FBI SAYS ITS SPY IN KGB

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404610021-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 19, 2010
• Sequence Number: 21
• Publication Date: September 3, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/19: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404610021-5
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VJ \.S HII`I GTM1 FOST
3 =)eptember 1931
;1 Says Its Spy in ${~B
By George LardnerJr. The case has all sorts of permu-
washmgton toicstaU Writer- tations. Much of the fallout concerns
When the Nixon .'administration Yuri Ivanovich Nosenko, a onetime
was in court a decade. ago in an ef- KGB officer who has been a bone of
fort to cut off publication of the contention since he defected to this
Pentagon Papers, the White House country in 1964 with.claims that he
was told that a complete set of the had been in charge of the KGB' file
top-secret documents, had. been de- on-, President.. Kennedy's assassin,
livered to the Soviet Embassy. Lee Harvey Oswald.
The--FBI- and- the-.-Nixon White Nosenko, who first offered to spy
House were evidently convinced that fors the United States in 1962, had
the report was accurate. It had come once said he 'would never defect; but.
from "Fedora," a strategically placed then told his CIA contacts in Geneva
KGB officer whom--the- FBI had 1964 that he had to defect at once
been relying upon for years' as a trus- beciause he had received a cable from
,; .. Moscow' recalling him. He said he
led counterspy. was afraid the.KGB had learned of
The information.-he provided in
in his; with ith the CIA.:
this instance helped prompt forma- his;con his post the Cin the Soviet
lion of,the infamous "White House apparatus at the U.N.,-Fedora of-
later
plumbers" unit whose operatives fered. confirmation, telling the FBI
a?er carried out="the:`Watergate
that-Nosenko had indeed.been sent
break-in. President.. Nixon's efforts a recall'telegram,
to curtail the .Watergate investiga- Nosenko also claimed to have
lions were said to have been motive- .been a -lieutenant colonel- in the.
ted in part by fears that "Fedora". KGB.. Fedora, who had . been
would be exposed. ": providing information to the FBI
It might have been better. if he since 1962, confirmed. that claim,
had been: The.FBI-is now convinced
that "Fedora" was.. a Soviet agent, Subsequently, however, Nosenko
acknowledged under hostile ques-
acting under Moscow s control dur- tioning.by CIA officers that his talk
ing. all the years he fed:information of a; recall telegram had been a lie
to the bureau.,. and'so-:was his claim of colonel's
The startling new assessment -of -rank::He- had been only a KGB cap-
"Fedora," until now a closely held tarn and' had lied,. he said, to exalt-
secret, is disclosed in a forthcoming gerate his importance.
article in the. October Reader's Di-' Before long, Nosenko found him-
gest and has been ? confirmed in- self imprisoned by the CIA for some
dependently by The Washington ? five-years,-three of them in. solitary
Post, confinement, but he- never ; broke
The secret conclusion-was based down and was finally rehabilitated in
to some degree.on,new informs- 1968. He - became a consultant for
tion," said one official familiar with the agency, collecting some $500,0001
th
t
i
e FBAs coun
onage r,&LVL .-
eresp
"It's an incredible' business ... an salaries, ' -bonuses, resettlement ex-
incredible chess game that'you have penses and other payments.
to play." Fedora, by contrast, appears to
The new 'finding about Fedora,
who was stationed at the United Na- have had nothing but smooth sailing
with the FBI despite his corrobora-
lions as aSovief diplomat, also tion. of Nosenko s admitted Is.
raises unsettling questions about the "When we started up witht'edora,
the bureau. held very strong views
credentials: of other supposed Soviet-' that- he was legit,." one former intel-
defectors, especially :tfiose whose s_ to-"
ligence; :official. recalled. yesterday.
Flea Fedora backedup_ -- Of course there was a-minority that
"If one falls; others must -fall," felt the other way, but not. many.".. contends the Digest-aarticle by_roving "Much zof` what, Fedora said over
editor HenryHurt, "creating- havoc
inside intelligence services where the years was, ? in turn," conveyedl
crucial anal and long-term directly- to the White House, enhan
Y _ plans
einv his _ nnsitinn_ sources. said.
fore the Supreme Court. Some cri-
tics regarded it as a White House
effort to influence the ccurt's deci-
sion, albeit an unsuccessful one.
In any case, according to a Dec- 9,
1973, New York Times article, Pres.
ident Nixon developed.fears, report-
edl9 nourished by his'then-national
.security adviser Henry A. Kissinger,
that Daniel Ellsberg, the man who
had leaked the Pentagon Papers to
the press, might have provided the
Soviets with far more important se-
crets, especially concerning nuclear
targeting plans. .
