DC Couple Accused of Spying for Cuba

[magbana]

Comments below prior to article are from Walter Lippmann

MSNBC: DC couple accused of spying for Cuba
Posted by: "Walter Lippmann" [e-mail] walterlx
Fri Jun 5, 2009 12:41 pm (PDT)


(It's a blog entry and there are some very lively
comments there. Looks like anyone can join in the
blog's comments section. Look for quotes from
people such as Chris Simmons and Scott Carmicheal
when the fuller story starts to come out later on
today

(The timing of these arrests and indictments also
is notable, following the OAS decision to repeal
the suspension of Cuba dating back to 1962 and
the howls bellowing forth the by the hard-right
in response to the decisions by the OAS this week.)
===================================================

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/06/05/1955252.aspx
MSNBC
DC COUPLE ACCUSED OF SPYING FOR CUBA
Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 2:39 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: Pete Williams
From NBC's Pete Williams

Federal officials say a Washington, D.C.-area couple has been arrested and accused of spying for Cuba.

Officials say both are former U.S. government employees -- he from the State Department, she as a Congressional aide.

One official says the spying went on for more than two decades.

We expect to learn more details later today when a federal indictment is unsealed. For now, officials will not disclose the names or any other details.

==================================================

Comments
I'm sure Cuba found tons of info that could destroy America's Parks and Recreation programs. I am assuming they got information to build a better merry go round.

Louis J (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 2:57 PM)
Domenico, if they have'nt posted any Names yet, then what is the Sense in You Posting this thread?

Rick,Ky (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 2:58 PM)
Spying for Cuba? For what? So they can use their vast industrial might to build weapons to use against us? Looking for military weaknesses so they can use their large population to invade us?

Chris - IL (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:03 PM)
This is a non story until we have more facts, names, where they worked etc.

eagle1776 (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:04 PM)
For all the good it did Cuba. I hope this couple fleeced them good. LoL

Anna Molly (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:04 PM)
Alan, NJ (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 2:30 PM)

You 'amaze' me (not a compliment). Are you a professional 'spin meister'? Or is this just a hobby for you?

I was wondering when we would see the first, "Economy turned around on its own" comment. Bush wrecked it, Obama's trying to fix it.

Bush's stimulus was larger in dollar amount than Obama's. Bush's WAR budget was OFF THE BOOKS. The end of the error was 1-20-09. But do spin away - look at all the miles your bike is racking up. You'll be due for a new one soon. Further stimulating the economy - single handedly, no doubt.
^^^^^^^^
PS. Feistmeister, I would love to stay up all night chatting with Lawrence O, Paul Begala or Keith Olbermann. With Keith O - I would get the added bonus of the sports angle; which would make me VERY happy!

Clara Kansas City, MO (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:06 PM)
Rick, KY - I think we all need to know when our government's been breached, plus - this isn't going to set well with the recent 'outreach' to Cuba. I think Raul has some 'splaining to do.

Clara Kansas City, MO (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:07 PM)
Let's see how their treatment compares with the two AIPAC lobbyists who were spying for Israel

Richard, Washington State: '...MSierra:

I think acting in our own self-interest has been, on balance, decisively on the side of "more good" in the world.

I'm also guessing that acting in your own self-interest has been decisively on the side of more good in your own world as well....'

i won't argue that balance of good and bad
Clearly, it's been good for Europe, but Bad for the Palestinians

What I'm saying is that there's a pretense that we're doing it to help others
It's really OUR SELF INTEREST were looking after
Often the results are good

B, La.: '...Msierra-
I don't beleive that is always true. Why did we intervene in Bosnia and Kosovo? What interest did that serve for the US?...'

You may be right, in that case
I think we opposed 'evil' in Bosnia and Kosovo

I'm just syaing it's not USUALLY the Case
And, usually we get unintended consequences
(i.e.e the rise of Iranian influence by intervening in Iraq)

MSierra, SF (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:11 PM)

=========================================
WALTER LIPPMANN
Los Angeles, California
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

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[magbana]

1. More (and better) info - lotsa articles and DOJ News Release

REUTERS: Former U.S. State official, wife, face Cuba spy charges
Posted by: "Walter Lippmann" [e-mail] walterlx
Fri Jun 5, 2009 1:15 pm (PDT)


Former U.S. State official, wife, face Cuba spy charges
3:43pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former U.S. State Department official and his wife have been arrested for spying for the Cuban government for nearly 30 years, the Justice Department said on Friday.

