ESPIONAGE SPY REPORTED IN SOVIET HANDS WAS A TOP AGENT, U.S. SAYS

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06545651
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: July 13, 2023
• Document Release Date: August 19, 2022
• Case Number: F-2022-01226
• Publication Date: January 16, 1990

Espionage
Spy Reported in Soviet Hands
Was a Top Agent, U.S. Says
By MICHAEL WINES
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 � Donald F.,
the senior Soviet diplomat whose 30-
year career as a spy for the United
States was disclosed in the Soviet press
on Sunday, was one of the most impor-
tant recruits to serve American intelli-
gence, current and former Govern-
ment officials said today.
Several former officials said the ac-
count of the diplomat's early years, as
reported in Pravda, the Communist
Party daily, matched the career of a
spy trained and supervised by the
F.B.I. in the early 1960's. That spy's
code name was Top Hat.
Top Hat, an agent for the Soviet mili-
tary intelligence agency G.R.U., was
stationed at the Soviet Mission to the
United Nations in New York City when
he reportedly approached American
officials in 1981 or 1962, offering his
services as a double agent.
His work apparently continued for
the -next three decades, despite a de-
bate among United States intelligence
officials over whether he was a genuine
double agent serving Washington, or a
"dangle," a supposed double agent who
was actually working for the Soviets.
An Era of Uncertainty
was after me but my own analysis of
my actions erased my concerns,"
Pravda quoted him as telling Soviet in-
vestigators.
In a twist to the tale, a former Gov-
ernment intelligence official said today
that the top Soviet intelligence officer
at the United Nations Mission in the
early 1960's, when Top Hat began his
double life, was Vladimir A. Kryuch-
kov, who in 1988 was appointed chair-
man of .the K.G.B., the primary Soviet
foreign intelligence agency.
A Posting in Burma
A former official said Top Hat was a
military attach�n the United Nations,
holding relatively junior rank. Another
official said he was recruited by the
F.B.I.-in New York while serving at the
United Nations. That official said that
after his assignment at the United Na-
tions, Top Hat was recalled to Moscow.
His next posting, two former intelli-
.
In the late 1960's, American intelli-
gence agencies were convulsed over
whether the Soviet spies recruited by
the United States could be trusted.
James J. Angleton, the C.I.A.'s chief
of counterintelligence at the time,
came to suspect that many of the
agents, including Top Hat, were actu-
ally controlled by the Soviet Union and
were providing deceptive information.
Others in the C.I.A. and F.B.I. dis-
agreed, arguing that Top Hat was a le-
gitimate agent who had risked his life
to provide valuable intelligence to the
United States.
One Government official underlined
that view today, saying: "The Soviets
apparently thought he was genuine.
They executed him, didn't they?" The
Pravda report stated that Donald F.
had been tried and found guilty of es-
pionage and was to be executed. It is
not clear whether the sentence has
been carried out.
In recent years, the debate over Top
Hat broke into public view, with sev-
eral books and articles describing the
recruitment of an agent from among
the Soviet diplomats assigned to the
United Nations.
Pravda's report on the unmasking of
Donald F. by the Soviet counterihtelli-
gence said a published report in the
West had hinted at his identity. Donald
F.-, Pravda said, decided to continue his
espionage, believing that he was safe
f rum detection.
"I felt in my spine that the K.G.B.
_
Double agent?
Triple agent? Or
in it for himself?
gence officials said, was in Burma, now
Myanmar. One official said that in 1965
or 1966, an agent from the F.B.I. trav-
eled to that country to turn him over to
a case officer from the C.I.A. By law,
the F.B.I. handles intelligence recruit-- �
ments in the United States while the
C.I.A. operates overseas.
Pravda said Donald F. was recruited
at the United Nations and was then con-
tacted in Burma by an F.B.I. agent,
who arranged for him to be handled by
the C.I.A. Three former intelligence of-
ficials said they knew of no other Soviet
agents recruited at the United Nations'
and then contacted in Burma._
The Pravda- report appears to have
thrown new fuel into a debate over Top
Hat's authenticity, a dispute that has
continued almost since the � day he
volunteered his services to the United
States.
By some accounts, Top Hat was one
of two Soviet agents at the United Na-
tions who approached the American
Government in the early 1960's, offer-
ing to give Soviet secrets to the F.B.I.
The first volunteer, code-named
Fedora, continued his F.B.I. service for
at least 15� years, according to pub-
lished accounts, even though the
C.I.A.'s counterintelligence experts
concluded that he was in fact a Soviet
plant.
Approved for Release: 2022/08/15 C06545651
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Approved for Release: 2022/08/15 C06545651