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A C.I.A. spy tale in Russia
C.I.A. Informant Extracted From Russia Had Sent Secrets to U.S. for Decades
By Julian E. Barnes, Adam Goldman and David E. Sanger
WASHINGTON — 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. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/09/us/politics/cia-informant-russia.html?te=1&nl=morning-briefing&emc=edit_NN_p_20190910§
By Julian E. Barnes, Adam Goldman and David E. Sanger
WASHINGTON — 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. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/09/us/politics/cia-informant-russia.html?te=1&nl=morning-briefing&emc=edit_NN_p_20190910§
The source, who became one of the C.I.A.’s most important and highly protected assets, was instrumental to the agency’s conclusion that President Vladimir Putin orchestrated Russia’s interference in the U.S. presidential election in 2016. But when intelligence officials revealed details about the election interference, the C.I.A. decided to extract the source from Russia. The informant initially refused that offer, but was extracted in 2017, hampering intelligence officials as they investigated Moscow’s interference in the next two election cycles.
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