Walter Myers, 72, and his wife Gwendolyn Myers, 71, were charged with conspiracy to act as illegal agents of the Cuban government and with communicating classified information to the Cuban government, the Justice Department said.

They were also charged with wire fraud and acting as an illegal agent.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan)

=========================================
WALTER LIPPMANN
Los Angeles, California
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

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17a.
DOJ: Former State Department Official and Wife Arrested for Serving
Posted by: "Walter Lippmann" [e-mail] walterlx
Fri Jun 5, 2009 1:33 pm (PDT)


Here are the final words of this news release:
("The public is reminded that criminal complaints
and indictments contain mere allegations and are
not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed
innocent unless and until proven guilty.")
======================================================

Department of Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 5, 2009
WWW.USDOJ.GOV

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/June/09-nsd-554.html

NSD [phone]

TDD [phone]

Former State Department Official and Wife Arrested for Serving as Illegal Agents of Cuba for Nearly 30 Years

Couple Allegedly Conspired to Provide Classified Information to Cuban Government

A former State Department official and his wife have been arrested on charges of serving as illegal agents of the Cuban government for nearly 30 years and conspiring to provide classified U.S. information to the Cuban government.

The arrests were announced today by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Channing D. Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director for the FBI´s Washington Field Office, and Ambassador Eric J. Boswell, Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security.

An indictment and criminal complaint unsealed today in the District of Columbia charge Walter Kendall Myers, 72, a.k.a. "Agent 202," and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, 71, a.k.a. "Agent 123," and "Agent E-634," with conspiracy to act as illegal agents of the Cuban government and to communicate classified information to the Cuban government. Each of the defendants is also charged with acting as an illegal agent of the Cuban government and with wire fraud.

The Myers, both residents of Washington, D.C., were arrested yesterday afternoon by FBI agents. They made their initial appearances today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while serving as an illegal agent of a foreign government carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and conspiracy carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

"The clandestine activity alleged in the charging documents, which spanned nearly three decades, is incredibly serious and should serve as a warning to any others in the U.S. government who would betray America's trust by serving as illegal agents of a foreign government. We remain vigilant in protecting our nation's secrets and in bringing to justice those who compromise them," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. "These arrests are the culmination of an outstanding counterespionage effort by many agents, analysts and prosecutors who deserve special thanks for their extraordinary work."

"This case demonstrates the care we must take in protecting our nation´s valuable secrets, and shows the dedication and perseverance of the men and women investigating this crime who never tired in finding those now charged with betraying our country," said Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips.

"Intelligence services from around the globe continue to steal what information they can from the United States," said Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director for the FBI's Washington Field Office. "Vigilance must be matched with patience to successfully bring their agents to trial. I would particularly like to thank the men and women in my office who worked on this case and who work on other espionage investigations. They work without accolades; silently protecting the safety and security of the United States and its citizens."

Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Eric J. Boswell stated, "The U.S. Department of State is jointly investigating this matter with the FBI, and will continue to aggressively pursue any and all breaches of national security. The Department´s Bureau of Diplomatic Security works closely with its law enforcement colleagues in the FBI and other agencies to uncover and prosecute any breath of security within its ranks. Any compromise of classified information is a serious threat to the security of our nation, and the State Department will aggressively investigate any such activity to the fullest extent possible."

U.S. Government Employment:

According to an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Kendall Myers began his work at the State Department in 1977, initially serving as a contract instructor at the Department´s Foreign Service Institute (FSI) in Arlington, Va. After living briefly in South Dakota, he returned to Washington, D.C., and resumed employment as an instructor with FSI. From 1988 to 1999, in addition to his FSI duties, he performed periodic work for the State Department´s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR).

Kendall Myers later began working full-time at the INR and, from July 2001 until his retirement in October 2007, he was a senior analyst for Europe for INR, where he specialized in intelligence analysis on European matters and had daily access to classified information through computer databases and otherwise. He received a Top Secret security clearance in 1985 and, in 1999, his clearance was upgraded to Top Secret / SCI.

Gwendolyn Myers moved to Washington, D.C., in 1980 and married Kendall Myers in May 1982. She later obtained employment with a local bank as an administrative analyst and later as a special assistant. Gwendolyn Myers was never granted a security clearance by the U.S. government.

Recruitment:

According to the affidavit, Kendall Myers traveled to Cuba in December 1978 after receiving an invitation from an official who served at the Cuban Mission to the United States in New York City. His guide while in Cuba was an official with Cuba´s Foreign Service Institute. This trip provided the Cuban Intelligence Service (CuIS) with the opportunity to assess or develop Myers as a Cuban agent, according to the affidavit.

