THE REGRE A DEFECTOR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100160080-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 10, 2012
• Sequence Number: 80
• Publication Date: July 19, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/10: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100160080-9
STAT
ARTICLE APP--'
BOSTON GLOBE MAGAZINE
ON PAGE_ 1 19 JULY 1981
.
defected to the United.States~ he. thinks it-
- Now, more ,than a-.-year after he
the cold
By { W iiliam tieecner
` ashmgton. D.C_"
t c o i a e Horodinca is a spy wl p-came in from
m
o
e
dealing with htauan beings who-are experiencing They were en mov _
trauma over them treason and attempted assimilation in the suburbs of northern Virginia, a residence rent-
t culture ed by a law firm as a cover for the CIA, the actual
into a totally ditren_
o
n
tions to. inc CIA spu
has refused any comment? ; and talked tohim through the night, from= l l-p.m.
In fattiness to the CIA," it should: be pouited out : to 9 a in 'After they apparently decided that he was
that part of the problem may, be`that East European a bona fide defector, he and his family-were taken to
intelligeace officers lead privileged lives in-their sort I a posh hotel _in downtown Washington
ewes and doubtless have inflated expectations of how `.The held me in custody for three days in dif
they will be treated. if they come over to rich old feet.hotels,";he recalls. .!They, said; `You ? did a--
r' good'deasion`to defect:=You'll have 2 :marvelous life
Uncle Sam ?1"-\_..
But even assuining., some exaggeration on' Horo- here Especially -your son. We will take care of
art-insensitivity in. t you
dinca's part, there appears to be
:
so-called safe house
d t
s
tronbhng quextion
about the US intelligence community will scare off ligenceoffcer, say a major reason was, a shakeup in
the security hierarchy back home that made life in
other would-be defectors it is difficult to check out Horodinca'S -Ott - the field:intolerable.'Both say they were not recruit
plaints. Although another Romanian defector, Ni- ed as defectors by American inteWgeace-> they came
cola Traian, insists they reflect quite similar exper- over on their owns-
iences on his part, then Central Intelligence Agency In Horodinca's case, he was driving with his wife
has maintained a stony silence on-the charges--The ` .and young son on the night of February 23, 1980,
CIA man whom the two- identified "as _ being in when he- suddenl pulled his car into Fort Belvoir,
charge of the "resettlement" of defectors declined-to Virginia, and befuddled army officers with his re-
~
discuss Horodinca's assertions and ira (erred all ques= quest forppoolitical asylum.,:.
rmati`on office--- which Several FBI and CIA men-were called in, he says,.
f
' bl- `i
treated is this country-- ~a.. , '. ; compromise anyone
,More important, Horodinca's unhappiness taises _ _-He-is a bit shy about discussing all' his reasons
about-.whether- his complaints I for defecting But both he and Traian, a fellow intel-
year prison teem= or treason.
trig - ;
That he _ would evert consider such 2-bleak option tangy
suggests that deepRted-problems may exist-in the Horodinca insists he never violated American.
way spies who pass. through the looking glass are law, he never sought to buy secret documents or
that role
c
or ca y
o
Romania even.though'lie:ces apossible twenty ' merit, renewable on an annual basis, and
maintain-` ood relations on the Hill is2of overriding impor
pence c0MXnUF ily,.uwa^aa,a,...._ ., .. -
sa he isthinkin o going back home _to-
di
s
H
his treatment at the hands'ofthe-American ante
may nave oxen i u,w~aa~
Discouraged, disillusioned and humiliated by_
,CO.,T+_.U.LU
of a man in his mid 30s, with' a laugh
'ing round face "and an ingratiating' manner, ~
Horodinca worked as- third secretary in the
Romanian Embassy. One of his responsibilities was
to ?:deal'-with-, American newsmen, answering ques-
tions about the actions-` or attitudes of his govern-
ment and attempting to pick up low grade- political
intelligence on the attitudes of the US government.
But-his larger responsibility, by his own account,
was to'mak }friends among key congressional aides
on- Capitol-. Hill. Romania is one of the few Eastern
ff
treat-
bloc nations to get Most Favored Nation tari
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/10: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100160080-9