espionage
Textbook Case of FBI Grooming a Troubled Young Man to Commit Violent Crime

By John Leake
Schizophrenic Jerry Drake Varnell was encouraged and assisted by an undercover FBI agent in “foiled” plot to blow up BancFirst building in Oklahoma City
In researching the strange cases ofĀ Thomas Matthew CrooksĀ andĀ Luigi Mangione, I have wondered with whom they were in contact, and if they were possibly groomed, by an undercover FBI whoāfor reasons that are unclearāwished to incite these young men to participate in violent crimes.
I first started wondering about FBI grooming when I learned about an undercover FBI agentās involvement in the 2015 plot to attack a convention at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas (see my postĀ “Tear Up Texas”: FBI Encouraged a 2015 Shooting & Did Nothing to Stop It).
This morning I learned about the remarkable case of a 23-year-old diagnosed schizophrenic named Jerry Drake Varnell whoāwith the encouragement and assistance of an undercover FBI agent in 2017āparticipated in what he believed was a plot to blow up the BancFirst building in downtown Oklahoma City. He was found guilty in 2019. In 2020 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison āfor attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction at BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City.ā
According to the US Attorneyās OfficeĀ press releaseĀ on the conviction:
At trial, the jury heard testimony from an informant who made recordings of his conversations with Varnell. It also heard from the undercover FBI agent who helped Varnell build what he thought was a bomb, an FBI bomb technician, and others. It listened to numerous recordings in which Varnell planned the attack and reviewed numerous written electronic communications that corroborated his intent. Furthermore, it heard the testimony of a defense expert concerning Varnellās mental health. Through its verdicts, the jury concluded any mental health problems did not prevent Varnell from forming the intent required for conviction.Ā It also determined the FBI did not entrap him.
To me, what is most striking about this caseāapart from the fact that the offender was a diagnosed schizophrenicāis how he drew the attention of federal law enforcement. AsĀ reported by KGOUĀ (an Oklahoma NPR station):
Government witnesses said they deemed Varnell a threatĀ based on his online activity such as ālikingā anti-government groups on Facebook and messages referencing Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and Tyler Durden, a split personality character from the 1999 film āFight Club.āĀ Agents also said Varnell claimed he had built homemade explosives during conversations with undercover FBI agent Williams and an FBI informant named Brent Elisens.
As was repeatedly pointed out by Varnellās defense attorney:
Varnell isĀ a diagnosed schizophrenic. He told federal agents that his anti-government sentiments started around age 16, the same age his parents say his schizophrenic episodes began.
Defense attorneys asked FBI agents if they knew of Varnellās paranoid schizophrenia.Ā Retired FBI agent Jennifer Schmidtz, who testified Wednesday, said she knew of āallegationsāĀ in a Custer County case involving Varnell and self-reported mental health issues in Varnellās college transcripts. In a 2017 statement, Varnell’s parents claimed he has been institutionalized on multiple occasions.
The defense has team also focused on anĀ FBI report from Dec. 2016 that stated, āVarnell does not have a job or a vehicle. The threat has not been repeated. Varnell does not have the means to commit the act at this time.ā
By August 2017, the defense pointed out, Varnell was still unemployed and without a car.Ā ā¦
Varnellās property was searched the day of his arrest, andĀ Schmidtz, who supervised the search, testified there was no physical evidence showing Varnell experimented with chemicals capable of causing an explosion. The search did uncover a speech written by Varnell laiden with conspiracy theories about developing psychotropic drugs, the Clintons and Timothy McVeigh.
During cross examinations the defense continued to point out that Varnell never followed through on pieces of the plan he was responsible for, like choosing a time and place and supplying barrels.Ā Varnell came up with a list of locations after encouragement from undercover agent Williams,Ā and he settled on the on the BancFirst location after Williams took him to scout the location on July 13. He suggested Nov. 5 as an attack date, butĀ Williams said it was too far away. And Varnell never supplied barrels, so Williams provided them.
In other words, āundercover agent Williamsā was the chief planner and executor of the apparent plot. Jerry Varnell participated in this plot with the encouragement of undercover agent Williams and under the direction of undercover agent Williams.