Approximately six months after the trip, the Myers were visited in South Dakota by the official from the Cuban Mission in New York and, according to the affidavit, Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers agreed to serve as clandestine agents of the Cuban government. Afterwards, the CuIS directed Kendall Myers to pursue a job at either the State Department or the CIA. Kendall Myers, accompanied by his wife, then returned to Washington, D.C., where he resumed contract work at the State Department and later obtained a State Department position that required a Top Secret security clearance.

According to the affidavit, during this time frame, the CuIS often communicated with its clandestine agents in the United States by broadcasting encrypted radio messages from Cuba on shortwave radio frequencies. Clandestine agents in the United States monitoring the frequency on shortwave radio could decode the messages using a decryption program provided by the CuIS. Such methods were employed by defendants previously convicted of espionage on behalf of Cuba. According to the affidavit, the Myers have an operable shortwave radio in their apartment and they told an FBI source that they have used it to receive messages from the CuIS.

Undercover Operation:

According to the affidavit, in April 2009, the FBI launched an undercover operation to convince the couple that they had been contacted by a Cuban intelligence officer and to ascertain the scope of their activities for the CuIS. On April 15, 2009, an undercover FBI source posing as a Cuban intelligence officer approached Kendall Myers in Washington, D.C., stating that he had been sent to contact Myers by a named CuIS official in order to obtain information. The FBI source also congratulated Kendall Myers on his birthday and offered him a cigar. Myers agreed to meet the source later that day at a nearby hotel and volunteered to bring his wife along to the meeting.

During the meeting later that day, the couple agreed to meet the source again and to provide information on U.S. government personnel with responsibility for Latin America. According to the affidavit, the couple also made a series of statements about their past activities on behalf of the CuIS, including acknowledging having received coded messages from the CuIS via shortwave radio, meeting CuIS officials in Mexico, and being alert to surveillance. "We have been very cautious, careful with our moves and, uh, trying to be alert to any surveillance," Kendall Myers allegedly told the FBI source.

In subsequent meetings with the FBI source, the Myers allegedly agreed to provide information on the April 17-19, 2009 Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as to use specified code words, signals and encryption programs to transmit information via email during future interactions with the source. They also asked the source to "send special greetings...and hugs" to certain CuIS officials.

In addition, the couple allegedly made further statements to the source about their past activities for the CuIS. According to the affidavit, the defendants discussed how they were first recruited by the CuIS and how codes had been used for each of them in messages, including "123" for Gwendolyn Myers and "202" for Kendall Myers. The Myers also stated that they had traveled to meet Cuban agents in Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Jamaica, New York City and other locations.

The Myers also discussed how they had passed information to CuIS agents, with both agreeing that the most secure way was "hand-to-hand." According to the affidavit, Gwendolyn Myers said her favorite way of passing information to CuIS agents involved the changing of shopping carts in a grocery store because it was "easy enough to do."

According to the affidavit, Kendall Myers told the source that he typically removed information from the State Department by memory or by taking notes, although he did occasionally take some documents home. "I was always pretty careful. I, I didn´t usually take documents out," he said. According to the affidavit, he also acknowledged delivering information to the CuIS that was classified beyond the "Secret" level. He further stated that he had received "lots of medals" from the Cuban government and that he and his wife had met and spent an evening with Fidel Castro in 1995.

Additional Evidence:

According to the affidavit, the FBI collects high frequency messages broadcast by the CuIS to its agents and has identified messages that it has determined were broadcast to a handler of Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers. Furthermore, the FBI has confirmed trips by the couple to Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Jamaica that correspond to statements made by the defendants. In addition, the FBI has identified emails to the couple in 2008 and 2009 from a suspected representative of the CuIS in Mexico who was allegedly requesting that the couple travel to Mexico.

The affidavit further indicates that an analysis of Kendall Myers´ classified State Department work computer hard drive revealed that, from August 22, 2006, until his retirement on Oct. 31, 2007, he viewed more than 200 sensitive or classified intelligence reports concerning the subject of Cuba, while employed as an INR senior analyst for Europe. Of these reports concerning Cuba, the majority was classified and marked Secret or Top Secret, the affidavit alleges. An FBI review of Kendall Myers´ State Department security files further revealed numerous false statements by him to conceal the couple´s clandestine activities on behalf of the CuIS, the affidavit further alleges.

