One
of the basic rules of intelligence is to make sure there is a plan in place to
deal with unexpected, though not unreasonable, events. One of the most obvious
is the possibility that an intelligence officer or agent operating under a deep
(unofficial) cover is arrested by counterintelligence instruments of the
country/organization that is the penetration target. This is the circumstance
with which Maria Butina's superiors in the appropriate section of Russian
intelligence were confronted when she was picked up by the American
authorities. Her Russian case officers and their superiors immediately would
have turned to their already prepared action plan.
Paul
Whelan's case was different in terms of the charge he was stealing Russian
classified material - i.e. information gathering. Maria Butina was seeking to
influence American policy and/or governmental process. In both instances,
however, they would have had plans for emergencies and their projects would
have built-in “rescue” plans even if those plans merely involved eventual
trades for the other side's captured “assets”. It's all included in the theme of “Don’t
take it personally. It's only business.”
Operationally,
the situation is quite different with Paul Whelan. He was picked up in Moscow
by the Russians in what may have been a fake entrapment aimed at obtaining a
trade-off for Butina already in U.S. custody. In support of this theory is the
fact that Whelan's background story is far more complicated and personally suspect,
while the background and connections of Butina are relatively straightforward. Reportedly,
Paul Whelan was discharged from the Marine Corps for stealing or planning to
steal $10,000 during his service during the Iraq War. The details are not clear.
It has been speculated that this would have made him ineligible to have a
relationship with American intelligence in subsequent years. That supposition
is not true, and the Russians know it.
American
intelligence, like all major intell services, uses people of many backgrounds –
some acceptable, some quite unsavory. In fact, a questionable personal life, if
properly documented, can act as an excellent cover device. The real question
would be whether the person involved could be trustworthy in regard to his/her
loyalty and legitimacy of reporting. Interestingly, Whelans's public record
does not indicate time served in the brig for the crime he purportedly
committed. Something is fishy there and the Russians would have made note of
that.
In
any case, the Russian internal security service at the very least would have
had an eye on Whelan during his several trips to Moscow and even more so
through their electronic surveillance of the internet and his regular cyber
correspondence with Russian citizens. FSB, SVR and GRU (now GU) intelligence
instruments just don't miss such things. Another interesting issue is that news
sources have reported that Whelan held different security roles with the
American firm, Borg-Warner. These range from consultant to Director of
Security. This doesn't jibe with the fact that a company as sizeable as B-W
does not hire a person for a security position such as that unless the
individual involved has a clear record. A less than honorable discharge from
the Marine Corps for stealing or planning to steal ten thousand dollars
wouldn't pass the usual screening process for any security-related job with a
major corporation such as B-W.
Granting
Whelan's story, for sake of argument, his documented behavior in extensive
e-mail correspondence with various Russians on a strictly casual friendly basis
just doesn’t follow with the rest of his story. His personal manner and
interests do not square with the character of a man supposedly in search of
innocent Russian “pen pals”. Of course, the Russians would have picked up on
this and his several trips to their country. Paul Whelan definitely could have
been on a list of counterintelligence targets – for various reasons and even
possible future utility. The fact is that his holding four passports; British,
Canadian and Irish just had to draw attention.
Maria
Butina's connections with the United States through her friendship with
Aleksandr Torshin, who was an officer in the Russian Central Bank, carried an impeccable
bona fides. Torshin had begun his American contacts through numerous trips
beginning 2011. He travelled regularly to the U.S. for meetings with
international bankers. Butina came along as his “special assistant”. She is
credited with coming up with the idea of establishing a “gun rights”
organization and she along with Torshin made effective contact on a high level
with the NRA. The two even organized a conference in Moscow on the subject of
individual gun rights attended by NRA officials. It was a clever way to carry
out the mission of penetrating the right-wing political structure in the United
States.
Of
course, the idea of a personal gun rights organization in Russia strains
credulity, but it appealed to the Americans. Butina took up residence in the
U.S. and obtained her master’s degree from American University. She also had a
“special” relationship with an active Republican Party member, With Torshin's
help she became well known in financial circles and among NRA members. Torshin
became Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Russia and that didn't hurt
either.
It
may be hard to accept, but Russia since before World War II has specialized in
developing long term assets in the United States and elsewhere. Alger Hiss, Kim
Philby and others are good examples of their earlier successes, so their
successful infiltration of Maria Butina in the American scene is just not that
unusual. What is important here is that their project was followed by the FBI
and other U.S. counterintelligence. Equally important is the fact that Paul
Whelan was conveniently arrested in Moscow for “receiving a memory card” with a
classified list of Russians connected to intelligence. He is being held in
Lefortovo prison and Butina plead
guilty in December 2018 to “acting as an illegal foreign agent”. She faces a
sentence of a maximum of five years in federal prison and then deportation.
Meanwhile, the negotiations for a trade for Paul Whelan proceed quietly. Now
it's just a matter of seeing if the U.S. will give up something of value in
addition to Maria Butina.
Of
course, there is more to this story than what appears, but isn't that always
the case?
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