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2025 Federal Election
Ottawa Confirms China interfering with 2025 federal election: Beijing Seeks to Block Joe Tayās Election

Sam Cooper
The announcement marks the first time SITE has publicly confirmed that China is directly seeking to block the election of a particular candidate during the 2025 federal electionāan election already shadowed by growing concern over Chinese interference through cyber operations and diaspora political networks.
One week before Canadians head to the polls, Ottawa has confirmed an escalation in Chinaās election interference efforts, identifying Conservative candidate Joseph Tay as the target of a widespread and highly coordinated ongoing transnational repression campaign tied to the Peopleās Republic of China.
The SITE Task ForceāCanadaās agency monitoring information threats during the electionāformally disclosed today that Tay, the Conservative Party candidate for Don Valley North, is the victim of inauthentic online amplification, digital suppression, and reputational targeting orchestrated by networks aligned with Beijingās foreign influence operations.
The announcement marks the first time SITE has publicly confirmed that China is directly seeking to block the election of a particular candidate during the 2025 federal electionāan election already shadowed by growing concern over Chinese interference through cyber operations and diaspora political networks.
āThis is not about a single post going viral,ā SITE warned. āIt is a series of deliberate and persistent activity across multiple platformsāa coordinated attempt to distort visibility, suppress legitimate discourse, and shape the information environment for Chinese-speaking voters in Canada.ā
SITE said the most recent coordinated activity occurred in late March, when a Facebook post appeared denigrating Tayās candidacy. āPosts like this one appeared en masse on March 24 and 25 and appear to be timed for the Conservative Partyās announcement that Tay would run in Don Valley North,ā SITE stated in briefing materials.
One post, circulated widely in Chinese-language spaces, featured an image that read: āWanted for national security reasons, Joe Tay looks to run for a seat in the Canadian Parliament; a successful bid would be a disaster. Is Canada about to become a fugitiveās paradise?ā
Significantly, according toĀ The Bureauās analysis, the postās message resembles earlier remarks made by then-Liberal MP Paul Chiang to a small group of Chinese journalists in Toronto in Januaryācomments made shortly after Tayās inclusion on a Hong Kong bounty list was first publicized.
Chiang reportedly told the journalists that Tayās election would raise significant concern due to the bounty he faced, before suggesting that Tay could be turned over to the Chinese consulate in Toronto.
Tay, a Hong Kong-born human rights advocate, was named in December 2024 by Hong Kong authorities as one of six overseas dissidents subject to an international arrest warrant and monetary bounty. His photograph appeared on a wanted list offering cash rewards for information leading to his captureāan unprecedented move that Canadian officials condemned as a threat to national sovereignty.
āThe decision by Hong Kong to issue international bounties and cancel the passports of democracy activists and former Hong Kong lawmakers is deplorable,ā SITEĀ stated today.Ā āThis attempt by Hong Kong authorities to conduct transnational repression abroadāincluding by issuing threats, intimidation or coercion against Canadians or those in Canadaāwill not be tolerated.ā
However, while facing an international wave of criticism, Prime Minister Mark Carney did tolerate his candidateās alleged role in this activity. When asked earlier in the campaign whether he stood by Chiang, Carney said the Liberal MP retained his confidence. Chiang ultimately stepped down only after the RCMP confirmed it was reviewing the matter.
Chiang, who had been endorsed by Prime Minister Carney, was replaced as the Liberal candidate by Peter Yuen, the former Deputy Chief of the Toronto Police Service.
AsĀ The BureauĀ previously reported, Yuen traveled to Beijing in 2015 with a delegation of Ontario Chinese community leaders and politicians to attend a major military parade hosted by President Xi Jinping and the Peopleās Liberation Armyāan event commemorating the Chinese Communist Partyās Second World War victory over Japan.
Yuenās presence at that eventāand his subsequent appearances at diaspora galas alongside leaders from the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations (CTCCO), a group cited in national security reportingāhas drawn media scrutiny.
Both Chiang and Yuen have stated that they strongly support Canadaās rule of law and deny any involvement in inappropriate activities.
