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Progressives activists including elected officials gathered at the Florida Capitol Tuesday to complain that the Legislature isnt addressing the problems that average people need help with.

We are tired of a state that continues to demolish the capability of local officials trying to address the needs of their constituents; we are tired of coming year after year to file lawsuits against these bills that are chipping away at our basic human rights, said Francesca Menes, deputy organizing director for Local Progress, during a news conference.

The group represents a collection of progressive public officials.

Jack Porter, who sits on the Tallahassee City Commission, cited one example: Floridas housing crisis. She pointed to trailer park in her community where the owner doubled rents and pushed residents out of their homes.

It breaks my heart to get email after email that people are struggling and they have been removed from their house illegally, Porter said.

One bill pending before the Legislature HB 537 would allow landlords to charge monthly fees instead of security deposits. That would reduce up-front costs but hook renters with monthly fees that they wouldnt get back, unlike a refundable security deposit, according to critics.

Porter argued that policy decision should be left to local government.

Rep. Angie Nixon, a Black Democrat from Duval County, urged repeal of HB1, the anti-riot legislation passed last year. The bill toughens criminal penalties against organizers and participants in demonstrations that get out of hand, even if counter-protesters started the trouble.

A federal judge has ruled the law violates the Constitution.

Nixon has filed her own bill (HB 857), which would repeal the old law.

Our governor keeps saying this is a free state and I say, Free for who? Its not a free state for people who look like me, who are a part of LGBTQ community, and not a free state for women, Nixon said.

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Progressives claim FL Legislature is ignoring real people's needs this session - Florida Phoenix

I spend a lot of my time yelling at my former progressive comrades hoping that they will come to their senses. But it also occurs to me that I speak the language and I could just explain how progressives should be responding to this crisis if they were still progressive. And then they can choose to uphold their purported values or confess that theyve embraced a new ideology. Regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, I believe that the points below about framing are useful and important.

George Lakoff, a cognitive linguist at UC Berkeley, is the intellectual godfather of progressive messaging. Lakoffs books, Metaphors We Live By (with Mark Johnson), Moral Politics, and Dont Think of an Elephant are the sacred texts of progressive framing and are read and used by nearly all Democratic political strategists. After reading his books and using them to design messaging campaigns for over a decade, I took a class in graduate school from Dr. Lakoff in 2012. I continue to use his work today.

Lakoffs key insight is that understanding is inherently metaphorical. We process complex ideas in terms of other, simpler, more primal experiences (spatial and tactile sensations, pictures, basic family relations). Choosing the most advantageous metaphor to describe a problem and its solutions is the art of framing.

1. Every word evokes a frame.

So for example, arguments are often described in terms of war. Choosing that metaphor will lead one to think of attacks and defenses, winners and losers, domination and surrender. Some of the examples he gives are:

He shot down all my arguments.

Her criticisms were right on target.

If you use that strategy, hell wipe you out.

But there is nothing inherent in arguing that leads us to liken it to war. Its just a metaphor that people use to understand it. But imagine a culture where an argument is viewed as a dance, the participants are seen as performers, and the goal is to perform in a balanced and aesthetically pleasing way. (Metaphors We Live By, p. 5).

2: Words defined within a frame evoke the frame.

In the examples above, the words shot down, right on target, and wipe you out all evoke the war metaphor.

3. Negating a frame evokes the frame.

This is the most important rule of all. Every time you try to debunk your opponents frame you just end up evoking it which activates the neurological circuits associated with that frame in peoples minds. So it is always better to reframe and go on offense.

4. Evoking a frame reinforces that frame.

Every frame is realized in the brain by neural circuitry. Every time a neural circuit is activated, it is strengthened. At the most fundamental level, messaging is an attempt to literally build certain neural pathways in the brain. As Lakoff writes,

Framing is the process of choosing words and phrases to communicate an idea in a way that invokes certain metaphorical associations and rules out others. Frames set the vocabulary and metaphors through which an issue can be comprehended and discussed. By consistently invoking a resonant frame, the framing party sets the terms of the debate, shapes the perceptions of the issue, and provides a narrative for possible solutions.

Lakoff argues that most of us think metaphorically of the nation as family.

But what kind of family?

Progressives and conservatives think differently:

Progressives tend to invoke a nurturant parent frame.

