A conservative political espionage case to dig up dirt on Democrats and moderate Republicans viewed as enemies of former President Donald Trump ran through Fort Collins, The New York Times reported in an investigation.

Beau Maier and Sofia LaRocca used large campaign donations to infiltrate progressive groups and political campaigns, including a $1,250 donation to Secretary of State Jena Griswold, which  allowed them to a Washington, D.C., fundraiser where they met Colorado’s chief election official, the Times reported.

Griswold’s campaign declined to comment on the article on Monday, other than to say the campaign would return the donation.

While the couple with extensive conservative ties sought first to infiltrate political circles in Wyoming, they also operated in Colorado and Arizona, while they lived in Fort Collins. 

LaRocca declared her candidacy for vice chairwoman of the Wyoming Young Democrats but had told those in Wyoming who questioned her residency that she had to live in Fort Collins because the couple owned a dog. She offered to help raise money for the Wyoming Democratic Party in January 2019, after attending the Women’s March in Cheyenne. 

“The endeavor in the West appears to have had two primary goals: penetrate local and eventually national Democratic political circles for long-term intelligence gathering, and collect dirt on moderate Republicans that could be used against them in the internecine party battles being waged by Mr. Trump and his allies,” wrote reporters Mark Mazzetti and Adam Goldman.

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Maier, 36, and LaRocha, 28, could not be reached for comment. Public documents unearthed by The New York Times tied the couple to Richard Seddon, a former spy who had worked with Project Veritas in trying to expose Trump’s perceived enemies within the government.

Seddon was part of a sting operation in 2018 against then-Trump national security adviser H.R. McMaster to catch him making disparaging remarks about the president, as well as setting up surveillance of FBI employees and other government officials, an attempt to prop up “deep state” conspiracies alleged by the president and his supporters.

George Durazzo Jr., a self-employed political consultant from Longmont, admitted to the Times reporters he was embarrassed and angry about being duped. He had planned to take the couple to the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee last summer before the pandemic turned it into an online event.

“If they are indeed Benedict Arnold and Mata Hari, I was the one who was fooled,” he said.

Durazzo had landed a pledge of $10,000 from Maier and LaRocha to the Democratic National Committee.

“We are all vulnerable to charm and hefty contributions,” he said. “Ten thousand bucks, you definitely have me by the ears.”

Nate Martin, the head of Better Wyoming, a progressive group that was one of the operation’s targets, said he suspected that its aim was to “dig up this information and you sit on it until you really can destroy somebody.”