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On Thursday, an Federal Security Service (FSB) representative told RIA-Novosti that the alleged CIA operative who attempted to recruit a Russian security services officer was detained by that officer himself, saying, “The man behaved like an officer worthy of his name, detaining the recruiter and handing him over to counterintelligence authorities. He’ll continue to serve; there’s no threat to his career”.
On Wednesday, Russia lodged an official protest with the US ambassador over Ryan Christopher Fogle, a US Embassy officer, who Russia said is an undercover CIA operative. On Tuesday, the FSB said that the authorities arrested Fogle, an American diplomat working as a Third Secretary in the embassy’s Political Department, on the night of 13 May as he attempted to recruit an officer from one of Russia’s special services. Later on Tuesday, Russia declared the diplomat persona non grata. On Wednesday, a source with knowledge of the matter told RIA-Novosti that Fogle would leave Russia within the next few days. Our source added that Russia and the USA “would try to avoid ratcheting up tension around the Ryan Fogle case, focusing instead on the positive aspects of their relations”.
On Wednesday, a man identified as an FSB officer told Pervy Kanal TV that the CIA has long been working hard to infiltrate Russian security and intelligence services. With his face concealed and his voice altered to protect his identity, he said, “Over the past two years we’ve observed persistent attempts by the CIA to recruit employees of Russian law enforcement and security agencies”. He added that the authorities expelled a CIA officer in January from Russia, saying, “We asked our American colleagues to discontinue such disturbing practices with regard to Russian citizens. However, our requests were ignored”.
In the Pervy Kanal interview, the FSB officer said that Russian counterintelligence was aware from the moment Fogle arrived in Moscow in the spring of 2011 that he was a CIA officer; consequently, they kept tabs on him. Our source said that Fogle’s attempt to recruit a Russian citizen on Monday wasn’t his first espionage mission, and it wasn’t the first time he had used disguise to attempt to evade surveillance. The US Embassy in Moscow hasn’t commented on the Fogle case yet, or on the FSB’s claim that Russia expelled a CIA officer in January. The US State Department responded briefly to the reports about Fogle by confirming that Russian authorities had detained and released a US Foreign Service officer.
16 May 2013
RIA-Novosti
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130516/181183204/CIA-Agent-Was-Nabbed-by-Russian-He-Sought-to-Recruit—FSB.html
Editor’s Note:
Let’s keep it simple. Diplomats are assumed to work for their intel apparats, full stop. Some are better at it than others are; some don’t go out of their way to dig up intel (but they do report what they see and hear… that’s SOP for ALL diplomats of ALL countries). Fogle was so amateurish that he smells more like an overzealous Foggy Bottom striped-pants dogsbody rather than a Langley spook. As it stands, the Centre does know about known Langley assets such as Potapov, Paffhausen, and Kishkovsky… and uses them to monitor oppositionists (of these three, perhaps, only Potapov’s aware of the whole game, but he’s powerless to do anything of it, as he needs Langley’s shilling to maintain his status in the District).
In short, Fogle ain’t CIA… no way, no how. However, he played right into the hands of people such as Rogozin and Shoigu (with a hearty assist from VVP, no doubt), who were looking for a pretext to kick Ambassador McFaul in the arse. Probably, it’s also part of the dance involving Yaroshenko and Bout. Fogle’s career at State is shitcanned… he’ll end as a minor professor at some obscure community college in the sticks… or as a stink-tank operative sucking up to nonentities like Terrence Mattingly and Rod Dreher. Now, that’s PUNISHMENT… naw, it ain’t “cruel n’ unusual”… Fogle tossed the dice and came up with “snake-eyes”. Sorry, Ryan… you wanted to play in the Big Leagues, didn’t you?
BMD
17 May 2013. Sergei Yolkin’s World. Old-School Spy Mania
Tags: United States, Russia, Russian, politics, USA, Moscow, Central Intelligence Agency, United States Department of State, Human intelligence (espionage), cartoons, CIA, legal affairs, US State Department, Sergei Yolkin, editorial cartoons, political commentary, US Department of State, spying, State Department, Persona non grata
Old-School Spy Mania
Sergei Yolkin
2013
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Yolkin captures the utter ridiculousness of this whole affair by showing the “spy” wearing an obvious blonde wig. Nonetheless, Ryan Fogle was an overly-ambitious over-educated little swine caught in his own machinations. This was so derisively-amateurish that it’s apparent that Fogle never had formal training in spycraft. He played right into the hands of the anti-American faction amongst the siloviki. Well, look at the bright side of it all… it would’ve been WORSE if Wet Willy had been elected… Romney’s ignorant bluster would’ve done nothing but deepen the conundrum. America dares to lecture the world…
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Sergei Yolkin takes a sardonic look at the arrest in Moscow of an American spy, nicked during “a clumsy recruitment” of a Russian special services operative. The cops seized wigs, money, and instructions for recruitment from the alleged CIA agent.
17 May 2013
Sergei Yolkin
RIA-Novosti
http://ria.ru/caricature/20130517/937820535.html