Some intelligence officials were l
reportedly stunned that Fedora's
word should be so readily accepted,!
without any further evidence. Skep-1
tics such as. CIA counterintelligence
chief James J. Angleton had long
regarded the Russian as an agent
provocateur.. But the White House
wasn't Iisteniug.
"This could be a classic case of an-
agent sowing disruption at the high-
est levels of government,", Hurt sug-
gested in a telephone interview..
Fresh- doubts were finally stirred
in 1978, primarily about Nosenko
but also about Fedora, with the pu-1
blication of a book by Edward Jay
Epstein called "Legend: The Secret
World of Lee Harvey Oswald." It j
questioned the loyalty of both Rus-
sians. Subsequent investigation by
the House Assassinations Committee
showed that Nosenko had also lied
about Lee Harvey Oswald and'made.l
CONTIN61ED
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 IR1'ICL Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/19: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404610021-5
VIP,SHB lSTO T FOST
3 September 1931
By George Lardner.Jr.:.
t /vh i n-Aton Pont Staff Wrtt.r-
When the Nixon.'administration
was in court a decade ago in an ef-
fort to cut off publication of the,
Pentagon Papers, the White House
was told that a complete set of the
top-secret documents- had been de-
livered to the Soviet Embassy.'
The'-FBI- and- thw;.Nixon: White
House were evidently convinced that
the report was accurate. It had come
from "Fedora," a strategically- placed
KGB officer `whom the- FBL'had
been relying upon-for'years as a trus-
ted counterspy
The information he provided-- in
this instance helped. prompt forma-'
tion -of. the infamous-"White House
plumbers" unit= ;whose opeiatives
later carried ':out,- the-'-Watergate
break-in. President,Nixon's-efforts.
to curtail the- Watergate investiga-
tions were said to have been motiva-
ted in part by. fears that "Fedora".
would be exposed =`-
It might have been better if he
had been..The? FBI-is now convinced.
.that "Fedora" .. Was-, a' Soviet agent,
.acting under. Moscow's control dur-
ing all the years he fed.Jnformation
to the bureau. a"
The startling new assessment-of
"Fedora,". until: now a -closely- held
secret, is disclosed in a forthcoming
article in the October- Reader's Digest and has - been-confirmed in-
dependently., by. The Washington
Post.
The secret conclusion-was based
"to some degree,'-on,,, new informs=
Lion," said one official familiar with
the -FBI's counterespionage effo"rt;-
"It's an incredible business ... an
incredible chess game that 'you have
to play."
,The new 'finding about Fedora,
who was stationed at the United Na-
tions as a . Soviet diplomat, also
raises unsettling questions about the
credentials of other supposed Soviet-,
defectors, especially those whose sto
ries Fedora backed. up
"If one falls;. others must -fall,'.
contends the Digest article by- roving-
editor- Henry Hurt,, "creating --havoc
inside intelligence services where
crucial analyses and long-term plans
may-have been built'upon the sup-
poeed reliability_ofthese solaces,T,-,
The case has all sorts of permu- I
Cations. Much of the fallout concerns
Yuri Ivanovich Nosenko, a onetime
KGB officer who has been a bone of
contention since he defected to this
country in 1964 with-claims that he
had been in charge of the KGB' file
on : President. Kennedy's assassin,
Lee Harvey Oswald.
Nosenko, who first offered to spy
fort the- United States in 1962, had
once saidhe'would never defect, but
then told his CIA contacts in Geneva
in 1964 that he had to defect at once
because he had received a cable from
Moscow' recalling him. He said he
was afraid the-.KGB had learned of
hisjcontacts with the CIA.
From 'his _ post within the Soviet
;apparatus. at the U.N., 'Fedora of-
fered, confirmation, telling the FBI
that' Nosenko. had indeed .been- sent
a recall telegram.
:Nosenko also claimed to have
:been a :lieutenant colonel in the
KGB..- Fedora;' who had. been
providing- information to the FBI
since ~ 1962 confirmed ` that claim,
'=>
too:
Subsequently, howsver,- Nosenko
acknowledged under hostile ques-
tioning;.by CIA officers that his talk
of a: recall telegram had been -'a lie
and ''so-; was his claim- of colonel's
rank.:He had been only,a KGB cap-
tain and had lied,, he said, to exalt-
gerate his importance.
Before long, Nosenko found him-
self imprisoned by the CIA for some
five -years,, three of them in.-solitary
confinement,. but he. never; broke
down and was finally rehabilitated in
1968. He -became a consultant for
the agency, collecting some $500,000
over' the next decade in consultant
salaries,'-bonuses, resettlement ex-
penses and other payments.
