Steve Klein, the christian militia enforcer associated with the Innocence of Muslim agit-prop, claimed the purpose of the film was to acquire intelligence on AQ supporters in Southern California.
The movie poster for the now notorious June 30th 2012 showing supports that claim:
Below the fold, I consider the claims that Nakoula was a confidential informant and the implication that the "Innocence" project was a sanctioned intelligence operation that has gone seriously off the rails.
I will try to steer clear of the hyperventilating conspiracy and deal only with what has been claimed by the principals and what is corroborated.
Steve Klein was quick to claim the movie was a honey-pot to entrap domestic supporters of Bin Laden. His biography claimed he and his (Egyptian) associates went undercover to discover terrorist cells in the aftermath of 9/11. No confirmation of these claims, and the So Cal undercover operations that have been reported involved a weightlifter who ingratiated himself with Egyptian muslims.
Klein has claimed he dyed his hair and mustache to stake out the 6/30/12 showing. Similarly, the LA press reporting said police officers called to observe the showing detected Nakoula in a cafe across the street and accosted him as he watched the Vine theater entrance.
A peculiar aspect of this narrative is the claim by John Walsh that the showing never happened, he says he tried to buy tickets but was told the show was canceled.
The poster (captured by a concerned blogger) has a Georgia landline as a contact. The line is still live today, where a recording asks you to submit a credit card number to connect.
If Klein has any truth to his claim of undercover ops in 2001 using Egyptian Copts as coparticipants, then his 2012 escapade (dyed hair!) would recruit the same group. Klein in some way fits the profile of the deep agent from Cointelpro days -- the itinerant expert in weapons circulating through various groups, but his participation in constitutional lawsuits on leafleting makes that assignment problematic and his hyper-active public role is also exceptional.
Klein's close co-participant in the curbside leafleting of High School in northern San Diego and Riverside county is a James Horn. Horn claims to have been a CIA asset in Cambodia. Horn's wife claims to be a Iraqi refugee (she details a biography on message boards in news reporting on the Murietta High School leafleting).
LA press reporting have looked at Nakoula's previous run-in with the law, and assumed he pled out and cooperated. They note that much of Nakoula's file has been redacted (from the Meth bust). The meth bust corresponds to a period when federal agencies were pursuing Hezbollah meth cartels. (per reporting). His plea, sentence and release from Lompoc for the most recent fraud charge is also irregular and shortened.
The film permit issued to "Media for Christ" has been suppressed (in a hold whose authority and rationale has shifted) despite local press requests to review the forms.
The LA press' working assumption is that Nakoula had been turned and was serving as confidential informant for some of the period of his legal troubles. Not explained are his frequent recidivism, as he ended up back in jail for violations of parole.
The claim by Nakoula that he borrowed money from his wife's family to make the movie is fundamentally implausible given his legal and financial difficulties. Possibly, he is the catalyst, believing that delivering a SoCal terrorist cell through private sleuthing would make his legal difficulties go away.
Reporting on Nakoula say he disappeared for weeks on trips to "Egypt" during the period. This seems incompatible for a parolee. Either his supervision was extremely lax ($100,000 money, overseas travel, i-net use) or some subset of these activities had been greenlighted by his handlers.
Sat Sep 15, 2012 at 7:23 AM PT: As G2Geek's comment brings into sharp relief a salient point: Professionals would run away from this rag-tag group of blowhards and grifters.
Case in point: A core feature of Klein's biography was the injury of his son on duty in Iraq. The incident is retold in 3 versions on bio's authored by Klein himself. In the three versions, there are different casualties-- in one a captain is saved by Klein's son, and in another the captain dies.
Bacile in a coached and supervised situation would not resort to transparent lies-- which have marked every stage of the discovery process.