[Full article available via the #InternetArchive]
The #FBI Is Investigating #ErikPrince for Trying to #Weaponize #CropDusters
by Matthew Cole
February 20 2020
"Last May [May 2019], shortly after Congress accused Erik Prince of lying under oath and referred criminal charges to the Justice Department, an associate approached the #Blackwater founder to offer help and commiserate about Prince’s potential legal jeopardy.
"Prince, who once moved to the United Arab Emirates to avoid being caught up in a federal prosecution, immediately dismissed the associate’s concerns. He was untouchable, he bragged, and would face no legal troubles.
"'Not under this guy,' Prince said referring to President Donald #Trump, according to a person with direct knowledge of the exchange.
"That assumption is about to be tested.
"Prince, an heir to a billion-dollar fortune who is widely viewed as a shadow adviser to the president, is under federal investigation for his 2015 attempt to modify two American-made crop-dusting planes into attack aircraft — a violation of arms trafficking regulations — two people familiar with the investigation told The Intercept. The planes became part of private military services Prince proposed to sell or use in mercenary operations in #Africa and #Azerbaijan, as The Intercept has previously reported.
"The investigation into the modified crop dusters is one of several ongoing probes targeting Prince. Another focuses on the allegations that he lied to Congress during the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into #Russia’s 2016 presidential election interference; a third concerns a 2017 armed aviation proposal to the #UAE, according to the Wall Street Journal."
https://theintercept.com/2020/02/20/erik-prince-fbi-investigation-trump-barr/
https://web.archive.org/web/20200414104709/https://theintercept.com/2020/02/20/erik-prince-fbi-investigation-trump-barr/
#PrivateArmy #Xe
#Academi #CorporateColonialism #PrivateArmies #WeaponizedCropDusters