According to the affidavit, neither Kendall Myers nor Gwendolyn Myers ever provided notification to the Attorney General that either of them was acting as an agent of a foreign government, as required by law.

Finally, the affidavit alleges that Kendall Myers engaged in a scheme to defraud the State Department and the United States by means of false pretenses and caused the U.S. government to lose property, specifically money in the form of salary payments. By not disclosing his clandestine activity on behalf of the CuIS and by making false statements to the State Department about his status, Kendall Myers allegedly defrauded the State Department whenever he received his government salary. Gwendolyn Myers is also criminally liable for this alleged wire fraud scheme.

This investigation was conducted jointly by the FBI´s Washington Field Office, and the State Department´s Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Harvey, from the U.S. Attorney´s Office for the District of Columbia, and Senior Trial Attorney Clifford I. Rones, from the Counterespionage Section of the Justice Department´s National Security Division.

The public is reminded that criminal complaints and indictments contain mere allegations and are not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

###

09-554

=========================================
WALTER LIPPMANN
Los Angeles, California
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

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Messages in this topic (2)
17b.
Re: DOJ: Former State Department Official and Wife Arrested for Ser
Posted by: "Walter Lippmann" [e-mail] walterlx
Fri Jun 5, 2009 2:08 pm (PDT)


Karen Lee Wald observes:

Can't help wonder who's trying to throw a monkey-wrench into Obama's slow attempt at normalizing relations with Cuba.

Why would they wait this long to decide to arrest these people? More important, why would they decide NOT to prosecute someone who was spying for Israel (on May 1 the U.S. government dropped the charges against Keith Weissman and Steven Rosen, two men accused of spying for Israel), but decide to prosecute people who had been providing information to Cuba (when, obviously, nothing harmful to the US ever occurred as a result of their passing on whatever information they may have provided.

Remember, everyone who has provided information to the Cuban government has done so not to attack the US but to mitigate or prevent attacks FROM the US....whether we are talking about the Defense Department Analyst Ana Belen Monte -- now locked up in total isolation until she turns 70 -- who admittedly did provide classified information to Cuba to aid in its defense, to the Cuban Five, who the US prosecutors admitted did not have access to classified information and who were focused on stopping terrorist activities from Miami-based groups.

Now, just when it looks like the Obama government is going to take some steps forward, someone in the FBI or National Security or State Department decided it's time to publicly charge a couple in their 70s with having provided information to Cuba for over 30 years? This fish smells awful.....

NOTE THE UTTER CYNICISM OF ADDING THIS LAST REMARK
AFTER ANNOUNCING TO THE PRESS SO MANY DETAILS OF
THE ALLEGED ACTIONS OF THIS COUPLE THAT ANYONE
READING OR HEARING COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE IN DOUBT
AS TO THEIR GUILT. AND THIS IS WHAT ANY JURY POOL
IN THE DC AREA WILL HAVE HEARD OR READ. KLW
================================================

Department of Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 5, 2009
WWW.USDOJ.GOV

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/June/09-nsd-554.html

NSD [phone]

TDD [phone]

Former State Department Official and Wife Arrested for Serving as Illegal Agents of Cuba for Nearly 30 Years

Couple Allegedly Conspired to Provide Classified Information to Cuban Government

A former State Department official and his wife have been arrested on charges of serving as illegal agents of the Cuban government for nearly 30 years and conspiring to provide classified U.S. information to the Cuban government.

The arrests were announced today by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Channing D. Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director for the FBI´s Washington Field Office, and Ambassador Eric J. Boswell, Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security.

An indictment and criminal complaint unsealed today in the District of Columbia charge Walter Kendall Myers, 72, a.k.a. "Agent 202," and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, 71, a.k.a. "Agent 123," and "Agent E-634," with conspiracy to act as illegal agents of the Cuban government and to communicate classified information to the Cuban government. Each of the defendants is also charged with acting as an illegal agent of the Cuban government and with wire fraud.

The Myers, both residents of Washington, D.C., were arrested yesterday afternoon by FBI agents. They made their initial appearances today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while serving as an illegal agent of a foreign government carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and conspiracy carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

"The clandestine activity alleged in the charging documents, which spanned nearly three decades, is incredibly serious and should serve as a warning to any others in the U.S. government who would betray America's trust by serving as illegal agents of a foreign government. We remain vigilant in protecting our nation's secrets and in bringing to justice those who compromise them," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. "These arrests are the culmination of an outstanding counterespionage effort by many agents, analysts and prosecutors who deserve special thanks for their extraordinary work."

