Thread by @AceBearstrom

They Seemed Like Democratic Activists. They Were Secretly Conservative Spies.🧵

nytimes.com/2021/06/25/us/…

1/During the 2020 election cycle, wealthy rightwingers paid infiltrators to sabotage the Democratic Party in Wyoming and across the western United States.

2/An undercover operation by conservatives to infiltrate progressive groups, political campaigns and the offices of Democratic as well as moderate Republican elected officials occurred.

3/Using large campaign donations and cover stories, the operatives aimed to gather dirt that could sabotage the reputations of people and organizations considered threats to a hard-right agenda advanced by President Donald J. Trump.

4/Operatives infiltrated progressive groups to try to manipulate politics and reshape the national electoral map. They targeted moderate Republicans, too — anyone seen as threats to hard-line conservatives.”

5/The operation’s use of spycraft to manipulate the politics of several states over years greatly exceeds the tactics of more traditional political dirty tricks operations.

6/It is also a sign of how ultraconservative Republicans see a deep need to install allies in various positions at the state level to gain an advantage on the electoral map.

7/Secretaries of state, for example, play a crucial role in certifying election results every two years, and some became targets of Trump and his allies in their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

8/Nobody knows how many other states’ Democratic parties have been similarly infiltrated or what other sabatoge efforts are underway as the GOP moves closer and closer to becoming a full-blown fascistic party.

@threadreaderapp
Unroll please, thank you!