Mary McFate exposed as Nation Rifle Association infiltrator

There's a picture of this former infiltrator on the website:

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5541490&page=1

Senator Demands Answers From NRA
Senator Orders Explanation From NRA About Mole Accusations
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN and LEE COCHRAN
Aug. 8, 2008


A New Jersey senator is asking the National Rifle Association to explain
itself in the wake of reports last week that the organization hired a
mole to infiltrate a gun-control lobbying group in Pennsylvania.

The NRA has remained silent since reports arose last week that
62-year-old Mary McFate, who portrayed herself as a gun-control
activist, might really have been snooping on several nonviolence groups
on behalf of the NRA. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, has
asked the NRA to confirm or deny the charge; reveal what she was paid,
if anything; disclose the names of any other informants in the
gun-control movement; and put a stop to the practice.

According to the AP, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat, demanded
Thursday that the NRA respond to reports claiming the group paid
62-year-old Mary McFate to spy on nonviolence groups.

According to the Associated Press, in a letter faxed to the Virginia NRA
headquarters Thursday, Lautenberg wrote: "Although the NRA and I have
certainly had our disagreements over the year, I hope that we can agree
that the gun violence prevention debate should be based upon an open and
honest exchange of ideas, not on underhanded tactics."

The senator's demand came a week after reports that for more than a
decade, McFate worked for gun-control groups, volunteering her time to
organize protests, develop policy, lobby politicians and serve on their
executive boards.

McFate was, according to Angus McQuilken, a board member at the anti-gun
group Freedom States Alliance, on which she also served as "a model of
passionate advocacy for our cause."

But according to a report in Mother Jones magazine, McFate was really
Mary Lou Sapone, a "research consultant" hired by the National Rifle
Association to spy on the very groups who believed she was there to help.

According to Mother Jones, Sapone, operating under her maiden name
"McFate," began appearing at anti-gun protests in the 1990s, soon after
she had been outed in another case of activist espionage. In 1990 it was
revealed that she infiltrated an animal-rights group on behalf of a
surgical supply company.

Sapone served on the boards of the Freedom States Alliance and Ceasefire
Pennsylvania, and twice ran for a board position at the Brady Campaign
to Prevent Gun Violence, ABC News confirmed.

"One of the reasons we have lobbying disclosure rules is so that the
public knows who's lobbying the elected – but also so the elected know
who's coming before them, and who's really paying them," the president
of the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence, Paul Helmke, told the AP,
responding to the allegations of breaking lobbying laws.

The magazine closely connects her to the now-defunct private security
firm Beckett Brown International, which earned a reputation for hiring
former U.S. intelligence agents and which has been linked to several
cases of spying on activist groups, including Greenpeace.

In a 2003 deposition, BBI's former president, Tim Ward, testified that
he hired Sapone to work on behalf of the National Rifle Association,
according to Mother Jones.

"We used informants that we would send to public rallies that these
people were holding, public demonstrations. These informants developed
relationships where they could pick up a phone and call in to find out
where the next event was, where it was going to be held… They are
usually very eager to have somebody come and tote banners and scream and
shout," Mother Jones quotes Ward as saying.

When reached by ABC News, Ward said he knew Mary Sapone but not a Mary
McFate, and would not comment further.

Sapone did not return calls placed by ABC News. Neighbors in Sarasota,
Fla., said Sapone, who went by her maiden name, McFate, in the
community, was on vacation in Belize and often spoke about working for
the NRA.

The NRA did not return calls placed by ABCNews.com.

The groups she allegedly infiltrated were left reeling, wondering how
they were duped for so long by someone with whom they closely worked.

"This reinforces what we have long known, that the gun lobby will go to
any lengths, no matter how unethical, to protect the profits of the gun
industry in this country, even at the expense of the over 30,000
Americans who lose their lives to gun violence each year," said
McQuilken, whose organization kicked "McFate" off their board soon after
learning her true identity.

"This person was a very good imposter. She knew all the right things to
say," he said.

It makes sense she'd be a good imposter, though. According to the
Associated Press, a 1997 resume for Mary Lou Sapone that surfaced during
a Maryland business dispute listed her as an "intelligence and
investigations" consultant and a former senior investigator specializing
in "covert operations" for a Connecticut consulting firm.

The resume also listed Sapone as a president of a "Self-Improvement at
Sea" program that provided lectures on world affairs, "life enrichment"
and "intellectual history" on cruises. Meanwhile it listed her hobbies
as hunting, trapping and fishing, shooting sports and "pugil stick
fighting," the AP reported.

The gun-control groups are far from the first activist organizations to
be infiltrated by corporations or other organizations, often larger and
more powerful, than the activists.

In 2001, the British government launched an inquiry into a private
intelligence firm with links to the U.K.'s MI6 spy service for
infiltrating environmental activist groups to gather information to sell
to oil companies, including Royal Dutch/Shell Group and BP, the Times of
London reported.

In 2006, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sued the owners of
Ringling Bros. circus and accused them of infiltrating animal rights
groups, stealing documents and tapping phones.

But as they have been spied on, so too have activists spied.

One year before PETA accused the circus of allegedly spying, a New
Jersey biomedical company accused the animal rights group of
infiltrating and secretly videotaping its operations.

"This type of malicious activity by PETA, in which it conspires with
individuals to lie about their intentions, to videotape and potentially
disrupt medical research, and then to launch vile disinformation
campaigns against pharmaceutical research companies, has got to stop,"
James Lovett, the lawyer for Covance, a biomedical industry leader with
some of the world's largest animal-testing labs, told the AP at the time.

The infiltration of activist groups is neither new nor difficult, said
Craig Dotlow, a former FBI special agent and spokesman for the Society
of Former Special Agents of the FBI.

"The FBI used to do this kind of work a lot in the '60s, infiltrating
groups like the Weathermen or the Black Panthers. All you really need to
find is a good actor," he said. "It is a very unsophisticated but very
successful technique. Find someone who can fit into the culture, who can
be taught about the group and then make sure they cultivate friendships
and work hard. Most of these groups have small budgets, and when they
find someone who is dedicated and willing to work for free, they can
move up the ranks pretty quickly."

Dotlow added, "It is mostly about education. You need your candidate to
know enough about the group so he can talk intelligently about their
issues. Then you create a record of involvement, get your name in paper,
write an editorial so it appears you have been committed for a long time."

Companies that spy on other companies or each other, Dotlow said, are
committing a crime and for that reason many won't do it.