The nurturant parent model is gender-neutral and envisions a family where both parents are equally responsible for raising the children.

Children develop best through their positive relationships to others. The obedience of children comes out of their love and respect for their parents, not out of the fear of punishment.

If you empathize with your child, you will provide protection. This comes into politics in many ways. What do you protect your child from? Crime and drugs, certainly. You also protect your child from cars without seat belts, pollution, lead paint, pesticides in food, unscrupulous businessmen, and so on. So progressive politics focuses on environmental protection, worker protection, consumer protection, etc. Dont Think of An Elephant, p.12.

This is where it all falls apart. Lakoff is on record as supporting vaccine mandates because apparently hes never read a vaccine safety study and he mistakenly assumes that captured government bureaucrats and the pharmaceutical industry are being truthful about the data (when in fact they are not).

If we lived in a sane world, the progressive response to mandatory vaccines would look like this:

Nurturant parents do NOT allow felons to perform medical experiments on their kids.

Nurturant parents do NOT allow regulators who are captured by industry to make decisions about their familys health.

Nurturant parents do NOT allow school officials to deprive their children of oxygen and require injections as a condition of school entry.

Nurturant parents do NOT gaslight other parents for their medical decisions.

Nurturant parents do NOT get their medical information from news sources that are captured by industry.

Nurturant parents have a responsibility to read vaccine safety inserts and vaccine safety studies for themselves.

Nurturant parents have a responsibility to read the Nuremberg Code and understand the reasons why The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential.

Nurturant parents have a responsibility to listen to the mothers and fathers of vaccine-injured children and learn from their experience.

Nurturant parents have a responsibility to engage in critical thinking and unbiased due diligence and have realized that independent doctors understand prevention and treatment of Covid better than captured regulators.

Nurturant parents have a responsibility to oppose show-me-your-papers and vaccine passports because they do not want their children to grow up in a fascist country.

See thats not difficult. If progressives were still progressives they would be fighting bio-fascism with every cell in their body. Some are, but most are not.

Heres the very real problem and Im not sure what to do about it there is no such thing as progressivism anymore. It has evaporated over the last two years. Its now a memory carried by the elders but it does not exist in the real world anymore. Adherents of the ideology became robots, embraced censorship and cancel culture, and mindlessly repeat and obey diktats. So I write this article as a bedside whisper to a friend who is in a coma hoping that the remembrance of the old ways might help him to wake up.

Adapted from the authors Substack

Toby Rogers has a Ph.D. in political economy from the University of Sydney in Australia and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of California, Berkeley. His research focus is on regulatory capture and corruption in the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Rogers does grassroots political organizing with medical freedom groups across the country working to stop the epidemic of chronic illness in children. He writes about the political economy of public health on Substack.

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What Happened to Progressivism? - Brownstone Institute

Senate Majority Leader Charles SchumerChuck SchumerOn The Money Inflation hitshighest rate since February 1982 Schumer asks for input as Democrats finalize cannabis bill Sanders calls on Democrats to bring up drug pricing bill in Senate MORE (D-N.Y.) has a brewing civil war on his hands as Democratic activists turn up the volume on talk about challenging Sens. Kyrsten SinemaKyrsten SinemaSanders calls on Democrats to bring up drug pricing bill in Senate Where Chuck Schumer went wrong on voting rights The new politics of America: Fall into line or pay the price MORE (Ariz.) and Joe ManchinJoe ManchinOvernight Energy & Environment Judge reinstates gray wolf protections On The Money Inflation hitshighest rate since February 1982 Overnight Health Care Biden urges action on drug pricing MORE (W.Va.) in future Democratic primaries.

More centrist members of Schumers caucus want to move past the messy internal battles over President BidenJoe BidenBriahna Joy Gray slams Biden administration following community college funding news Biden says states easing mask mandates 'probably premature' Biden says he rejects findings of Army report on Afghanistan MOREs Build Back Better agenda and filibuster reform, two high-priority issues where Manchin and Sinema stood apart from the rest of the caucus.

But liberal lawmakers and many Democratic activists are still fuming over the failures to pass a sweeping climate and social spending bill or voting rights legislation and the roles Manchin and Sinema played.

