Spyfail, p.66
Spyfail, page 66
4 Among the cables are SEA-ME-WE3: See “Submarine Cable Map, Chongming, China,” TeleGeography, www.submarinecablemap.com/landing-point/chongming-china. See also “Chongming Cable Landing Station,” Submarine Cable Networks, www.transitchina.com/en/stations/asia/china/chongming.
5 a secret facility on Chongming Island: James T. Areddy, “Birds Above, Data Below: Where the U.S. Internet Meets China’s,” Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2014, www.wsj.com/articles/BL-CJB-23018.
6 other side of Shanghai, in Nanhui: “Nanhui Cable Landing Station (FLAG),” Submarine Cable Networks, www.transitchina.com/en/stations/asia/china/nanhui-flag.
7 TAREX, the Target Exploitation Program: Secret/SI/NOFORN, “Classification Guide for the NSA/CSS Target Exploitation (TAREX) Program,” National Security Agency, February 6, 2012, www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/Target%20Exploitation%20Classification%20Guide.pdf.
8 stolen over twenty-one million sensitive records: Kim Zetter, “The Massive OPM Hack Actually Hit 21 Million People,” Wired, July 9, 2015, www.wired.com/2015/07/massive-opm-hack-actually-affected-25-million/.
9 “Kilo Romeo 919”: Shane Osborn with Malcolm McConnell, Born to Fly: The Untold Story of the Downed American Reconnaissance Plane (New York: Broadway Books, 2001), p. 15.
10 “Wind 010 at eight [knots]”: Osborn and McConnell, Born to Fly, p. 16.
11 “It looks like good weather en route”: Osborn and McConnell, Born to Fly, p. 8.
12 “the most important topic”: Thomas E. Ricks, “Anger over Flights Grew in Past Year,” Washington Post, April 7, 2001, www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/04/07/anger-over-flights-grew-in-past-year/016178cc-aa44-4017-8d01-c8a8a7a91d70/.
13 “We seem to be conducting something”: James Bamford, “The Dangers of Spy Planes,” New York Times, April 5, 2001, www.nytimes.com/2001/04/05/opinion/the-dangers-of-spy-planes.html.
14 Since December there had been forty-four interceptions: Edward Walsh and William Claiborne, “U.S. Faults China on Crash Account,” Washington Post, April 14, 2001, www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/04/14/us-faults-china-on-crash-account/1bcd6ec5-c29d-4758-9993-b0110e47539a/.
15 “Hey, he’s right off our wing”: “Dangerous Straits,” Frontline, PBS, Autumn 2001, www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/china/interviews/osborn.html.
16 “He’s getting really close!”: Osborne and McConnell, Born to Fly, p. 109–10.
17 “This isn’t good”: “Dangerous Straits,” Frontline.
18 “I was pretty certain we were dead at that point”: “Dangerous Straits,” Frontline.
19 “I was scared”: Transcript, Larry King Weekend, CNN, April 14, 2001. http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0104/14/lklw.00.html.
20 As the senior evaluator (SEVAL): Osborne and McConnell, Born to Fly, p. 6.
21 “Your plane’s vertical tail has been struck off!”: Bill Gertz, “The Last Flight of Wang Wei,” Air Force Magazine, July 1, 2001, www.airforcemag.com/article/0701china/.
22 “Prepare to bail out!”; “Mayday! Mayday!”: Osborne and McConnell, Born to Fly, p. 116.
23 “GOING DOWN”: Top Secret/COMINT/NOFORN/X1, “Cryptologic Damage Assessment and Incident Review, Final Report,” National Security Agency, July 2001, https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/3546567/10th-Anniversary-Edition-EP-3-Damage-Assessment.pdf. Hereafter cited as NSA Damage Assessment.
24 ZIRCON chat: NSA Damage Assessment.
25 “Activate the emergency destruction plan”: Osborne and McConnell, Born to Fly, p. 120.
26 “The aircrew’s overall performance”: NSA Damage Assessment.
27 “isolated himself from knowledge of actions taking place”: NSA Damage Assessment.
28 “On deck at Lingshui”: NSA Damage Assessment.
29 “They want us to hold on a few minutes”: Osborne and McConnell, Born to Fly, p. 137.
30 “Can I use your phone to make a call?”: Osborne and McConnell, Born to Fly, p. 139.
31 “Everything’s good back there”: Osborne and McConnell, Born to Fly, p. 141.
32 “Notwithstanding the chaotic circumstances”: NSA Damage Assessment.
33 “No specific guidance existed”: NSA Damage Assessment.
34 “The most potentially damaging compromised items”: NSA Damage Assessment.
