SOVIET DEFECTOR NEW SOCIAL LION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100390001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 21, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 28, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/21 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000100390001-1 STAT
ART!C1 F l'"-7.ARED
SOCIETY / Betty Beale
WASHINGTON TIMES
28 October 1985
Soviet defector new social lion
If you want a Washington lion to
star at a party, latch on to Ar-
kady Shevchenko. He's the
only person in this town ? ex-
cept for President Reagan (who can
be wit, all evening) ? who can
hold a living room full of people en-
thralled for hours. That's because
Americans wonder how the men in
the Kremlin think, and Mr. Shev-
chenko, who sat in on top-level So-
viet meetings before he defected in
'78, knows.
In fact, most of the 30 people in
the Ernest Hueters' penthouse
apartment the other evening didn't
even know that the author of
"Breaking With Moscow" and his
lovely looking wife Elaine are liv-
ing right in the District of Colum-
bia at an undisclosed address. They
also met in this city, said Elaine
who comes from Asheville, N.C.
Was it love at first sight? Not ex-
actly, but she found him extremely ,
interesting right off.
Most surprising of all. CIA Di-
tector Bill Casey, who was there
with his wife Sophie, had never met
Mr. Shevchenko before. By the time
Mr. Casey took over the agency it
had, no doubt, already recorded.
everything the Russian knew. That.
was during the Carter administra-
tion, but one wondered if Mr
Carter ever read the defector's rev-
elations after hearing the latter's
comment about Mr. Carter.
One of the questions asked after
dinner during this gathering ar-
ranged by Ernest Lefever's Ethics
and Public Policy Center was about
SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative,
also known as "star wars").
"I was absolutely amazed when
former President Carter said it is a
waste of money;' said Mr. Shev-
chenko. Before the Soviets heard
about SDI they felt "very comfort-
able about the military balance and.
their predominant force of SS-20s
in Europe. SDI brought them back
to the table to talk about arms con-
trol. The U.S. should never agree to
rule out research [in any arms
agreement]. Even if it abandoned
the SDI, the Soviet Union would
never open its territory or research
laboratories to inspection!'
He also said:
News Amenca Syndicate
CIA Director William Casey (lett) With Soviet detector Arkady Shevchenko
(right) at a dinner that also drew Elaine Shevchenko (center).
That he had no idea of what free-
dom was like until he came to this
country. No Russians have. Not
even Mikhail Gorbachev.
That there's no hope that the
communist leaders will ever be
overthrown. There's no political
party to rally around, no assembly
of people allowed, no protection
from informers.
That detente was beneficial to
the U.S.S.R. because we cut back
our military and the Soviets took
over several more countries (about
seven).
Listening intently was White
Houser Brett Sciaroni, chairman of
the President's Intelligence Over-
sight Board, and Justice Sandra
O'Connor and husband John, who
earlier told about their Vermont
hike the last week of September.
The O'Connors, investment coun-
selor Leslie Douglas and his wife
Jean ? daughter of Henry A. Wal-
lace; JFK's naval aide Adm. Thz
Shepard and wife Jan -- John
Sparkman's daughter; and Wash-
ington multimillionaire Frank Saul
and wife Tkish backpacked their
lunches and rain gear and hiked the
10 miles between four charming
inns in the Vermont mountains ?
the athletic O'Connors leading the
way. Their clothes went from place
to place by car. All said it was di-
vine.
amb
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/21 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000100390001-1