Schumer surprised some colleagues last week when he declined to say whether he would support Sinema or Manchin in a future primary and instead sidestepped the question.

"I am focused on 2022, getting things done, and winning the election on 2022," Schumer told CNN. "I'm not at all focused on 2024 right now, and neither should anyone else be. That's just how you lose in 2022."

It was a remarkable answer. Senate incumbents can almost always count on the support of their own leadership in a primary, and they got it in many previous election cycles.

One Democratic senator, who requested anonymity to discuss the internal dynamics of the caucus, said that Schumers reluctance to say he would support either Manchin or Sinema in a future primary shows how disgruntled he is with his centrist colleagues.

The senator said Schumer also doesnt want to divide Democrats in his home state ahead of his own reelection campaign this year. A second Democratic senator also speculated that Schumers decision is driven by a desire to avoid a fight with progressive activists.

Any expression of support for Manchin or Sinema could fuel calls for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezAlexandria Ocasio-CortezSen. Capito tests positive for COVID-19 Marjorie Taylor Greene roasted for 'gazpacho police' remark Schumer faces brewing war and progressives ramp up primary threats MORE (D-N.Y.) to challenge him in the primary or more likely merely erode his margin of victory in the primary or general election by dampening enthusiasm among Democratic voters.

Ocasio-Cortez has talked openly about supporting a primary to Sinema, and she is a rising political star who hasnt ruled out the possibility of a Senate campaign.

Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersBriahna Joy Gray slams Biden administration following community college funding news Senators introduce a resolution honoring Tom Brady's career Biden calls on Senate to pass his agenda to lower drug prices MORE (I-Vt.), a leader of the Democratic Partys progressive wing, says hes open to supporting a challenge against Sinema or Manchin and other members of the Democratic caucus may join him.

Rep. Ruben GallegoRuben GallegoGOP bill highlights Republican rift on immigration Schumer faces brewing war and progressives ramp up primary threats Schumer brushes off talk of possible primary threats to Manchin, Sinema MORE (D-Ariz.) said last month that other Senate Democrats have called to pitch him on running against Sinema in 2024.

To be honest, I have gotten a lot of encouragement from elected officials, from senators, from unions, from your traditional Democratic groups, big donors, Gallego told CNN last month.

Faiz Shakir, a political adviser to Sanders and a former Senate Democratic leadership aide, said theres a brewing battle over the future of the Democratic Party between centrists such as Manchin and Sinema and progressives like Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenSenators introduce a resolution honoring Tom Brady's career The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - More blue states let mask mandates expire Stock trading ban gains steam but splits Senate GOP MORE (D-Mass.).

Theres an ongoing battle for the soul of Democratic Party, the future of it, whether we are a corporate-driven party or a party of the people and Joe Manchin and Sinema represent the leading faction of the push to be friendly to corporate power, he said.

He said Sinema and Manchin are the symbol of that fight because they have so brazenly leaned into corporate donations and the willingness to fight Bidens agenda.

They tarnish any Democrat who wants to work with them, he added.

Manchin saw corporate donations to his political action committee, Country Roads PAC, surge during the fall, when he emerged as the biggest obstacle to Bidens $2 trillion Build Back Better agenda.

His PAC received contributions in October and November from American Express, Goldman Sachs, Lockheed Martin, UnitedHealth Group, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Verizon, Union Pacific and Wells Fargo.

Manchin raised more than $4.8 million in 2021, setting a non-election year personal fundraising record.

Sinema, meanwhile, raised more than $1.5 million at the end of 2021 and accepted contributions from billionaire investors Ken Langone and Nelson Peltz, who supported former President TrumpDonald TrumpBiden's FAA must learn to work with others in order to quickly resolve 5G questions Trump documents taken to Mar-a-Lago marked 'top secret:' report Overnight Defense & National Security Top commander vents on Afghan evacuation MORE in the past.

So far, Sanders is the only member of the Senate Democratic Conference willing to say publicly that they are open to backing primary challenges to Sinema or Manchin.

Warren dodged the question during an interview last month on CBS Mornings.

Well address that when we get past this week, she said Jan. 18 as the Senate was preparing to debate voting rights legislation and filibuster reform.

