Mary Lou Sapone

Mary Lou Sapone is an American self-described "research consultant", who is alleged to have infiltrated numerous gun control, animal rights, and environmental organizations under her maiden name, Mary McFate. [http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/07/mary-mcfate-sapone-gun-lobby-nra-spy.html There's Something About Mary: Unmasking a Gun Lobby Mole] , [http://www.motherjones.com/ "Mother Jones"] , July 30, 2008, Accessed 2008-08-01] She has been a subcontractor for the security firms Beckett Brown International (BBI) (which in 2000 changed its name to S2I Corporation), and Perceptions International. [http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/04/firm-spied-on-environmental-groups.html Exclusive: Cops and Former Secret Service Agents Ran Black Ops on Green Groups] , [http://www.motherjones.com/ "Mother Jones"] , April 11, 2008, Accessed 2008-08-01]

When contacted by the media, McFate and the National Rifle Association (NRA) (who is alleged to have hired her) both have refused to comment on the allegations. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080806/ap_on_re_us/nra_mole;_ylt=AvfQ1Bc80ylOVhQmJ0RM1BxH2ocA Gun-control groups fear top activist was NRA spy] , Associated Press, 2008-08-06, Retrieved 2008-08-06]

Personal life

Sapone is said to be a former flight attendant and sex counselor from Sarasota, Florida. She has worked (as McFate) as a substitute teacher at a local military academy.

She has a daughter, Shelley McGonnigal, and a son, Sean McFate.

ean and Montgomery McFate

Sean McFate, and daughter-in-law, Montgomery McFate, are both alleged to have helped her infiltrate and gather intelligence on organizations.

ean McFate

Sean was a U.S. Army officer with the 82d Airborne Division and other units.

After leaving the military he founded a consulting firm in Washington, D.C., that advised transnational corporations on political risk.

He has a master's degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and dual bachelor degrees from Brown University in history and religious studies.PDFlink| [http://usacac.army.mil/CAC/milreview/English/JulAug07/McFate.pdf "The Art and Aggravation of Vetting in Post-Conflict Environments"] |1.55 MiB by Sean McFate in " [http://usacac.army.mil/CAC/milreview/index.asp Military Review] ", July-August 2007. Also in PDFlink| [http://usacac.leavenworth.army.mil/CAC/milreview/Spanish/NovDec07/mcfatespanovdec07.pdf "Spanish translation."] |1.29 MiB ]

He was managing director of Mary Lou Sapone's intelligence firm which at one point was called Strategic Solutions Group LLC.

He has worked for Amnesty International and the military contractor DynCorp. At DynCorp he was the principal advisor of peacekeeping and humanitarian affairs. According to an online biography, he helped to organize "the first major legal arms shipment to Liberia in 15 years."

Sean McFate was program director of the national security initiative at a Washington think tank, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC). As the story exposing Mary Lou Sapone as Mary McFate (which also named Sean and his involvement) was posted on the Internet in July 2008, his name was removed from the staff of the Center's website. The BPC denies there is any relationship between the events stating, "Prior to the publication of the recent Mother Jones article, Sean McFate resigned from the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) to pursue a different professional project.".

When asked by the media to comment on the alleged double life of Mary Lou Sapone he said, "I'm familiar with what you are doing. But I don't want to talk to the media. You have to talk to Mary Lou." He has refused further comment.

Montgomery McFate

Montgomery McFate is a Harvard Law School graduate and Yale trained anthropologist. Montgomery McFate worked as an intern at Brady Campaign headquarters in 2003.

An old version of her résumé states she worked for Mary Lou Sapone's business, which it describes as specializing in "domestic and internal opposition research" and "special investigations." [http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/08/9218_did_the_son_of.html Did the Son of the NRA-Connected Private Spy Lose His Job Because of Mom?] , [http://www.motherjones.com/ "Mother Jones"] , 2008-08-08, Retrieved 2008-08-08]

It has also been reported she has worked as a Pentagon adviser. She was one of the primary architects of the US military's human terrain program, which teams social scientists with military units in Iraq and Afghanistan to help soldiers better understand the local culture. She also had input in U.S. Army's Counterinsurgency Field Manual.

As Mary Lou Sapone

In the late 1980s, while working for Perceptions International, she infiltrated a Connecticut animal rights group. Perceptions International was hired by the U.S. Surgical Corporation. She gathered evidence on a member, Fran Trutt, who was later arrested for planting a pipe bomb. Trutt later accused Sapone of coaxing her into the act, stating that on her way to carry out the bombing she lost her nerve and placed a call to Sapone, who convinced her to follow through with the plan. Activists accused Sapone of acting as an agent provocateur.

Working for BBI, in 1998, Sapone recruited a paid operative to infiltrate an environmental group called CLEAN in Louisiana.

As Mary McFate

For more then 10 years, she worked for several gun control groups, serving on executive boards, helping coordinate state groups, lobbying in Washington, and learning their strategy and organization.

She was a leader of Pennsylvanians Against Handgun Violence and later a board member of Ceasefire Pennsylvania. She was on the board of Freedom States Alliance, a network of nine state-based gun control organizations. She was the director of federal legislation for States United to Prevent Gun Violence, a nationwide coalition of anti-gun groups. She collaborated with national organizations including the Brady Campaign and the Violence Policy Center.

She twice attempted unsuccessfully to join the board of the Brady Campaign, the nation's largest gun-control group.

During this time, according to a 2003 deposition by, Tim Ward, who had been president of Beckett Brown International, the National Rifle Association had been "a client" of Sapone's.

Exposure

The magazine "Mother Jones" was the first to report on McFate's alleged dual identity in July 2008.

After "Mother Jones" revealed her activities, the president of the Brady Campaign, Paul Helmke, commented, "It raises some real concerns with the tactics of the NRA. If they've got one person, maybe they have more. If they've done this dirty trick, what else have they done?". Helmke also said he planned to search the Brady Campaign offices for listening devices and computer spyware.

The Brady Campaign and other groups state they are researching whether McFate's alleged spying constituted a crime. Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and a former prosecutor stated her opinion, "Under some circumstances, it could be trespass, [but] if they're open meetings, it may be underhanded and sneaky; it may not be illegal."

Bryan Miller, executive director of Ceasefire NJ, a gun control group, said, "To have somebody that I consider a friend, have been with dozens of times, shared meals with, treated as a friend, to have her be an employee, a subcontracted spy for the NRA, is just mind-boggling. It's so venal. In the battle of ideas with the gun lobby, we're at a constant disadvantage because we're honest."

The CeaseFirePA gun control group leadership planned to vote on August 8, 2008 on whether to expel McFate, a board member for seven years. "I feel flattered that the NRA would feel that they would have to infiltrate Ceasefire of PA. Obviously, they're hearing our footsteps," said Phil Goldsmith, the group's president. "Frankly, I think it's a waste of their money. We don't deal in state secrets."

External links

* [http://mcfate.blogspot.com/ Mary McFate's blog]
* [http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/07/mary-mcfate-sapone-gun-lobby-nra-spy.html There's Something About Mary: Unmasking a Gun Lobby Mole] - [http://www.motherjones.com "Mother Jones" magazine] article first exposing McFate.

References