According to SITEās findings, Tayās campaign has been the focus of two parallel strands of foreign influence since the beginning of the writ period. The first involves inauthentic and coordinated amplification of content related to Tayās Hong Kong arrest warrant, including repeated efforts to cast doubt on his fitness for office. This activity has spanned multiple platforms commonly used by Chinese-speaking Canadians, including WeChat, Facebook, TikTok, RedNote, and Douyin.
The second strand is a deliberate suppression of Tayās name in both simplified and traditional Chinese on platforms based in the Peopleās Republic of China. When users attempt to search for Tay, the platforms return only information related to the Hong Kong bountyāeffectively erasing his campaign content and political biography from the digital public square.
While SITE noted that engagement levels with the disinformation remained limited, the timing, repetition, and cross-platform consistency led the Task Force to conclude this is a serious case of foreign interference.
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2025 Federal Election
The Anhui Convergence: Chinese United Front Network Surfaces in Australian and Canadian Elections

Revealing Beijingās Transnational Influence Strategy
From Markham to Sydney: Tracing the CCPās Overseas Influence Web
In the waning days of two federal election campaigns on opposite sides of the world, striking patterns of Chinese Communist Party election influence and political networking are surfacingāall tied to an increasingly scrutinized Chinese diaspora group with roots in the province of Anhui.
In Australia, Liberal candidate Scott Yung opened a business gala co-hosted by the Anhui Association of Sydney, a group officially designated by Beijing as an āoverseas Chinese liaison station,ā asĀ reportedĀ by James King of 7NEWS. King identifies the Anhui group as part of a global network directed by Beijingās United Front Work Department, an influence arm of the Chinese state that aims to shape foreign societies through elite capture and soft power.
Kingās reporting is reigniting global concern over Chinese foreign interference, of the type previously exposed byĀ The BureauĀ in Canada, which revealed that several Liberal Party of Canada officials, deeply involved in fundraising and election campaigning in the Greater Toronto Area, also serve as directors of an Anhui-based United Front āfriendshipā group with ties to a notorious underground casino operation.
That same group shares overlapping members and leadership with the Jiangsu Commerce Council of Canada (JCCC), a United Front-affiliated organization that controversially met with Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney in January.
In the 7NEWS report, Yung is shown speakingāas a representative of Opposition Leader Peter Duttonāat a charity fundraiser co-hosted by the Anhui Association, a group previously celebrated by Beijing for supporting Chinaās territorial claims over Taiwan. According to King, the Anhui Association of Sydney was one of 14 overseas Chinese organizations designated in 2016 by the Anhui Foreign Affairs Office to serve as a liaison station advancing Beijingās international strategy. Government documents show the group received AUD $200,000 annually, with instructions to āintegrate overseas Chinese resourcesā into Anhuiās economic and social development.
Yungās appearance on behalf of Liberal leader Dutton at an event ultimately backed by Beijing echoed mounting concerns surrounding Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, his opponent in Australiaās May election.
Just weeks earlier,Ā The AustralianĀ revealed that Albanese had dined with the vice-president of a United Front group at a Labor fundraiserāprompting sharp criticism from Liberal campaign spokesperson James Paterson, the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs. Paterson said Albanese had āall sorts of serious questionsā to answer, warning that āXi Jinping has described the United Front Work Department as the Partyās magic weapon,ā according toĀ 7NEWS.
The news organization emphasized that it ādoes not suggest that the Anhui Association of Sydney, its former chairman, or any of its associates have committed foreign interference or otherwise acted illegally,ā noting that it is legal in Australia to act on behalf of a foreign governmentāso long as those actions are not covert, deceptive, or threatening.
But Kingās investigation underscores a broader concernāechoed in reporting from Canada and New Zealandāthat Chinese diaspora organizations, operating through the CCPās United Front system, are being strategically leveraged by Beijingās intelligence and foreign policy arms to fund major political parties across liberal democracies, influence parliamentary policy in line with CCP objectives, and shape leadership pipelines, including the placement of favored candidates and bureaucrats into sensitive government roles.