Sen. Sheldon WhitehouseSheldon WhitehouseSenators introduce a resolution honoring Tom Brady's career Senate panel advances appeals court nominee despite objections from home state Republicans Biden to meet with Senate Judiciary Democrats on Supreme Court vacancy MORE (D-R.I.), a leading proponent of the climate provisions in Build Back Better that stalled when Manchin announced on Fox News on Dec. 19 that he could not support the package, said he and many Democratic voters are frustrated with the outcome of the negotiations.

But he wouldnt go anywhere near the subject of primary challenges against Manchin or Sinema.

I dont talk about colleagues, he said.

But just as progressives such as Warren and Whitehouse are leery about supporting challenges to Manchin and Sinema, senators who are closer to the two centrists philosophically arent eager to express their support, either.

Sen. Mark KellyMark KellyDemocrats see inflation as growing problem for their agenda Arizona Senate candidate releases Super Bowl ad showing armed 'showdown' with Dem leaders On The Money Lawmakers closer to government funding deal MORE (D-Ariz.), who is up for reelection this year and says he works well with Sinema, nonetheless declined to say whether he would support her in a 2024 primary.

Im not even focused on an election thats happening this November, he said, reprising his line that hes more focused on the legislative work before the Senate than even his own upcoming race.

We got to focus on solving problems for Arizonans and the American people. I work very closely with Sen. Sinema on a lot of this stuff, especially the infrastructure bill and she was so critical to getting that done, he said.

Kelly noted that he did not support the censure of Sinema by Arizona Democrats after she refused to vote for filibuster reform.

Republicans, meanwhile, are happy to watch the turmoil within the Democratic caucus from the sidelines.

Senate Minority Whip John ThuneJohn Randolph ThuneStock trading ban gains steam but splits Senate GOP Questions loom over how to form congressional staff union Trump endorses Noem's reelection bid in South Dakota MORE (R-S.D.), who talks often with Sinema, said he was shocked that Schumer didnt say he would back her and Manchin against future primary challengers.

It seemed weird to me. I think its a mistake. Theyre going to need them on a lot of stuff. They got a big Supreme Court nominee coming up here, he said.

He said its very unusual for a Senate leader to withhold expressing support for a colleague facing a possible primary challenge.

If I were him, I would figure out how to work with them because theyre the difference right now whether theyre in the majority or not, he added, referring to the 50-50 split Senate.

Thune has spoken to Sinema multiple times about the possibility of switching parties but Sinema has rebuffed the offers.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has a policy of supporting all Senate GOP incumbents in primaries.

And NRSC Chairman Rick Scott (Fla.) has pressed Trump to support all of the Senate GOPs incumbents, even though Trump has supported primary challenges against Sens. Lisa MurkowskiLisa Ann MurkowskiRepublicans press archivist against certifying Equal Rights Amendment Bipartisan group of lawmakers introduce coastal resilience legislation Wyden announces support for Biden FDA nominee MORE (R-Alaska) and Thune, who are both running for reelection this year.

Schumer, however, is keeping his distance from any speculation about whether the Democratic leadership back Manchin and Sinema in their future primaries.

He bristled at a question about whether he would back primary challengers to either centrist before they voted against a proposed reform to the Senates filibuster rule, which could have helped pass election reform and voting rights legislation.

Im not getting into the politics, this is a substantive, serious issue, he said with annoyance when asked before the historic vote, in which Sinema and Manchin sided with their Republican colleagues.

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Schumer faces brewing war and progressives ramp up primary threats | TheHill - The Hill

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) In the same week that he rallied against a natural gas companys expansion plans, Lincoln Restler repeatedly condemned a series of antisemitic incidents in Brooklyn.

Such positions may be par for the course for a member of the New York City Council, but they also reflect Restlers unusual ability, as a newly elected member of the council, to build coalitions within both progressive groups and the large Orthodox community in his Brooklyn district.

Restler won the November election with a sweeping 63% of the ranked-choice vote in District 33, which encompasses the haredi Jewish stronghold of Williamsburg along with Greenpoint, Dumbo, Brooklyn Heights and parts of downtown Brooklyn.

Since then, Restler, 37, has been busy. Last week, he helped restore water to over 500 families at Gowanus Houses, a public housing complex, and rallied against upgrades at National Grids Greenpoint Energy Center that he and other politicians said would expand fossil fuel infrastructure and contribute to climate change.

