He graduated from Holland Christian High School. Azerbaijan called on Eric Prince and FSG to help it keep watch on the Nagorno-Karabakh region, also called the Republic of Artsakh. Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, Links between Trump associates and Russian officials, Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections (July 2016 – election day), Timeline of post-election transition following Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, Timeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia (July–December 2017), Timeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia (January–June 2018), Timeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia (2019), "Profile: Blackwater's Restless Erik Prince", "Blackwater's Prince Has GOP, Christian Group Ties", "Betsy DeVos' brother, Blackwater founder Erik Prince, sparks headlines", "Blackwater Chief at Nexus of Military and Business", "Hillsdale.net - Hillsdale, MI - Hillsdale.net", "Protests outside, cheers inside as Blackwater founder Erik Prince speaks in Holland", "Obama spares Blackwater on Sudan violations", "Prince's business covertly won U.S.contracts", "Blackwater founder to sell up as criticism takes its toll", U.S. Jury convicts Blackwater guards in 2007 killings of Iraqi civilians, "Ex-Blackwater Contractor Sentenced To Life For Deaths Of 14 Iraqi Civilians", "January 2010: Adam Ciralsky on Blackwater", "US Official: Erik Prince Proposed Private Spy Network To Trump Administration", "Firm Formerly Known As Blackwater Fined $7.5 Million", "Trump Ally Erik Prince Reportedly Under Investigation By FBI For 'Converting Crop Dusters Into Military Aircraft, "Blackwater Founder in Deal to Sell Company", "Secret Desert Force Set Up by Blackwater's Founder. He also wanted to provide Trump with a private global spy network that would circumvent U.S. official intelligence agencies. Princeâs trip around the world starts in the United States. Born in an affluent Michigan family, his family maintained deep ties to the Republican establishment and several conservatives, religious organizations like American Values. [75], Prince has advocated for a leaner, more efficient military, suggesting several ways to make the military more efficient without compromising security. [7][8] During his time at Hillsdale, he served as a volunteer firefighter and as a cold-water diver for the Hillsdale County Sheriff's Department. [36] Frontier Services Group is backed by China's state-owned CITIC Group and Hong Kong-based investor Johnson Chun Shun Ko [zh],[37][38] with the Chinese government listed as the largest investor. [91] They had four children. According to Dr. P.J. CITIC is now playing a larger role as Frontierâs dominant shareholder, said Xin who heads the International Security Defense College that trains security personnel and is overseen by FSG. In documents obtained by the New York Times, the mission of this privately commissioned battalion included âintelligence gathering, urban combat, the securing of nuclear and radioactive materials, humanitarian missions and special operations âto destroy enemy personnel and equipment,â and crowd-control. [68], In April 2020, the Intercept reported that Prince has offered his services as a subcontractor to Russian Wagner group's activities in Mozambique and Libya, suggesting to provide aerial surveillance platforms and a ground force. This is because the deal may have broken several laws. [47] Prince had stated in his November 2017 testimony to the House Intelligence Committee that he had no formal communications or contact, nor any unofficial role, with the Trump campaign. Erik Prince, this report continues, was the founder, in 1997, of the private American military company known as Blackwater USA (that changed its name to XE Services than Academi) and was a covert member of a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) task force designated to assassinate radical Islamic terror leaders. Erik Prince was born June 6, 1969 in Holland Michigan, a city best known for its annual tulip festival and its large population of Dutch Americans. [36] Frontier Services Group was reported to be paid $23.3 million by South Sudan's Ministry of Petroleum to transport supplies and perform maintenance on oil production facilities. Eric Princeâs initial battalion of 800 soldiers had blossomed into almost 2,000 specialized troops hired mostly from Latin America to do the U.A.E.âs business. Erik Prince who is the former CEO of black-water a private military company has been accused of violating UN arm embargo in Libya. But Blackwater sparked international outrage in 2007 when its employees shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad. For those who do not know Prince, he was a founder of Blackwater International, the private military contractor that became so toxic, he had to change the company’s name. Prince was part of a CIA task force created to engage in targeted killings of suspected terrorists, possibly in violation of domestic and international law. WASHINGTON — Erik Prince, the security contractor with close ties to the Trump administration, has in recent years helped recruit former … Second, they werenât Muslims. Many thought they had seen the end of Eric Prince, but he resurfaced later at the helm of a different private military company. He was, after all, America’s foremost mercenary executive. Russia is supplementing its own intervention into Syria with mercenaries hired by the state-backed Wagner Group who also sends troops to Ukraine. They never made it to Azerbaijan after an investigation shut the sale down. keeping and even expanding Princeâs blueprint for a private, outsourced army demonstrates just how influential he and his mercenary business model has become. FSGâs public focus is on providing security and logistical help to eastern African countries such as South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, and the DRC. âThe project will include an integrated solution of air-land-sea logistics capabilities and advanced security management.