Russian spies arrested by the FBI in 2010 had targeted Hillary Clinton

A major reason behind the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s decision to arrest ten Russian spies across the United States in 2010 was their increasing proximity to the then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, it has been claimed. The spies had been specifically instructed by their handlers in Moscow to target Clinton, who was seen as the most likely successor to US President Barack Obama, according to recently released FBI files. Ten Russian deep-cover spies, who had no official cover and thus no diplomatic immunity, were arrested by the FBI in June 2010, following a ten-year counterintelligence investigation codenamed Operation GHOST STORIES.

The ten had entered the country from various destinations, including Canada, Latin America and Europe. Some were posing as citizens of third countries, while others had fraudulently assumed the names of dead Americans. They had been tasked by the SVR, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, with blending into American society and finding their way into senior policy circles in Washington, DC, and other major decision-making hubs of the US government. US Justice Department documents refer to the SVR spy ring as “the illegals program” or “the Russian illegals program”.

On Sunday, the Washington-based newspaper The Hill said that it was able to shed more light into the Russian illegals program, after accessing recently unsealed FBI documents and interviewing US government officials. The paper said that the SVR had specifically instructed some of the illegals to concentrate on penetrating the Department of State. Their primary goal was to uncover information about the Obama administration’s policy on Russia. A key target of the Russian illegals was US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was seen by Moscow as the leading voice on Washington’s Russia policy.

The most active member of the Russian illegals ring was Cynthia Murphy (real name, Lidia Guryeva), a New Jersey-based accountant who claimed to have been born in New York City. Through her accounting job, Murphy developed connections with several major Democratic Party donors, one of whom was a personal friend of Secretary Clinton. In early 2010, Murphy was instructed by her SVR handlers to seek a job with a major lobbying firm, which worked closely with the US State Department, according to The Hill. Murphy’s continuing success in getting closer to the State Department was one of the main reasons behind the FBI’s decision to arrest the Russian illegals in June 2010, after having monitored their moves for nearly a decade. Citing officials with first-hand knowledge of Operation GHOST STORIES, The Hill reports that FBI counterintelligence agents were concerned that Murphy was getting too close to Secretary Clinton’s inner circle in the State Department.

Recently released FBI documents also show that Moscow employed other means to get close to Clinton. The Hill suggests that the FBI paid particular attention to a $500,000 fee pocketed by Secretary Clinton’s husband, former US President Bill Clinton, for a 90-minute keynote speech he gave to an event hosted in Moscow by Renaissance Capital, a major Russian investment bank. The paper also alleges that the American branches of major Russian companies hired lobbyists in efforts to secure preferential treatment from the White House and from senior members of the US administration, including Secretary Clinton.

Joseph Fitsanakis

IntelNews

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