"This case demonstrates the care we must take in protecting our nation´s valuable secrets, and shows the dedication and perseverance of the men and women investigating this crime who never tired in finding those now charged with betraying our country," said Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips.

"Intelligence services from around the globe continue to steal what information they can from the United States," said Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director for the FBI's Washington Field Office. "Vigilance must be matched with patience to successfully bring their agents to trial. I would particularly like to thank the men and women in my office who worked on this case and who work on other espionage investigations. They work without accolades; silently protecting the safety and security of the United States and its citizens."

Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Eric J. Boswell stated, "The U.S. Department of State is jointly investigating this matter with the FBI, and will continue to aggressively pursue any and all breaches of national security. The Department´s Bureau of Diplomatic Security works closely with its law enforcement colleagues in the FBI and other agencies to uncover and prosecute any breath of security within its ranks. Any compromise of classified information is a serious threat to the security of our nation, and the State Department will aggressively investigate any such activity to the fullest extent possible."

U.S. Government Employment:

According to an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Kendall Myers began his work at the State Department in 1977, initially serving as a contract instructor at the Department´s Foreign Service Institute (FSI) in Arlington, Va. After living briefly in South Dakota, he returned to Washington, D.C., and resumed employment as an instructor with FSI. From 1988 to 1999, in addition to his FSI duties, he performed periodic work for the State Department´s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR).

Kendall Myers later began working full-time at the INR and, from July 2001 until his retirement in October 2007, he was a senior analyst for Europe for INR, where he specialized in intelligence analysis on European matters and had daily access to classified information through computer databases and otherwise. He received a Top Secret security clearance in 1985 and, in 1999, his clearance was upgraded to Top Secret / SCI.

Gwendolyn Myers moved to Washington, D.C., in 1980 and married Kendall Myers in May 1982. She later obtained employment with a local bank as an administrative analyst and later as a special assistant. Gwendolyn Myers was never granted a security clearance by the U.S. government.

Recruitment:

According to the affidavit, Kendall Myers traveled to Cuba in December 1978 after receiving an invitation from an official who served at the Cuban Mission to the United States in New York City. His guide while in Cuba was an official with Cuba´s Foreign Service Institute. This trip provided the Cuban Intelligence Service (CuIS) with the opportunity to assess or develop Myers as a Cuban agent, according to the affidavit.

Approximately six months after the trip, the Myers were visited in South Dakota by the official from the Cuban Mission in New York and, according to the affidavit, Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers agreed to serve as clandestine agents of the Cuban government. Afterwards, the CuIS directed Kendall Myers to pursue a job at either the State Department or the CIA. Kendall Myers, accompanied by his wife, then returned to Washington, D.C., where he resumed contract work at the State Department and later obtained a State Department position that required a Top Secret security clearance.

According to the affidavit, during this time frame, the CuIS often communicated with its clandestine agents in the United States by broadcasting encrypted radio messages from Cuba on shortwave radio frequencies. Clandestine agents in the United States monitoring the frequency on shortwave radio could decode the messages using a decryption program provided by the CuIS. Such methods were employed by defendants previously convicted of espionage on behalf of Cuba. According to the affidavit, the Myers have an operable shortwave radio in their apartment and they told an FBI source that they have used it to receive messages from the CuIS.

Undercover Operation:

According to the affidavit, in April 2009, the FBI launched an undercover operation to convince the couple that they had been contacted by a Cuban intelligence officer and to ascertain the scope of their activities for the CuIS. On April 15, 2009, an undercover FBI source posing as a Cuban intelligence officer approached Kendall Myers in Washington, D.C., stating that he had been sent to contact Myers by a named CuIS official in order to obtain information. The FBI source also congratulated Kendall Myers on his birthday and offered him a cigar. Myers agreed to meet the source later that day at a nearby hotel and volunteered to bring his wife along to the meeting.

During the meeting later that day, the couple agreed to meet the source again and to provide information on U.S. government personnel with responsibility for Latin America. According to the affidavit, the couple also made a series of statements about their past activities on behalf of the CuIS, including acknowledging having received coded messages from the CuIS via shortwave radio, meeting CuIS officials in Mexico, and being alert to surveillance. "We have been very cautious, careful with our moves and, uh, trying to be alert to any surveillance," Kendall Myers allegedly told the FBI source.

