“…interested in more mundane means of spying on and manipulating people, which overlapped with the technologies governments often pursue.” Let’s talk about this lead-in. Specifically, who did he invest in? Which contractors? Which scientists? Did the subjects have informed consent? IRB? 1/
Were they acting as an affiliate of a university, alone, or under a private institution? Were the researchers even qualified to handle/work with human subjects? 2/
Or were they operating outside their competencies? E..g., a maths academic moonlighting as psychologist? If yes, were the subjects even aware they were part of a study? 3/
Because to suggest he invested in this kind of research, also implies someone accepted big sums for unethical research that likely violated numerous civil rights. And i think that list is equally as interesting. End. (Maybe.)
Case in point---how quickly and insufficiently the media lab "investigation" proceeded, leaving more questions than answers. Yet, it magically fell off everyone's radar. And, yes, they knew about his hx. Why else would they refer to him as "Voldemort?"