FBI stalked spy suspects for years
'There is always something else to be learned,' official says
This image taken from the Russian social networking website "Odnoklassniki" shows Anna Chapman, who is accused of being a Russian spy.
The Russian spy case that exploded into public view this week was preceded by nearly a decade of cat-and-mouse activities with the FBI, according to court documents and an interview with a senior U.S. official familiar with the case.
None of the suspects, who allegedly served as undercover agents for Moscow's foreign intelligence service, was arrested until Sunday. But a close examination of court documents indicates that by mid-2006 investigators had already searched the homes of four of the couples, planted microphones in at least three of their residences, regularly reviewed their encrypted computer messages, and videotaped meetings where money and equipment were exchanged.
So why hadn't any of the alleged spies been arrested earlier?
"There is always something else to be learned," said a senior law enforcement official.
Indeed, the investigation into the 11 alleged foreign agents appears to have been a case study in counterintelligence. As a matter of technique, the FBI and the CIA generally weigh the opportunity of gaining valuable counterintelligence against the danger of allowing subjects of interest to continue operating, lest they obtain U.S. intelligence or manage to flee.
Valuable information
In the Russian spy case, the counterintelligence gains could have included the names of Russian couriers and spy handlers, the names of Americans whom the Russians had sought to recruit, or knowledge of Russian espionage techniques and practices that could be employed in counterintelligence activities elsewhere in the world.
********************************************************************************
Kids of accused spies confront identity crisis
What happens when they find out parents are not who they said they were?
Tim Foley, 20, left, and his brother Alex, 16, leave federal court after a bail hearing for their parents, Donald Heathfield and Tracey Lee Ann Foley, in Boston, on Thursday.
NEW YORK — Children often ask the question "Who am I?" as they come of age, but that's nothing like the identity crisis now confronting the sons and daughters of four couples accused of spying for Russia.
Over a turbulent week, at least some, and maybe all, have discovered that mom and dad are not who they said they were. The children's citizenship, family history, and even their very names have been called into question.At least two children involved in the case, ages 1 and 3, will soon be headed for Russia.
Of the 11 people charged this week with being members of a Russian spy ring, eight were parents. Collectively, they are believed to have eight children, although, like much else associated with this strange post-Cold War spying case, the true facts are hazy.
Some of the older children are likely already wrestling with questions about their identities.
Juan Lazaro Jr., a gifted 17-year-old pianist at New York's LaGuardia High School of the performing arts, was named after his father. But the FBI said this week that dad's name was fake, as was his claim to have been raised in South America.
Tim Foley, a 20-year-old student at George Washington University, wrote on a blog that he was born in Toronto and grew up in Paris and Boston. Now his true birth country has been called into question. Prosecutors say they have evidence the family is actually Russian.
No comments:
Post a Comment