U.S. vs. Russia: Spies Close to Clinton

The FBI has revealed backstage details of their investigation of a Russian spy ring. Probably it is now obvious why they disclosed information on the spies after 10 years. They managed to get too close to the head of U.S. diplomacy, Hillary Clinton. All this perfectly resembles a sample-case from an intelligence handbook.

Americans were on the trail of the spies from Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) circa 2000 and fully worked out their network, as shown on hidden camera footage. The FBI was literally recording their every step. So why, after 10 years of the successful operation, was the decision to disclose information on the spies made and carried out in June 2010? In that kind of fight, it is usually the last resort. It is more reasonable to observe an enemy so as to have them under control.

Now the assistant director for counterintelligence at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Frank Figliuzzi, admits that the investigation, code-named “Ghost Stories,” has been completed, as the spies were “getting too close to their objective.” Despite different opinions of people — underestimating the spy ring and not taking into consideration its threat or reducing it to the person of Anna Chapman — the spies were very dangerous.

“These 10 Russian officers were sent to the U.S. on a specific mission to get close to U.S. policymakers and leaders in our government,” Figliuzzi said. He admitted that the FBI responded after the spy ring had placed an agent near a Cabinet official in the Obama administration. It was one of the important officials from Hillary Clinton’s circle. It’s all about P.J Crowley, who was the spokeswoman for the head of diplomacy. Apparently, one of the Russian spies developed a friendship with her.

Crowley has not even contradicted this; moreover, in an email sent to the editor of The Washington Times, she has written naively that, “There is no reason to believe that the Secretary of State was a special target of this spy ring.”

But there has been the second attempt, probably even more dangerous than the first one. Cynthia Murphy, identified as SVR officer Lydia Guryev, made contact with prominent New York financier Alan Patricof — who was active in political fundraising and, apparently, a “personal friend” of a Cabinet official and the director of Greycroft, LLC — who supported Democratic candidates financially in the election, including Mrs. Clinton, when she was a senator from New York.

In 2008, Patricof dealt with the finances of Clinton’s election staff in the presidential primaries. Patricof said that he hired Murphy to conduct his personal bookkeeping. In this way, the SVR gained access to information on the Democrats’ funding and got close to the associate of the Clintons.

Revealing documents by the FBI, such as photographs and videos illustrating the operation “Ghost Stories,” show once again how serious of a threat Russian intelligence poses in the U.S. This spy ring reached not only Clinton, but also provided important information to Moscow on the international gold market, U.S. policy toward Russia and Asia, and people seeking high positions in the CIA. As it is well-known, 10 agents were arrested on June 27, 2010, and then they were exchanged for prisoners accused by Russia of spying for the West. The 11th agent — probably the head of the spy ring, Christopher R. Metsos — slipped out.