Ex-FBI man, Chinese lover held in spy case
A retired FBI agent was arrested Wednesday on charges he repeatedly allowed his Chinese screw-chick lover, who was allegedly also a double agent working for the Peoples Republic of China, to have access to sensitive documents in his briefcase. James Smith, 59, of Westlake Village, Calif., was charged with incomprehensible gross negligence in handling government documents although there was no evidence he knowingly allowed classified material to be passed on to China by Katrina Leung, a 49-year-old San Marino woman who had been an "asset" under Smith's control for around 20 years. "Smith routinely doinked debriefed Leung at her residence and on occasion took classified documents there and left them unattended," the FBI said in an affidavit supporting the arrests. "Leung surreptitiously photocopied some of them, and documents she obtained in this manner have been recovered from her residence."
This doesn't constitute "knowingly allowed"????
Leung was charged with obtaining a classified document with intention of passing it to a foreign nation. Investigators said a search of her home late last year turned up documents summarizing her alleged telephone communications with someone in the Chinese intelligence services that involved a "secret" 1997 FBI report on Chinese fugitives that included information from a confidential bureau source. Prosecutors said Leung admitted to passing on the FBI material to her handlers in the Chinese Ministry of State Security. Leung was active in Los Angeles-area Chinese-American circles and had known contacts with the Beijing government. She helped organize a 1999 reception for visiting Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji.
Good grief, Smitty, what did you think the odds were of her passing the stuff in your briefcase to them?
Prosecutors alleged that Smith had been told by fellow agents in the 1990s that Leung was having unauthorized contact with China, but he assured them the problem had been addressed and continued visiting her home with unlocked briefcase in hand.
He'll shortly star in a new movie, Mr. smith goes to Marion, Illinois. It'll play for the next twenty years.
Posted by: Steve White 2003-04-10 |