EX-AGENT FOR CIA DEFECTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000200880037-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 14, 2010
• Sequence Number: 37
• Publication Date: August 8, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/14: CIA-RDP91-00587R000200880037-6
UNFAGc PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
TTY 8 Alloiicr ios2r,
STATEX_agent
for CIA
defects
He `wiped out'
Moscow operation
Prom lnrylr.r LNr. s..vfc..
MOSCOW - The Soviet Union said
yesterday that it had given asylum to
Edward Lee Howard, the former CIA
agent whose defection "wiped out"
the agency's Moscow operations in
what has been described as the
heaviest blow to U.S. intelligence in
years.
Howard managed to elude an FBI
search after being charged last year
with selling U.S. secrets to Moscow.
He reportedly received $6,000 for the
information, which led the Soviets to
arrest and execute a Soviet CIA con-
tact.
Howard, 33, vanished from his San-
ta Fe, N.M., home in September, just
days before the FBI charged him
with espionage. Reagan administra-
tion sources said in October that he
was believed to have fled to the So-
viet Union.
U.S. officials have described How-
ard's defection as the most serious
blow to American intelligence opera-
tions in recent years. He was the first
CIA agent ever known to defect, and
the first Americasr since the?1960s.
The official Tass news agency dis-
tributed a statement in English say-
ing that Howard requested asylum
because "he has to hide from U.S.
secret services, which unfoundedly
persecute him."
The government newspaper Izves-
tia published a brief announcement
of Howard's defection on its back
page. It did not say Howard was ac-
cused of spying and described him
only as "a U.S. citizen [and] a former
CIA officer." The statement did not
say when Howard entered the Soviet
'Jnion or where he was.
"Guided by humane consider-
ations, the Presidium of the U.S.S.R.
Supreme Soviet complied with the
request of Edward Lee Howard. He
has been granted the right to live in
the U.S.S.R. for political reasons," the
statement said.
~ta[hy Pherson say she could not
onfirm or deny Izvestia's report. As-
istant FBI Director William Baker
said, "We certainly give a lot of cre-
dence to the Soviets' public remarks.
We have no reason to believe they
are untrue."
Details about the damage Howard
may have caused U.S. intelligence
are scant, but a former CIA official in
Washington, who requested anonym.
ity, said the damage "has to have
been serious."
Howard, who had been in training
to gather information from Soviet
agents in Moscow, worked for the
CIA from January 1981 to June 1983,
when he was fired. U.S. Officials said
he flunked a polygraph test indicat-
ing that he had used illegal drugs
while he was an agent and that he
was guilty of petty thefts of money.
During his training, Howard was
among the top students in classes in
countersurveillance techniques. Em-
bittered after his firing, he traveled
to Austria in 1984 and met with KGB
officers to betray details of the U.S.
intelligence operation in Moscow.
The FBI charged in court papers
that he met with KGB officials in St.
Anton, Austria, on Sept. 20, 1984. U.S.
officials said $6,000 appeared in his
bank accounts after that date.
Howard did not come under suspi-
cion until nearly a year later, after
U.S. officials interrogated Soviet de-
fector Vitaly Yurchenkq, described
as a high-ranking KGB'official.
Yurchenko, who later returned to
the Soviet union and denied that he
was with the KGB, reportedly knew
only the code name "Robert," but he
supplied enough information to
trace "Robert" to Howard.
Last month, the Los Angeles Times
quoted unidentified sources as say-
ing Howard sold the Soviets details
of U.S. intelligence 'operations in
Moscow that led to the execution of
one of the CIA's prime contacts, iden-
tified as A.G. Tolkachev, an engi-
neer.
"Howard disclosed virtually every
active operation we had," it quoted a
source as saying. "He wiped out Mos-
cow station."
The Tispes also quoted a highly
classified report as saying Howard
had drug problems and was mentally
unstable. A polygraph given Howard
showed "continued and accelerated
drug use, petty crime and all the bad
psychological traits that had been
overlooked before," a source told the
newspaper, adding that "the guy was
coming apart."
Two days before Howard disap-
peared, the KGB issued an announce-
ment through Tass saying Tolkachev
was charged with espionage. It
linked him to U.S. diplomat Paul
Stombaugh, who was expelled from
the Soviet Union on espionage
charges in June 1985.
At least two other American diplo-
mats have been expelled on spy
charges since then. KGB chief Viktor
M. Chebrikov told the 27th Commu-
nist Party Congress this year that a
"major" U.S. spy operation in Mos-
cow had been broken up.
Just before disappearing, Howard
quit a job with the New Mexico legis-
lature's finance committee. FBI
agents said his wife, Mary, aided his
moonlit escape by placing a dummy
in a car to make it appear that he was
there.
She moved from Sante Fe on May
31, apparently to Minnesota, where
her family lives. No charges were
ever filed against her.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/14: CIA-RDP91-00587R000200880037-6