Zen and the Art of Political Espionage

How did a Gore-Tex heir and onetime Transcendental Meditation devotee end up bankrolling America's strangest right-wing spy op?

- By Tim Murphy

Nate Martin always thought there was something a little off about the new couple in town. Beau Maier and Sofia LaRocca had shown up in Wyoming in 2019 with thin resumes and few references and quickly began immersing themselves in the state's small but dedicated community of progressive activists. Maier, a burly Army veteran, expressed interest in a cannabis legalization effort supported by Better Wyoming, the advocacy group where Martin served as executive director. LaRocca, the new executive director of a group called Wyoming Progress, which sought to flip the nation's reddest state, hoped to land a job with Martin's then-fiancée, Karlee Provenza, who was running for a seat in the state legislature.

There was the way Maier and LaRocca seemed to mimic them-claiming to own a Belgian Malinois, just like them; getting engaged, just like them. And there were their wild ideas, schemes that seemed more at home in the world of black ops than grassroots organizing. In private, Martin and Provenza joked that their new acquaintances were moles. But they were friendly enough. And besides, who would want to spy on Wyoming Democrats? I just kind of thought they smoked a lot of weed, Martin told me.

Then one afternoon in the spring of 2021, Provenza, now a state representative, was walking down Grand Avenue in downtown Laramie when she got a call from her husband.

Do you remember Beau and Sofia? Martin asked. It had been months since they had heard from the couple, who had disappeared from Wyoming's Democratic scene just before the 2020 election.

You mean the spies? Provenza replied.

Yeah, Martin said. They're actually spies.