Blackwater military company founder Erik Prince faces several probes from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including allegations of lying to the US Congress during the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Erik Prince, former US Navy officer and founder of private military company Academi LLC (formerly Blackwater), filed a defamation lawsuit against the news site The Intercept over an April article that alleged that he “sought in recent months to provide military services to a sanctioned Russian mercenary firm in at least two African conflicts”, RealClearInvestigations revealed, citing comments from Prince's lawyer.
In the article, titled “Erik Prince Offered Lethal Services to Sanctioned Russian Mercenary Firm Wagner”, the Intercept suggested that Prince, who is the brother of the current US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, earlier allegedly met with officials from Russia's Wagner Group in order to offer his mercenary forces to support paramilitary activities in Libya and Mozambique. The Russian company apparently refused his services. The article did not provide any exact details about the purported offer but cited “three people with knowledge of the efforts” as sources.
However, Prince's attorney from Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, Matthew L. Schwartz, denied the allegations, arguing that his client had “no choice but to defend himself”, after ignoring falsifications against him for…
