Trump-Linked Operatives Ran Unlawful Surveillance Campaign Against Democratic Politicians, Alleges Whistleblower

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. 

Meyer urged members of Congress to immediately probe these allegations.

“American leaders are now open to greater levels of corruption from within,” Meyer said. “The Chairs or the Senate and House Intelligence Committees need to take up this issue as a matter of counterintelligence, and coordinate with Justice if there is internal corruption, as well.”

The surveillance operation was run by people outside the Trump administration, including former intelligence officials who were able to offer the needed technical experience to carry out the operation, according to the letter. They also coordinated with staffers inside the White House, with Trump being aware of the operation, the letter stated.

The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment. 

Danielle Brian, the executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, said that while there is a history of the government surveillance apparatus abusing its powers, she could not think of a comparable example to these allegations. 

“On its face, this appears unprecedented going back to the J. Edgar Hoover days,” Brian said, adding that the allegations concerning the use of images in the Senate office buildings was particularly noteworthy because those cameras are under the purview of the Capitol Police.

“One of the things I am intrigued by is that that would imply the Capitol Police were cooperating with the White House,” Brian said. “They definitely do have formal channels of communication but this would suggest something that was not part of the official communication between the two.”

While the allegations of this surveillance campaign are extraordinary, similar actions were taken by those connected to former President Trump after the 2020 election.  

The Guardian reported in 2022 on a plan by allies of retired army Lt Gen Michael Flynn to gather dirt on Pennsylvania’s Senator Pat Toomey and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, in the hopes that they would then support Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent. 

In that case, two members of the rightwing Patriot Caucus Group attempted to enlist ex-whistleblower Everett Stern and his private intelligence firm to gather information on Toomey and Fitzpatrick, along with Michigan political figures, to back an election audit. 

According to text messages and emails that Stern provided, he was in contact with Velma Anne Ruth of the Patriot Caucus Group, along with Houston real estate mogul Al Hartman and former army Green Beret Ivan Raiklin.

Stern told Byline Times that the latest allegations of surveillance “sound very similar to what I was asked to do in Pennsylvania” – pointing to what he was offered following the 2020 election. 

Meyer said that the allegations of an intelligence gathering information and attempts to spread disinformation about the 2020 election were connected; both of them should be probed. 

“We are asking Congress to investigate whether information was collected to advance an agenda by manipulating political leaders through intelligence collection,” Meyer said. “Just so happens some of the same parties were involved with both operations, leveraging politicians and corrupting the polls.” 

Representatives for Warner, Turner, Schiff and Schumer did not respond to requests for comment. 

A spokesperson for Pelosi’s office declined to comment on the allegations.