“After the humiliating failure of his mercenary expedition in Libya, sources told me Erik Prince used former Acting DNI @RichardGrenell to lobby the Pentagon to allow Prince’s mercenaries take over US military operations in Africa, but [Chris Miller] shot the idea down. … Another person who was trying to get Prince a DoD contract in Africa was former [Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense] for African Affairs Pete Marocco. Handing responsibilities to Prince would avoid the optics of fighting what Marocco called ‘goat herders'” – Rolling Stone’s Seth Hettena
Note: Grenell announced his candidacy for California governor.