Fedora, by' contrast,.. appears to
have had nothing but smooth sailing
'with the FBI despite his corrobora-
tion of Nosenko's admitted lies. - 1
"When we started up-with'edora,
the bureau held very strong views
that he was legit," one former intel-
ligence;:official. recalled yesterday.
"Of course there-was a-minority that
felt the other way, but not many:..''.
Much "of, what' Fedora said over
the-ryears was,-: in turn, ? conveyed
directly to the White House, enhan
cing position, sources; said.
."..There is no' question the.. informa-
' tion would always go to the highest'
levels," said one expert. "That gave it
a great deal of prominence."
By the time of the Pentagon
Papers incident in 1971, editor Hurt
said in a telephone interview, Fedora
was "regarded as a knight in shining
armor. And he was telling the FBI
which was telling Nixon that a copy
of the Pentagon Papers had been
delivered to the Soviet - Embassy.
Nixon & Co. accepted the report
without question."
In .fact, word of the alleged de
livery was quickly published by al
conservative columnist with close
ties to the White House while the
Pentagon Papers case.was still be-
fore the Supreme Court. Some cri
tics regarded it as a White House
effort to influence the ccurt's deci-
sion, albeit an unsuccessful one.
1 In any case; according to a Dec. 9,
1973, New York Times article, Pres-
:ident-Nixon developed. fears, report-
edly nourished by his'then-national
.security adviser Henry.A. Kissinger,
that Daniel Ellsberg,. the man who
had leaked the Pentagon Papers to
the press, might have provided the
Soviets with far more important se-
creta, especially concerning nuclear
targeting plans.
Some intelligence-' officials were
reportedly stunned. that Fedora's
word should be so readily accepted,
without any further evidence. Skep-~
tics such as. CIA 'counterintelligence
chief James J. Angleton had long
regarded the Russian as an agent
provocateur.. But the, White House
wasn't listening.
"This could be a clasaic`ca-se of an
agent sowing disruption at the high-
est levels of government,`' Hurt sag-
gested in a telephone interview. .
- Fresh- doubts were finally stirred
in 1978, primarily about Nosenko
but also about Fedora, with the pu-{
blication of a book by Edward Jay
Epstein called "Legend: The Secret i,
World of Lee Harvey Oswald." It
questioned the loyalty of both Rus-
sians. Subsequent investigation by
the House Assassinations Committee
showed that Nosenko had also lied
about Lee Harvey Oswald and made
CONZTNVED
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other claims..'concerning~'the Ken-
nedy assassination, that even CIA
officials found "incredible."-
Nosenko..- had insisted, for in-
stance, that the KGB had never
even interviewed Oswald during his
stay in the Soviet Union,.much less
recruited him as' an agent. He also
.once denied any KGB physical and
technical -surveillance of Oswald in
.Russia, but later conceded that Os-
wald's file was crammed with Sur-
'Whenever you have an individual
who claims to be a defector, you al-
Way have a question about his bona
always, said one official
familiar with the process. _"you can
say for 15 years that someone's
'great, but that doesn't take care of
sthe 16th year. You've got to be con-
y evaluating. For instance if
you have a defector in 1975 and one
in 1970, you ask the one who comes
in in in 197190 7 " 5 about what was happening
'
. If one fall
s,:Others must fall,:creatin~
inside in elligence services where ' crud havoc
analyses and long-term lans ma have
built upon,tile su dp .1? ;: ; , ~' have been
rr re iabll;ity of these, .
sources."
=? The CIA, however, stuck by senko in an unusual Sept.'21-, 1978,
public statement calling. him "a wall'
adjusted American citizen utilized as
a consul
tfint by CIA and .. melon
a valuable contribution to, . our mis-
sion.". .
But the ' FBI, meanwhile,
undertook a fresh assessment of Fe-
dora. He had reportedly return
ed by
then to the Soviet Union, but files
are kept in such cases of all the in-
formation supplied by Such, spies,
cl details on what proved to
11
true and what proved not to be
The 'FBI's secret conclusion,
.reached in 1980,- was that Fedora
had been loyal to the KGB all along,
including, Hurt emphasized, "the
period when- he was giving urgent
support to-,Nosenko." But the intel-
ligence community, Hurt said, has
yet to undertake a re-examination of
,such related cases and sources.
Across the river, at Langley, the
:CIA had nothing new to say.
"It is our policy. not to make pub-
lie comment 'on such intelligence
matters," said CIA spokesman Dale
Peterson. "CIA's statement on No-
senko in" 1978, however, stands."
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