â. You have to act. The Washington Post found that âexecutives were concerned that the company might be skirting U.S. law â known as International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) â requiring Americans to obtain special permits before defense-related technology can be transferred to foreign countries.â. [63], The New York Times reported in March 2020 that in recent years Prince had recruited former intelligence agents to infiltrate "Democratic congressional campaigns, labor organizations and other groups considered hostile to the Trump agenda. Prince's idea, which first surfaced last year during the president's Afghanistan strategy review, envisions replacing troops with private military contractors who … âWhen you want logistics done in Africa, you call DHL,â said Sean McFate, a former military contractor in Africa and current expert on mercenaries at the Atlantic Council. [93] She introduced Prince to Catholicism. Thanks to Eric Prince, outsourcing military and intelligence labor is now the norm. Currently, Prince appears to be under investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, thanks to meetings he had arranged with a close aide to Russiaâs President Vladimir Putin, Kirill Dmitriev in the Seychelles Islands, a place its own government explains is âthe kind of place where you can have a good time away from the media.â The meeting was allegedly to set up a backchannel between Trump and Russia in order to facilitate clandestine communications. [9] Prince eventually became an emergency medical technician. [39] An investigation by the Rolling Stone has since revealed a number of connections between Prince and the Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar's attempts in 2019 to overthrow the U.N.-backed government of Libya. Iran is heavily reliant on outsourced Afghani mercenaries to be cannon fodder in the war in Syria. NAIROBI, Kenya — Erik Prince, the former head of the security contractor Blackwater Worldwide and a prominent supporter of former President Donald Trump, violated a United Nations arms embargo on Libya by sending weapons to a militia commander who was attempting to overthrow the internationally backed government, according to U.N. investigators. [27], Nevertheless, in 2010 the Obama administration awarded the company a $120 million United States Department of State security contract and about $100 million in new CIA work. [1] He graduated from Holland Christian High School. The insights about their whereabouts and origins…, The danger and demand for contracting jobs in hot combat zones may have advantages worth packing your bags…, Today, the most feared private military company in the world is not necessarily the ones you heard most…. For this, he was paid $529 million. Rohrabacher described Prince as "a bright, driven young man." The most famous … Various people on social media have noted that the troops in the photo posted by Friedman are wearing uniforms that are highly similar to that of Blackwater, the private military contracting firm run by Erik Prince, the brother of Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education. [31], Prince resigned as CEO of Blackwater on March 2, 2009, and remained chairman of the board until he sold the company in late 2010 to a group of investors.[32]. [24][25], The criticism continued after president Barack Obama took office in 2009. His youngest child, Charles Donovan Prince, was named after William "Wild Bill" Donovan. Prince, a former Navy SEAL, founded FSG with Chinese funding in 2014 after resigning as the CEO of the infamous private military company Blackwater in 2009. [10], In 1990, Prince secured an internship in the White House under George H.W. [20] There is no evidence to support Prince's claim. [61][62], On December 30, 2019, it was reported that Prince had traveled to Venezuela to meet with a top aide of Nicolas Maduro. After working with SEAL and SWAT teams, Blackwater USA received its first government contract following the bombing of USS Cole off of the coast of Yemen in October 2000. Founder of US private military company Blackwater Erik Prince violated the UN arms embargo on Libya in 2019, by delivering weapons to Libyan National Army's Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar when he attempted to overthrow the UN-backed Government of National Accord headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing a confidential UN report [26], Prince is the younger brother of former United States Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos,[86][87] and the brother-in-law of former Alticor (Amway) president Dick DeVos. In his autobiography he states that during the Yugoslav Wars in the early 1990s, he realized that there was a need for private training