35 “His death was an accident”; “The 2001 crash taught China a lesson”: Minnie Chan, “How a Mid-air Collision Near Hainan 18 Years Ago Spurred China’s Military Modernisation,” South China Morning Post, April 2, 2019, www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3004383/how-mid-air-collision-near-hainan-18-years-ago-spurred-chinas?module=inline&pgtype=article.
Chapter 30: The Rendezvous
1 “These are people in positions that place them in contact”: Eric Schmitt, “Security Move Means 500 at FBI Face Lie Detector,” New York Times, March 25, 2001, www.nytimes.com/2001/03/25/us/security-move-means-500-at-fbi-face-lie-detector.html.
2 “possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history”: “A Review of the FBI’s Performance in Deterring, Detecting, and Investigating the Espionage Activities of Robert Philip Hanssen,” Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, August 14, 2003, https://irp.fas.org/agency/doj/oig/hanssen.html.
3 “Five years ago, everyone looked down on you”: Ron Gluckman, “New Adventure Capitalists,” Gluckman.com, www.gluckman.com/HKHandover02.htm.
4 “Hong Kong is a place”: Gary Cheung and Klaudia Lee, “HK a Hotbed of Espionage, Says Mainland Official,” South China Morning Post, December 20, 2003, www.scmp.com/article/438796/hk-hotbed-espionage-says-mainland-official.
5 Alexander Yuk Ching Ma and his older brother David: Unless otherwise indicated, details about Alexander and David Ma are from United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, United States of America v. Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, Criminal Complaint; and the Affidavit of FBI Special Agent Chris Jensen, August 13, 2020, Case 20-001016 DKW-RT.
6 Minister of State Security Xu Yongyue: China Vitae, www.chinavitae.com/biography/311.
7 “I’m not saying all of them are spies”: Jia-Rui Chong, “New Spy Case Prompts Skepticism,” Los Angeles Times, November 17, 2005, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-nov-17-me-chinese17-story.html.
8 Lee had become frustrated: Scott Shane, “Arrested Former C.I.A. Officer Had Ties to Chinese Spies, Ex-colleague Says,” New York Times, January 18, 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/world/asia/jerry-lee-cia-china-informant-network-ministry-of-state-security.html.
9 “He was quite critical about the organization”: Josh Meyer, “Mystery of Suspected China-CIA Spy Draws Lawmaker Scrutiny,” Politico, February 5, 2018, www.politico.com/story/2018/02/05/china-cia-spy-congress-387133.
10 Japan Tobacco International: See www.jti.com/asia/hong-kong.
11 under a veteran CIA officer, David Reynolds: Raquel Carvalho, “Arrested Ex-CIA Agent Went from Spy Agency to Investigating Counterfeit Cigarettes in Hong Kong, Sources Say,” South China Morning Post, January 18, 2018, www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2129582/arrested-ex-cia-agent-quit-spy-agency-investigate.
12 “Several of the shipments of counterfeits”: Raquel Carvalho, “Exclusive: Arrested Ex-CIA Agent Was Fired from Tobacco Firm After Suspicions He Was Spying for China,” South China Morning Post, January 19, 2018, www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2129593/smoke-and-mirrors-details-revealed-arrested-ex-cia-spys.
13 a Chinese official warned the company: Shane, “Arrested Former C.I.A. Officer Had Ties to Chinese Spies.”
14 “I certainly reported it to the appropriate authorities”: Meyer, “Mystery of Suspected China-CIA Spy Draws Lawmaker Scrutiny.”
15 FTM International: See Hong Kong Company Enquiry Network for FTM International, Limited, www-hongkongcompanylookup-com.
16 After investing nearly $400,000: Carvalho, “Arrested Ex-CIA Agent Went from Spy Agency to Investigating Counterfeit Cigarettes in Hong Kong, Sources Say.”
17 he was arrested as soon as he landed: Adam Goldman, “Ex-C.I.A. Officer Suspected of Compromising Chinese Informants Is Arrested,” New York Times, January 16, 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/us/politics/cia-china-mole-arrest-jerry-chun-shing-lee.html.
18 $2,000; “small token”; “the motherland”: U.S. v. Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, Affidavit of FBI Special Agent Chris Jensen, August 13, 2020.
19 “In the case of the individuals”: U.S. v. Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, Government’s Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion to Detain Defendant Without Bail, August 19, 2020.
20 “You could tell the Chinese weren’t guessing”; “shellshocked”; fat wads of cash: Zach Dorfman, “Botched CIA Communications System Helped Blow Cover of Chinese Agents,” Foreign Policy, August 15, 2018, https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/15/botched-cia-communications-system-helped-blow-cover-chinese-agents-intelligence/.
21 “Each year, we gather in this sacred place”: CIA, “CIA Honors Fallen Officers in Annual Memorial,” May 23, 2022.
