Whistleblower: Barr Worked with Willis on Trump RICO Case

A whistleblower, currently under indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice and granted political asylum in an undisclosed foreign country, has provided Project Veritas with explosive evidence alleging secret meetings orchestrated by former U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr, media figure Armstrong Williams, and other prominent Washington, D.C., insiders to plan the prosecution of President Donald Trump, his allies, and January 6 defendants.

Patrícia Lélis, hired in 2021 by Armstrong Williams’ media company, Howard Stirk Holdings, claims she attended dozens of meetings where Barr and others devised legal strategies to target Trump supporters and block his political comeback. She provided Project Veritas with extensive handwritten notes and photos documenting these secret discussions which took place from 2021-2023.

Lélis detailed a September 13, 2021, meeting involving herself, Armstrong Williams, CNN Commentator Shermichael Singleton, and former Attorney General William P. Barr, which focused on strategizing for the newly formed January 6th Committee. “The investigation will be focused on people close to Trump and make efforts to formally prosecute these people,” Lélis wrote.

Her notes reveal that Barr provided a list of targets, including Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, Stewart Rhodes, Enrique Tarrio, Jeffrey Clark, Oath Keepers, and Proud Boys. Following this meeting, many of these individuals were subsequently subpoenaed to testify before the January 6 Committee or faced charges related to January 6th or the 2020 election, demonstrating Barr’s apparent influence in driving the legal actions against them.

Project Veritas examined photos dated March 15, 2022, of Armstrong Williams and Bill Barr, alongside Lélis’ corresponding notes from a meeting at Sinclair Broadcast Group. The notes detail discussions revealing Barr was in talks with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Jack Smith about planning prosecutions in Florida, Georgia, and New York. Lélis recorded that Barr predicted an FBI raid on Trump’s home would occur “soon.” Five months later, the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago.

Project Veritas also verified a January 19, 2023, text from Williams to Lélis confirming a planned meeting between Bill Barr and Fani Willis. Notes from February 27, 2023, confirm the meeting took place, with Barr advising Willis to pursue RICO charges against Donald Trump. Lelis stated, “Bill Barr was like, we should bring RICO because it's a very difficult type of charge to defend,” noting Barr described the charge as broad and challenging to counter under U.S. law.

Lélis claims the overarching goal in all the meetings was to block Trump's return to power. “One thing that I understood very well is like Bill Barr and Armstrong and all the politicians too, they're very focused like in how they go to stop Trump,” she said.

In their efforts to oppose Trump’s reelection efforts, Williams' team began talks with Facebook to develop "anti-Trump" social media content. December 2021 meeting notes and texts from Danielle Kersey, the Government and Politics Manager, indicate Meta was creating content focusing on claims that "Trump destroyed democracy." The strategy, as outlined in the notes taken by Lélis, was to "alter the algorithm" to persuade Republicans to reject Trump and show he does not represent the Republican Party.

Lélis reported Armstrong Williams and Bill Barr to the FBI in June 2023 for their secret meetings and the visa fraud scheme exposed in Project Veritas’ Part 1. Text messages reveal panic from Williams and his associates upon learning of the FBI report. Lélis faced a barrage of threats and demands to return meeting notes and other documents she recorded during her employment, suggesting their authenticity and a frantic effort to conceal these covert meetings.

“You had a chance to be part of my team, to build something big, make money…and you threw it all away. You took my documents and phones and never returned them. Now you think you can move against me? Let me be clear, your time is running out… Letting you live was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made. If I could, I’d have my hands around your throat right now.” – Armstrong Williams, CEO, HSH

It’s critical to highlight that Project Veritas was first tipped off to this story by Department of Justice officials troubled by an apparent DOJ cover-up to pin Barr’s actions on Lélis. A Trump DOJ official stated, “Barr has put the entire FBI after this woman to get the documents she has.”

Charged in January 2024, Lélis faces accusations of masterminding the visa scheme at Howard Stirk Holdings, while no charges have been filed against Williams or his employees.

In forthcoming parts of this series, Project Veritas will expose further irregularities in the government’s case against Lélis, including threats from government prosecutors, as well as additional corruption she observed at Howard Stirk Holdings, such as covert messages sent to government officials via burner phones and cash and bribes exchanged for favors through illegal lobbying with foreign governments.