Candace Owens from The daily thread is looking for a man she believes is a government agent who tried to blend in with the Conservatives in 2020.
On the Friday episode of her eponymous podcast, Owens did something completely different than she usually does. She asked internet detectives to help her find a man named Brandan Roneel.
During the 28-minute video, Owens said the story has strange parallels to the COINTELPRO CIA operations from the 1950s to the 1970s, in which agents attempted to discredit political groups by infiltrating them.
Owen’s said Roneel contacted her after the 2020 election and offered to donate a lot of money to her Blexit foundation. Roneel told Owens he was a major donor to Turning Point USA, a group of pro-Trump students who helped Owens get started in politics.
Take a look at:
Roneel was checked out by Charlie Kirk and a few other people at Turning Point USA. They all said he was a good donor and that they had met him before.
Owens, her husband George Farmer, Roneel and Roneel’s fiancée all had a great time over dinner with Owens. Roneel told stories of his young success that left everyone at the table in awe. At 22, he had more money than he knew what to do with, was a genius in school, and even worked on government contracts.
At the end of dinner, Roneel gave Owens a check for $250,000 for the Blexit foundation. Owens was impressed. Owens didn’t notice anything wrong with the check she got until she got home.
Who is Brandan Roneel? Why was he trying to scam conservatives?
— Coyote J (@CoyoteJ8) December 16, 2022
Why was this large sum not sent by telegram? When the address on the check was checked, it turned out to be a WeWork location in Washington, DC, which is a shared office space.
Owens started a major investigation in her head to find out who she had been eating with. Roneel told Owens a different story about his career and upbringing than he told Turning Point USA.
Roneel had actually told Owens that he taught at the University of Pennsylvania. Owens found a listing for him on the school’s website after a quick search for his name, but the link was broken.
She says she tried to get in touch with Roneel to find out more about his background and how he was able to give so much money, but never heard back.
So she didn’t cash the check because she was afraid the money would be sent to a foreign government. Owens dug deeper and tried to find Roneel using a foundation he said he had. Roneel posed with Rep. Dan Crenshaw and other big names in the conservative world on the foundation’s Instagram page (R-TX).
Everyone must watch @RealCandaceO‘s latest video about ‘Brandan Roneel’. Regardless of your politics, very interesting story
— Andrew (@zwolpig) December 17, 2022
on January 5, 2021Owens messaged Crenshaw telling him that the man he had a photo with was not who he said he was and that Crenshaw should not trust him.
Owens said the trail went cold after that. Roneel’s foundation’s Instagram account and any other evidence of its existence have been deleted.
Owens found Brandan Roneel’s obituary months later. There was only one sentence in it. “Brandan Roneel, age 22, of Arlington, VA passed away June 17, 2021 in Philadelphia. Services and burial are private.”
Owens still has questions about what happened, and he thinks the mysterious dinner guest could have been someone more dangerous.
Our coverage of Candace Owens’ confrontation with Brandan Roneel is now complete. Please tell us what you think in the section below. Just follow us on Lee Daily for more news like this.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.