On Monday, he and other members of the councils Jewish Caucus issued a statement condemning what they called a rise in anti-Jewish attacks in our city. On Feb. 4, a man wearing Hasidic garb was sucker-punched as he was walking in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Over the weekend, vandals spray-painted antisemitic graffiti on school buses belonging to a local yeshiva. Both incidents happened in or around Williamsburg.

Progressive values and Jewish identification come naturally to Restler.He was previously elected as district leader and worked as a community activist. As a young child he participated in acts of service at the Reform Brooklyn Heights Synagogue with his parents.

That commitment in the Jewish faith to look out for those in need has informed my values and my commitment to public service, Restler told The New York Jewish Week. It is one of the threads that stretches across the Jewish community, left, right and center.

During his campaign, Restler received the endorsement of Assemblymember Simcha Eichenstein, who represents Borough Park, and several Satmar Hasidic leaders in the Brooklyn Orthodox Jewish Community.

Rabbi Moishe Indig, a leader in the Satmar community, said that Restler is already a fixture in Brooklyn, with years of public service on his record.

Hes not like other politicians, Indig said. Hes always on the streets. If its snow, or a blackout or a flood, whatever it is, he is there to help.

Indig said that it wasnt Restlers Judaism that gained him the Satmar endorsement, but his track record throughout all of Brooklyn.

We have all kinds of different communities and people in Brooklyn, Indig said. He knows how to balance all of that.

In the same campaign, Restler was endorsed by The Jewish Vote, the political wing of Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, a progressive Jewish organization in New York City.

JFREJ Political Director Rachel McCullough said Restlers ability to listen and engage with the community was an important factor in receiving support from both progressives and the Orthodox community.

We noticed right away that he had clearly built the right set of relationships with the right set of leaders across the Jewish community, McCullough said. He made it clear that he was running to represent the whole district.

McCullough added that Restlers election to City Council demonstrates that progressive politics are alive and well in the city. Many progressives were disappointed when the centrist Eric Adams, the Brooklyn Borough president and former New York city cop, was elected mayor in November. (The Jewish Vote endorsed Maya Wiley, a progressive candidate.)

Restlerwon the November 2021 election for New York City Council with a sweeping 63% of the vote in Brooklyns District 33. (Courtesy)

Theres a really important role for Jewish left politics to be played in New York, the home of the largest Jewish community outside of Israel, she said. Lincoln really embodies that, and I think hes going to make the entire community proud.

Restler said that one of the most important parts of the job is being a bridge-builder between different groups of people and helping them to find common ground.

I hope to be a councilmember who has enough credibility in different camps that, even when theres disagreement, we can give one another the benefit of the doubt and work together toward a compromise, he said.

While Orthodox and progressive groups have different opinions on many issues such as policing and Israel both sides are in agreement about stopping antisemitic and other hate crimes.

This is in the front of my mind, Restler said. I am focused on bringing together all groups in the Jewish community to engage with people of other backgrounds and build tolerance to root out this violence.

Restler added Orthodox Jews, in their recognizable dress, are disproportionately the targets of antisemitic attacks.

When Im walking down the street, I dont feel at risk of antisemitic violence because people dont even know that Im Jewish, he said. If youre wearing a kippah and traditional garb, it sends a very different message.

Where progressives and the citys Orthodox Jews may disagree is on tactics in fighting antisemitism. In January, when the Jewish mainstream was calling for increased law enforcement and beefed-up security, JFREJ led a canvassing effort in Williamsburg in response to a series of antisemitic attacks, hoping to defuse tension between diverse local groups.

We recognized that policing alone is not an effective approach to preventing hate violence, McCullough said. We think that Lincoln is committed to investing in community-based, restorative approaches to hate violence.

Restler took part in the canvassing and, speaking to a New York Jewish Week reporter at the time, said he sought to balance calls for increased police presence to respond to and prevent attacks with community-based responses like JFREJs.

Affordable housing was another issue at the forefront of Restlers campaign. He said that Jews and gentiles alike are being forced out of the district due to steep increases on rent.

We need to strike a much better bargain with developers to ensure that when new constructions are going up in our communities, were getting the affordable housing we need, Restler said.