facilities for special operations. "[19], From 1997 to 2010, Blackwater was awarded $2 billion in government security contracts,[20] more than $1.6 billion of which were unclassified federal contracts and an unknown amount of classified work. [81] In the 1990s Prince founded the Freiheit ("Liberty") Foundation, a nonprofit charity which funded a number of conservative causes. He went on to become a Navy SEAL and deployed with SEAL Team 8 to Haiti, the Middle East, and the Balkans. [88][b], Prince's first wife, Joan Nicole,[91][92] died of cancer in 2003 at age 36. Erik Dean Prince (born June 6, 1969) is an American businessman, former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, and the founder of the private military company Blackwater USA, now called Academi. In explaining Blackwater's purpose, Prince stated: "We are trying to do for the national security apparatus what FedEx did for the Postal Service". [citation needed], Between 1998 and 2007, Prince donated more than $200,000 to Republican and third-party causes. His task was to assemble an 800-member troop of foreign troops for the U.A.E., which was planned months before the Arab Spring. WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Erik Prince – the founder of the controversial private security firm Blackwater and a prominent supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump – has been pushing a plan to deploy a private army to help topple Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicholas Maduro, four sources with knowledge of the effort told Reuters. Walk through HHS or HUD or Commerce, you name it. At the time of their marriage, she was known by her maiden name, Elsa Zwiep. [96] He is now married to Stacy DeLuke,[97] a former Blackwater spokesperson. [26] Prince said, "I'm a very free market guy. [39] Prince's ventures advise and support Chinese investment in oil and gas in Africa. The DeVos family is one the richest families in the United States and are strong financial supporters of archconservatives. In recent years, Prince has participated in the creation of Reflex Responses, a private army founded in August 2010. Human Rights Watch accused the Chinese government of âdeploying a predictive policing program,â using massive surveillance technology and a web of high-tech surveillance cameras and compulsory data collection. In 2014, Prince commissioned the company to modify Thrush 510G crop-dusters with surveillance equipment, machine guns, armor, and other weapons, including custom pylons that could mount either NATO or Russian ballistics. Some think that government can solve society's problems. in economics from Hillsdale College in 1992. Prince’s meeting with Rodríguez represents a surprising twist for a businessman with long experience of trying to privatize warfare. According to his mother, these trips "made a big impression" on the young Prince. "[74] Speaking of his internship, Prince said, "I saw a lot of things I didn't agree with--homosexual groups being invited in, the budget agreement, the Clean Air Act." [citation needed] Prince and his father toured the world together, visiting the German concentration camp Dachau, a divided Berlin, and Normandy. I Asked Him", "Erik Prince acknowledges attending 2016 Trump Tower meeting 'to talk about Iran policy, "Adviser to Emirates With Ties to Trump Aides Is Cooperating With Special Counsel", "Blackwater founder held secret Seychelles meeting to establish Trump-Putin back channel", "Prince details meeting with Russian banker", "Mueller Exposes Erik Prince's Lies About Russian Rendezvous", "Mueller gathers evidence that 2017 Seychelles meeting was effort to establish back channel to Kremlin", "Trump supporter, Putin ally meeting may not have been by chance: Sources", "Putin ally suggests Seychelles meeting more than chance encounter", "Schiff says he'll send a criminal referral to DOJ for Erik Prince over alleged false statements to Congress", "Democrats accuse Trump ally Erik Prince of lying to Congress, refer case to Justice Dept. Blackwater founder works on next chapter.By Dion Nissenbaum. Required fields are marked *. "[30] He credits his father's competitive streak in the automotive business with the inspiration to design a lighter, faster army. [2] Prince and his father toured the world together, visiting the Dachau concentration camp in Germany, divided Berlin, and the battlefields of Normandy. The program was funded by several Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates and backed by the United States. His list of close allies including Steve Bannon, U.S. President Donald Trumpâs former chief strategist. His sister, Betsy DeVos, married into one of the most influential political families in the Midwest, the DeVosâs, and began helping to run the Republican party machine in Michigan. The confidential report obtained by the Times accused Prince, founder of the private military … It made me realize you can't sit back and pontificate. [28] In 2020 Prince again became the focus of an FBI investigation into arms trafficking violations. Prince now heads the private equity firm Frontier Resource Group, and is chairman of the Hong Kong-listed Frontier Services Group. Eric Prince, the brain behind the infamous private military company Blackwater, is now in China training security forces. The Chinese are in charge, so it wonât matter.â. His sister gives him a direct line of access to Trump himself.