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> He [Pelton] reportedly received $35,000 from the KGB for the intelligence he provided from 1980 to 1983, and for the intelligence on the Operation Ivy Bells,
by rdtsc 9y ago
> He [Pelton] reportedly received $35,000 from the KGB for the intelligence he provided from 1980 to 1983, and for the intelligence on the Operation Ivy Bells, the KGB gave him $5,000.
Spend $40k to blow a multi million (billion?) dollar operation. That's a pretty good return on investment for the KGB.
> It remains unclear why it took the Soviets so long, although a plausible explanation is that it was used to feed disinformation to U.S. defense intelligence.[original research?]
Reading one of the memoirs of Victor Cherkashin, an ex-KGB officer they were certainly fond of running double agents and feeding disinformation in the process. Well I guess that's a standard spy tactic I suppose. Another reason was probably to not betray Pelton.
Also Cherkashin was working in the Russian Embassy in DC at the time and he recalls the story in his book. After Pelton walked in and was debriefed, they suspected he was probably followed. So they dressed him as a delivery/service person, shoved him into a van and drove away. Apparently it worked because FBI was unable to follow and discover him. He was found later, when he was betrayed by a defector.
- ethbro 9y agoRemember that was $40k... but presumably not in Soviet rubles. For closed economies (e.g. the Soviet Bloc), foreign reserves were non-trivial to acquire. That said, it's still a bargain. But that's why every country has spies!
- rdl 9y agoThey had oil and diamonds. I don't think lack of foreign currency in those amounts ever really limited what Soviet intelligence could do. What has always amazed me is how trivially cheaply most treason is paid for; it's almost always ego driven or blackmail driven, not outright "cash for secrets".
- dingaling 9y ago> They had oil and diamonds And titanium, lots of which they inadvertently sold to CIA front-companies for use on the A-12 / SR-71. When NASA started to scrap a warehouseful of 71 spares, that included many tons of Soviet titanium bar stock which the Air Force whisked off to Tinker AFB for future use.
- chatmasta 9y agoSee "The Psychology of Espionage and Leaking in the Digital Age" [0] from the CIA for more on this. From the paper: > What Causes Someone to Spy or Leak? > "Crises and vulnerability together intensify emotions, undermine already compromised judgment, and galvanize impulses to seize opportunities to obtain escape or relief through ill-judged negative conduct. People in this state are ready targets for manipulation and recruitment for espionage. They are also primed for behavior such as leaking, if they believe it will bring them respite and reward." [0] [PDF] https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-61-no-2/pdfs/why-spy-why-leak.pdf https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intellig...
- toomanybeersies 9y agoIt wasn't even enough money for him to pay off his debts. I can't imagine my selling out my country, and still owing money. You're not really in a better position than when you started.
- rdtsc 9y agoCherkashin does talk about that. KGB had no problem coming up with dollars and had a specific method for getting the money to the right place: diplomatic pouches I believe and through Aeroflot, the state run airline.