C.I.A. Informant Extracted From Russia Had Sent Secrets to U.S. for Decades
![]() 2106 Tuesday, 10 September, 2019, 12:05 Decades ago, the C.I.A. recruited and carefully cultivated a midlevel Russian official who began rapidly advancing through the governmental ranks. Eventually, American spies struck gold: The longtime source landed an influential position that came with access to the highest level of the Kremlin. As American officials began to realize that Russia was trying to sabotage the 2016 presidential election, the informant became one of the C.I.A.’s most important — and highly protected — assets. But when intelligence officials revealed the severity of Russia’s election interference with unusual detail later that year, the news media picked up on details about the C.I.A.’s Kremlin sources. C.I.A. officials worried about safety made the arduous decision in late 2016 to offer to extract the source from Russia. The situation grew more tense when the informant at first refused, citing family concerns — prompting consternation at C.I.A. headquarters and sowing doubts among some American counterintelligence officials about the informant’s trustworthiness. But the C.I.A. pressed again months later after more media inquiries. This time, the informant agreed. The move brought to an end the career of one of the C.I.A.’s most important sources. It also effectively blinded American intelligence officials to the view from inside Russia as they sought clues about Kremlin interference in the 2018 midterm elections and next year’s presidential contest. |
Musk announces creation of "America" political party
32700:28Khamenei makes first public appearance after more than 20 days of absence
48100:05174 flights cancelled at Sheremetyevo airport
478Yesterday, 23:52RGC announces arrest of 50 Israeli spies in southeastern Iran
515Yesterday, 23:28#Ynet: "Israel to send delegation to Qatar to negotiate deal with Hamas"
333Yesterday, 22:40"Russia produces more weapons in 3 months than NATO countries produce in 1 year" - Rutte
481Yesterday, 22:05"Russia is increasing its military presence in Armenia" - Ukrainian intelligence
568Yesterday, 21:16"The territory of the Republic of Armenia cannot be used by third states to carry out military operations against any of the neighboring states" - Foreign Ministry of RA
301Yesterday, 20:54