BOOK EIGHT: THE ASSASSINS
Chapter 31: The Aquarium
1 Unit 29155: It is somewhat similar to the assassination squads assigned to the CIA’s Special Activities Center. Set up under the Trump administration, the center deploys small teams of commandos—dubbed “paramilitary operations officers” and “specialized skills officers”—to kill people on various target lists. “They are getting people on targeting lists,” said one knowledgeable source. “Small teams are locating and killing bad guys. That’s what we’re doing.” It supplements the agency’s worldwide drone assassination program. The SAC was previously known as the Special Activities Division, which engaged in torture, kidnapping, secret detention, and the destabilization of foreign governments, including that of Yugoslavia when Montenegro was one of its republics. For details on the SAC, see Aram Roston, “Trump’s CIA Has Set Up Teams to Kill Terrorists,” BuzzFeed News, March 16, 2018, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/aramroston/cia-trump-kill-teams-terrorists. On Unit 29155 see also Michael Schwirtz, “Top Secret Russian Unit Seeks to Destabilize Europe, Security Officials Say,” New York Times, October 8, 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/world/europe/unit-29155-russia-gru.html.
2 he was planning the assassination: Unless otherwise indicated, details regarding the coup and assassination plot come from the court and police testimony of Sasa Sindjelic, the hired assassin and principal member of the conspiracy, as well as other witnesses.
3 a naval attaché at the Russian embassy in Warsaw: Dusica Tomovic and Natalia Zaba, “Montenegro Coup Suspect ‘Was Russian Spy in Poland,’” BalkanInsight, February 21, 2017, https://balkaninsight.com/2017/02/21/montenegro-coup-suspect-was-russian-spy-in-poland-02-21-2017/.
4 “the wildest, most desolate”: William Le Queux, An Observer in the Near East (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1907).
5 the Admiral Kuznetsov: “Carrier Group of Ships of the Northern Fleet Began a Campaign in the Mediterranean Sea,” RIA Novosti, October 15, 2016 (in Russian), https://ria.ru/20161015/1479305461.html.
6 In 2016, the country welcomed; Budva has become known: Andrew Wrobel, “Has the US Sold Montenegro Out?,” Emerging Europe, Autumn 2018, https://issuu.com/emerging-europe/docs/ee_autumn_2018/28.
7 A poll in December 2016: Dusica Tomovic, “Anti-NATO Groups Demand Referendum in Montenegro,” BalkanInsight, February 10, 2017, https://balkaninsight.com/2017/02/10/opposition-activists-demand-nato-referendum-in-montenegro-02-09-2017/.
8 In 2015, Đukanović was named: “Djukanovic Named ‘Criminal of the Year’ in Poll,” BalkanInsight, December 31, 2015, https://balkaninsight.com/2015/12/31/djukanovic-beats-gruevski-as-organized-crime-person-of-the-year-12-31-2015/.
9 “We are not the danger for this country”: Stevo Vasiljevic, “Thousands in Montenegro Rally Against President Djukanovic,” Reuters, March 2, 2019, www.reuters.com/article/cnews-us-montenegro-protests-idCAKCN1QJ0LC-OCATP.
10 “The continued eastward expansion of NATO”: “NATO Invitation to Montenegro Prompts Russia Warning,” BBC News, December 2, 2015, www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34981973.
11 “The current Montenegro authorities will bear full responsibility”: MFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] Russia, tweet, July 14, 2016, https://twitter.com/mfa_russia/status/753582967356854272.
12 “In Russia’s official military doctrine”: “Q&A: Duško Marković, the Prime Minister Stuck Between Putin and Trump in the Balkans,” Time, February 16, 2017, https://time.com/4673038/dusko-markovic-montenegro-russia-nato/.
13 “What NATO must do”; “there would be no extension”; “any extension of the zone of NATO”; “I agree”: James M. Goldgeier, Not Whether but When: The U.S. Decision to Enlarge NATO (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1999), p. 15.
14 “This really is a great idea”: Warren Christopher, In the Stream of History: Shaping Foreign Policy for a New Era (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1988), pp. 93–94.
15 “Our Lady of Telemetry”; “Our Lady of Immaculate Reception”; “Sitting in the embassy in Moscow”: William J. Burns, The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal (New York: Random House, 2019), pp. 85, 110.
16 “It’s Russia that must move toward us”: Letter, Strobe Talbott to Warren Christopher, March 24, 1995, cited in M. E. Sarotte, “How to Enlarge NATO: The Debate Inside the Clinton Administration, 1993–1995,” International Security 44, issue 1 (Summer 2019), 7–41, https://direct.mit.edu/isec/article/44/1/7/12232/How-to-Enlarge-NATO-The-Debate-inside-the-Clinton.
17 3,515 sorties: John A. Tirpak, “Deliberate Force,” Air Force magazine, October 1, 1997, www.airforcemag.com/article/1097deliberate/.
