Sean McDade

Sean McDade was a national security investigator with the RCMP who secretly entered the United States in February 2000 to investigate evidence that the Canadian Government was using a computer software program called PROMIS, which allegedly allowed the U.S. to eavesdrop on Canadian intelligence secrets through a modified "back-door." His investigation was code-named Project Abbreviation, and his email handle, "simorp," was PROMIS spelled backward.[1]

McDade's probe was authorized at the highest level of the RCMP and was well-funded. He was deeply committed to ascertaining whether the Canadian Government's computer system had been compromised. He learned that a meeting had been held in December 1999 at the Los Alamos facility in New Mexico, attended by the heads of intelligence divisions from the U.S. (CIA), Britain (British Intelligence), Israel (Mossad), and CSIS, concerning Y2K computer problems. A source suggested that all four allied countries shared the same computer system, possibly PROMIS, due to its mutual integration capabilities. McDade was also informed by another source that the Mossad may have modified the PROMIS software to create a "two-way" backdoor, potentially allowing Israel access to top U.S. weapons secrets at Los Alamos and other installations.[1]

During his investigation, McDade met with Cheri Seymour, the author of The Last Circle, in Southern California on February 19, 2000. He explained that high-ranking Canadian officials might have unlawfully purchased the PROMIS software from officials in the Reagan-Bush administration, and the RCMP had reportedly traced banking transactions supporting this claim. He believed a successful investigation "could cause the entire U.S. Republican Party to be dismantled and more than one presidential administration would be exposed for their knowledge of the PROMIS software transaction." Sue Todd, a Police Detective from Hercules, California, accompanied McDade to this meeting, as they had discovered they shared the same source and Todd's investigation into a double homicide was connected to the PROMIS case.[1]

McDade spent three days photocopying thousands of supporting documents to The Last Circle before returning to RCMP headquarters in Ottawa to set up a "war room." His probe evolved into an eight-month saga of interviews with former investigators, witnesses, undercover informants, and law enforcement personnel across the United States. He learned that U.S. predecessors in the PROMIS investigation had faced obstruction from the Justice Department, with some investigators being fired, suspended, or quitting when directed to cease their inquiries into drugs and money laundering.[1]

McDade also described Scott Lawrence's deep-cover drug investigation, code-named THE INDO-CHINA PROJECT, on the Maine/Canadian border. Lawrence's investigation was abruptly shut down after he and his supervisor, John (Tim) Kelly, requested to impanel grand juries to depose CIA officials.[1]

McDade found himself a target of ECHELON technology during his investigation in the United States, forcing him to take extraordinary measures to communicate with Sue Todd and Cheri Seymour. He stated that the NSA was spying on Canadian citizens while Canada spied on American citizens, both using ECHELON and trading data. Although he reportedly left the RCMP after his investigation was exposed in the Toronto Star in August 2000, Sue Todd indicated he ultimately returned to police work in his hometown.[1]

[1] Seymour, Cheri. The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.