This strategy finds a near-identical expression in Canada, where intelligence officials in Toronto have long monitored a related organization: the Hefei Friendship Association, which maintains structural tiesāvia Anhui province United Front entitiesāto the Sydney group. Founded prior to 2012 by alleged underground casino operator Wei Wei, the Hefei group is based in Markham, Ontario, and plays a central role in an ongoing CSIS investigation into foreign interference.
Documents and sources reviewed byĀ The BureauĀ confirm that the Hefei Friendship Association shares leadership with the Jiangsu Commerce Council of Canada (JCCC), a group openly tied to provincial-level United Front Work Department officials in Jiangsu, the province adjacent to Anhui. In earlier reporting on the Markham illegal casino networkāwidely referred to as the 5 Decourcy caseāThe BureauĀ cited an investigator with direct knowledge of what intelligence sources describe as a botched national security probe. The inquiry focused on Canadian politicians attending the casino alongside Chinese community leaders affiliated with Beijingās overseas influence operations.
One legal source close to the file summarized the issue bluntly: āThe national security and intelligence apparatus of this country is ineffective and broken. Iām in disbelief at the lack of ethics and enforcement around government officials.ā
According to national security sources, the 5 Decourcy mansion-casino is viewed as just one visible node in a transnational system stretching from Toronto to Vancouverāa system that includes organized crime networks, unregistered lobbying, and foreign-aligned political financing. A CSIS source confirmed that the operationāwhich allegedly entertained politiciansāfits Beijingās model of leveraging transnational organized crime to advance political goals abroad. That model, they noted, closely mirrors warnings from Australiaās ASIO, which has linked similar figures in the real estate sector to major donations to all three of Australiaās major political parties, including those led by Dutton and Albanese.
Further investigation byĀ The BureauĀ reveals deeper overlap between the Anhui United Front networks and the Jiangsu group that met with Mark Carney in January. Among the co-directors of the Anhui United Front groupāpictured in meetings and named in documents alongside Wei Weiāis a prominent Markham-area Liberal riding official, involved in fundraising for Justin Trudeau. That same individual holds a leadership role with the JCCC, which met with Carney in a meeting that was initially denied, then downplayed.
Images reviewed byĀ The BureauĀ show Wei Wei seated beside a Liberal Party politician and community organizer at a private association gathering, while another Liberal official with ties to the JCCC stands behind them. A second photo, taken inside Wei Weiās residence, shows additional Liberal figures affiliated with Anhui- and Jiangsu-linked United Front community groups.
Documents obtained by King show that the Anhui Association of Sydney was tasked to āstrive to closely integrate overseas Chinese affairs with the provinceās economic and social development,ā according to the director of the Anhui Foreign Affairs and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office.Ā The BureauĀ has reviewed similar language in Canadian documents signed by JCCC leaders, including the Hefei Friendship Association director tied to Wei Weiāreinforcing that both the Canadian and Australian networks appear to operate under direct, formal tasking from provincial CCP entities.
As these revelations now resurface in the middle of Canadaās federal election campaign, they echo with findings in New Zealand. The 2018 political implosion involving MP Jami-Lee Ross offered a cautionary tale of how foreign-aligned networks can entangle party finances, diaspora outreach, and internal leadership struggles.
Ross, once a rising star in New Zealandās National Party, secretly recorded party leader Simon Bridges discussing a controversial $100,000 donation, which Ross alleged was tied to Chinese business interests. The scandal shattered Nationalās leadership and exposed vulnerabilities in its campaign finance ecosystem. In an interview withĀ Stuff, Ross described how his relationships with Chinese community leaders, while partly grounded in legitimate social engagement, also became channels for Beijingās political aims.
āThese [Chinese] associations, which bring together the expat Chinese community, they probably do have a good social function in many regards,ā Ross said. āBut thereās a wider agenda. And the wider agenda is influencing political parties. And by influencing political parties, you end up influencing the government of the day. What average New Zealander out there can get the leadership of a political party to go to their home for dinner? What average person out there could just click their fingers and command 10 MPs to come to their event? Most people canāt. Money buys their influence.ā
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