18 “This is the first sign of what could happen”: John J. Mearsheimer, “Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault: The Liberal Delusions That Provoked Putin,” Foreign Affairs, September/October 2014, www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russia-fsu/2014-08-18/why-ukraine-crisis-west-s-fault.
19 “We have no idea what we’re getting into”: Eric Schmitt, “‘Iron Ring’ Around Russia? Comment Provokes Outburst,” New York Times, March 20, 1998, www.nytimes.com/1998/03/20/world/iron-ring-around-russia-comment-provokes-outburst.html.
20 “I think it is the beginning of a new Cold War”: Thomas L. Friedman, “Foreign Affairs; Now a Word from X,” New York Times, May 2, 1998, www.nytimes.com/1998/05/02/opinion/foreign-affairs-now-a-word-from-x.html.
21 Richard Lloyd… estimated: “NATO’s ‘Collateral Damage’ Still Takes Toll in Kosovo,” CNN, April 3, 2000, https://edition.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/04/03/kosovo.damage/.
22 “was a deliberate attack on a civilian object”: Steven Erlanger, “Rights Group Says NATO Bombing in Yugoslavia Violated Law,” New York Times, June 8, 2000, www.nytimes.com/2000/06/08/world/rights-group-says-nato-bombing-in-yugoslavia-violated-law.html.
23 illegal war: See Katharina P. Coleman, International Organizations and Peace Enforcement (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), www.cambridge.org/core/books/international-organisations-and-peace-enforcement/A4ADDFD296E68842BF49E3C713D08084.
24 “If you wanted to understand the grievances”: Burns, The Back Channel, pp. 83–84.
25 “Everybody knows if Russia had troops in Mexico”: Vinson Cunningham, “Cornel West Sees a Spiritual Decay in the Culture,” New Yorker, March 9, 2022, www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/cornel-west-sees-a-spiritual-decay-in-the-culture.
26 “NATO has put its front-line forces”: Putin speech at the annual Munich security conference in 2007, https://is.muni.cz/th/xlghl/DP_Fillinger_Speeches.pdf.
27 “Iron Ring”; “I don’t quite get it”: Schmitt, “‘Iron Ring’ Around Russia?”
28 “Ukraine’s entry into NATO”: Tariq Ali, “Before the War,” London Review of Books, March 24, 2022, www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n06/tariq-ali/before-the-war.
29 “Either they have to pay up”: Ashley Parker, “Donald Trump Says NATO Is ‘Obsolete,’ UN Is ‘Political Game,’” New York Times, April 2, 2018, www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/04/02/donald-trump-tells-crowd-hed-be-fine-if-nato-broke-up/.
Chapter 32: The Exfiltrators
1 the person they were counting on was Paul Manafort: Simon Shuster, “Russian Ex-Spy Pressured Manafort over Debts to Oligarch,” Time, December 29, 2018, https://time.com/5490169/paul-manafort-victor-boyarkin-debts/.
2 “By 2016, Deripaska was involved in funding”: U.S. Senate, “Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence on Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Elections, Volume 5: Counterintelligence Threats and Vulnerabilities,” www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/report_volume5.pdf, p. 147.
3 “shares the Bond actor’s reputation”: Luke Harding, “How Metals and a Ruthless Streak Put Russian Patriot at Top of the Rich List,” Guardian, February 24, 2007, www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/24/business.russia.
4 Manafort did talk to several politicians in Montenegro: Shuster, “Russian Ex-Spy Pressured Manafort over Debts to Oligarch.”
5 someone, prosecutors would charge: Samir Kajosevic, “Montenegro Prosecution Suspects Israeli Consultant of Coup Role,” BalkanInsight, July 31, 2019, https://balkaninsight.com/2019/07/31/montenegro-prosecution-suspects-israeli-consultant-of-coup-role/. See also Julian E. Barnes, “Ex-C.I.A. Officer’s Brief Detention Deepens Mystery in Montenegro,” New York Times, November 23, 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/us/politics/cia-montenegro-russia-coup-joseph-assad.html.
6 “honed his leadership and decision-making skills”: Shaviv deleted bio.
7 “I used to do surveillance”: Unless otherwise indicated, all quotes from Aron Shaviv are from an interview on July 8, 2022.
8 served as his chief strategist: Kim Sengupta, “Israel Election: Secrets of the Netanyahu Campaign—How He Turned the Election on Its Head,” Independent, March 17, 2015, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-election-the-secrets-of-the-netanyahu-campaign-and-how-he-could-win-even-if-he-loses-10114862.html. See also Gil Stern Hoffman, “Netanyahu Hires New Campaign Consultant for Likud,” Jerusalem Post, December 4, 2014, www.jpost.com/Israel-Elections/Netanyahu-hires-new-campaign-consultant-for-Likud-383599.
