WASHINGTON, DC (Byline Times) — A group of operatives linked to former President Donald Trump allegedly conducted a surveillance campaign against senior Democratic lawmakers, in a purported attempt to get compromising information on them that could be leveraged for political gain, according to a letter sent to members of the intelligence committees by a whistleblower with knowledge of the actions.
The whistleblower, who spoke to Byline Times on the condition of anonymity, said that the surveillance was conducted by former and retired intelligence officials, with the alleged knowledge of Trump and began at least in the middle of 2020 and continued until at least 2022 after he had led office.
The operation consisted of gathering images of politicians and people that they were meeting with, including from cameras inside the Dirksen and Hart Senate office buildings, from operatives on the ground, and on social media, the whistleblower said. The operatives then utilized facial recognition technology to identify people who were meeting and working with the lawmakers.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and California Rep. Adam Schiff were targets of the operation, which aimed to gather dirt on the politicians and their staff members that could later be used to the Trump team’s advantage.
In a Sept. 27 letter sent to Sens. Ron Wyden, Chuck Grassley and Mark Warner, and Rep. Mike Turner, the whistleblower requested meetings with members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees to further detail the scope of the alleged intelligence gathering and its potential impacts.
“The mission of the intelligence operation is to generate false information and deploy that information into both public and non-public channels to affect decision-making at local, state, and federal levels of governance, including voting,” the letter said.
Clare Slattery, a spokesperson for Grassley’s office, said that they were not aware of the allegations and did not have a comment.
A spokesperson for Wyden’s office confirmed receipt of the letter.
According to the letter, another reason the whistleblower is coming forward is out of concern for future disinformation surrounding the 2024 election. Some of the same figures allegedly involved in the surveillance were also working to undermine confidence in the integrity of prior elections, the whistleblower stated.
The letter also alleges that operatives involved in the surveillance operation sought to potentially compromise and breach voting machines.
“There are deep and concerning national security implications, including issues relating to the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections,” the letter stated.
Dan Meyer, a national security partner at Tully Rinckey PLLC who represents the whistleblower, said that the person has offered to meet with Congressional authorities to relay what they know.
