Epstein Secrets

nt to release defamatory information about individuals who have embarrassed USS. intelligence by defecting. When two NSA analysts, William Martin and Bernon Mitchell, defected to Russia in the 1960s and accused the NSA of violating international law after arriving in Moscow, U.S. government officials responded by

e was | | Epst_9780451494566_2p_all_r1.z.indd 187 @ HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019675 9/29/16 5:51PM | | 188 | HOW AMERICA LOST ITS SECRETS the CIA officer Harold Nicholson, in 1996. Before it could expand its espionage capabilities, it needed to build a network of Russian agents in the United States. For this network, i

defected to Moscow. The history of this venerable enterprise is instructive. The first two defectors in the NSA’s history were William Mar- tin and Bernon Mitchell. They were mathematicians working on the NSA’s decryption machines who went to Moscow via Cuba in 1960. The Russian intelligence service, then called

s, and cultural exchanges. They therefore tended to recruit their coun- terparts in adversary services. In this regard, the successful entrapment of Harold Nicholson in the 1990s is highly instructive. From his impressive record, he seemed an unlikely candidate for recruitment. He had been a super- patriotic Ameri

Up Spying on Russia.” 218 Russian acronym SORM: Steven Aftergood, “The Red Web: Russia and the Internet,” FAS, Oct. 5, 2015. 219 William Martin and Bernon Mitchell: David P. Mowry, “Betrayers of the Trust,” Cryptologic Almanac 50th Anniversary Series (NSA), Feb. 28, 2003. 220 Victor Norris Hamilton: “American D

nd in Russian Prison,” New York Times, June 4, 1992. 220 He was found dead: Edward Jay Epstein, “The Spy Wars,” New York Times, Sept. 28, 1980. 222 Harold Nicholson: Elizabeth Farnsworth, “Update on the Case of CIA Agent Harold Nicholson,” PBS (transcript), Nov. 19, 1996. See also “Affidavit in Sup- port of Compl

so defected to Moscow. The history of this venerable enterprise is instructive. The first two defectors in the NSA’s history were William Martin and Bernon Mitchell. They were mathematicians working on the NSA’s decryption machines who went to Moscow via Cuba in 1960. The Russian intelligence service, then called

tablishing spies in CIA, FBI, NSA and other American intelligence agencies. The SVR’s last known (or caught) mole in US Intelligence was CIA officer Harold Nicholson in 1996. Before it could now expand its espionage capabilities. It needed to build a network of Russian sleeper agents in the United States. For this