He also noted the lack of high-quality affordable childcare and wants to expand vouchers, not just in the Jewish community, but in the whole district.

Its another months rent for many working families to afford childcare in our city, he said. Expanding affordable childcare options in Williamsburg and districtwide is a pressing priority.

Indig said it was important that Restler recognized housing and childcare because many families in his community are in need.

We have large families, Indig said. They need to be able to feed their kids. We just need a lot of help with their day-to-day needs.

McCullough attributed Restlers success to a cultural competency that can only come from being a Jewish kid from Brooklyn. According to Restlers bio, he grew up in a tight-knit community on Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights in the 80s and 90s, and today lives in Greenpoint. After college at Brown University, he worked for as a financial program officer in New York Citys Department of Consumer Affairs.

He knows how to schmooze, McCullough said. He knows how to show up for people, which at the end of the day is what City Council members need to do.

Restler shared an anecdote about his grandparents, whom he said were founding members of Judaisms Reconstructionist movement. His family still uses their haggadah during Passover, which dates back to the 1930s.

In that Haggadah, the experience of Jews escaping Israel is explicitly compared to the challenges of African Americans in the United States, Restler said.

That commitment to social justice informs the history of my family over generations, and is the part of my Jewish faith that Im most proud of, he added.

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How this Jewish politician in Brooklyn wins friends among progressives and the haredi Orthodox - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Trump ally Erik Prince, the founder and former CEO of the security contractor previously known as Blackwater, reportedly helped raise money for an effort to spy on progressives, Democratic campaigns and anti-Trump Republicans during the summer of 2018.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Prince helped former British spy Richard Seddon in his operation that sought to surveilliberal organizations, Democratic operations and individuals opposed to then-President TrumpDonald TrumpBiden's FAA must learn to work with others in order to quickly resolve 5G questions Trump documents taken to Mar-a-Lago marked 'top secret:' report Overnight Defense & National Security Top commander vents on Afghan evacuation MORE in an effort to gather unfavorable information that could be used against politicians and activists across the country.

The Times, citing documents and people familiar with Seddons plans, said Prince became the operations celebrity pitchman and fundraised for the spying effort.

Susan Gore, who is an heiress to the fortune amassed by the Gore-Tex brand, was also reportedly involved in the effort and eventually became the operation's main backer.

The group planned to begin their operation in Wyoming then expand, according to the Times. The project eventually spread to Colorado and Arizona.

One target of the operation was reportedly Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R), who is viewed as a RINO, or Republican in name only, among some conservative groups in the state, according to the Times.

Former Wyoming state Rep. Marti Halverson (R) reportedly contributed a list of potential targets for the operation, including John Cox, who at the time was serving as director of the state's Department of Workforce Service, and Scott Talbott, who at the time was working as the director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

The document, dated December 2018, labeled Talbott as another of the names of corrupt individuals from Marti, according to the Times.

Halverson told the Timesvia phone, Frankly, I have nothing to say on the subject, before hanging up.

The revelations illustrate the effort by some ultraconservative Republicans to utilize spy tactics in an effort to influence politics in the U.S., the newspaper noted. The report also reveals ties between those efforts and the Trump administration, as Seddon served as an informal adviser to administration officials.

The number of potential donors,other than Gore, who approached by Prince for the spy project remains unclear, according to the Times.

Three people, however, told the newspaper that Gore made a failed attempt at fundraising for the operation from Wyoming billionaire and businessman Foster Friess. Gore reportedly tried to secure capital from Friess during a meeting in January 2019.

Additionally, the project reportedly funneled in thousands of dollars in campaign contributions by pretending to be Democrats.

The Department of Justice is currently investigating Prince on separate matters, three people familiar with the case told the Times. He declined to comment to the Times, and Seddon and Gore did not respond to inquiries.

Prince, a former Navy SEAL, attracted widespread attention in 2007 when Blackwater contractors killed 17 civilians in Iraq. He has also been accused of breaking arms embargoes in Somalia and Libya, and has denied claims that he established a back channel communications link with the Russian government.

He made headlines in August when reports surfaced that he was offering to fly people out of Kabul for $6,500 each, as the U.S. was working to pull all personnel out of the country.

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Erik Prince helped raise money for effort to spy on progressives and anti-Trump Republicans: report | TheHill - The Hill