karlee Provenza (D-Laramie) in the State Capitol the day of her January 2021 swearing-in ceremony. Wyoming Liberty Group did not respond to a request for comment. I don’t know if they’re concerned at all about the agricultural community or coal miners, or the schools or any of the things that were traditionally issues that people in Wyoming tried to work on.” “People like Susan arrive with all this outside money that suddenly shows up, funded by people whose ties to the state are usually its tax climate. “I think this was the logical progression,” former Gov. However, observers say the botched incursion into the highest circles of Wyoming politics symbolize Gore’s escalating role as a puppeteer in Wyoming’s politics, and her role in the populist right’s newfound traction in Cheyenne. The spies, a man and woman with alleged ties to Blackwater founder Erik Prince, along with Project Veritas, were largely unsuccessful in their efforts, according to several of the victims interviewed by WyoFile. The allegations, if corroborated, of the deceptive behavior of a few politically motivated individuals contained in the New York Times’ story reflect a sad situation and have no place in Wyoming.” “The Governor’s actions have demonstrated his commitment to fiscal conservatism, life, the Second Amendment, patriotism and always putting Wyoming first. “ The Gordon Administration is conservative and transparent,” Gordon’s office said in response to the news. The activity even reached the office of Republican Gov. Democrats and moderate Republicans within the Wyoming Legislature were also singled out, as well as the executive leadership of the Wyoming Democratic Party. Their targets were varied, according to the investigation, ranging from liberal advocacy group Better Wyoming and advocates of medical marijuana. The report alleges Gore helped finance the infiltration of numerous political organizations in the state by a pair of “spies” tied to the right-wing group Project Veritas. Wealthy conservative donor Susan Gore was a key financier of a years-long effort to spy on Wyoming Democrats and Republicans, an article published Friday by the New York Times revealed, shining a light on the lengths to which the Gore-Tex heiress and Wyoming Liberty Group founder has gone to influence the state’s politics. Thanks for your support of WyoFile! We rely on loyal members like you to sustain our reporting and grow the WyoFile community.
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