In subsequent meetings with the FBI source, the Myers allegedly agreed to provide information on the April 17-19, 2009 Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as to use specified code words, signals and encryption programs to transmit information via email during future interactions with the source. They also asked the source to "send special greetings...and hugs" to certain CuIS officials.

In addition, the couple allegedly made further statements to the source about their past activities for the CuIS. According to the affidavit, the defendants discussed how they were first recruited by the CuIS and how codes had been used for each of them in messages, including "123" for Gwendolyn Myers and "202" for Kendall Myers. The Myers also stated that they had traveled to meet Cuban agents in Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Jamaica, New York City and other locations.

The Myers also discussed how they had passed information to CuIS agents, with both agreeing that the most secure way was "hand-to-hand." According to the affidavit, Gwendolyn Myers said her favorite way of passing information to CuIS agents involved the changing of shopping carts in a grocery store because it was "easy enough to do."

According to the affidavit, Kendall Myers told the source that he typically removed information from the State Department by memory or by taking notes, although he did occasionally take some documents home. "I was always pretty careful. I, I didn´t usually take documents out," he said. According to the affidavit, he also acknowledged delivering information to the CuIS that was classified beyond the "Secret" level. He further stated that he had received "lots of medals" from the Cuban government and that he and his wife had met and spent an evening with Fidel Castro in 1995.

Additional Evidence:

According to the affidavit, the FBI collects high frequency messages broadcast by the CuIS to its agents and has identified messages that it has determined were broadcast to a handler of Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers. Furthermore, the FBI has confirmed trips by the couple to Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Jamaica that correspond to statements made by the defendants. In addition, the FBI has identified emails to the couple in 2008 and 2009 from a suspected representative of the CuIS in Mexico who was allegedly requesting that the couple travel to Mexico.

The affidavit further indicates that an analysis of Kendall Myers´ classified State Department work computer hard drive revealed that, from August 22, 2006, until his retirement on Oct. 31, 2007, he viewed more than 200 sensitive or classified intelligence reports concerning the subject of Cuba, while employed as an INR senior analyst for Europe. Of these reports concerning Cuba, the majority was classified and marked Secret or Top Secret, the affidavit alleges. An FBI review of Kendall Myers´ State Department security files further revealed numerous false statements by him to conceal the couple´s clandestine activities on behalf of the CuIS, the affidavit further alleges.

According to the affidavit, neither Kendall Myers nor Gwendolyn Myers ever provided notification to the Attorney General that either of them was acting as an agent of a foreign government, as required by law.

Finally, the affidavit alleges that Kendall Myers engaged in a scheme to defraud the State Department and the United States by means of false pretenses and caused the U.S. government to lose property, specifically money in the form of salary payments. By not disclosing his clandestine activity on behalf of the CuIS and by making false statements to the State Department about his status, Kendall Myers allegedly defrauded the State Department whenever he received his government salary. Gwendolyn Myers is also criminally liable for this alleged wire fraud scheme.

This investigation was conducted jointly by the FBI´s Washington Field Office, and the State Department´s Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Harvey, from the U.S. Attorney´s Office for the District of Columbia, and Senior Trial Attorney Clifford I. Rones, from the Counterespionage Section of the Justice Department´s National Security Division.

The public is reminded that criminal complaints and indictments contain mere allegations and are not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

###

09-554

=========================================
WALTER LIPPMANN
Los Angeles, California
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

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Messages in this topic (2)

18.
AP: Couple indicted on charges of spying for Cuba
Posted by: "Walter Lippmann" [e-mail] walterlx
Fri Jun 5, 2009 1:36 pm (PDT)


Couple indicted on charges of spying for Cuba

By NEDRA PICKLER - 53 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) - A retired State Department worker with top secret security clearance and his wife have been indicted on charges of spying for Cuba.

The indictment handed down by the attorney general's office in Washington says Walter Kendall Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, have been clandestine agents for Cuba for 30 years.

The indictment says the pair met with Cuban President Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1995, traveling through Mexico under false names. They allegedly made several other trips to Latin America and the Caribbean to meet with Cuban agents.

Kendall Myers worked at the State Department's Foreign Service Institute, where he specialized in European matters, before retiring in 2007. The indictment says in his last year of employment, Kendall Myers viewed more than 200 intelligence reports related to Cuba.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

=========================================
WALTER LIPPMANN
Los Angeles, California
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


20a.
WASHINGTON TIMES: Ex-State Dept. employee arrested for spying for Cu
Posted by: "Walter Lippmann" [e-mail] walterlx
Fri Jun 5, 2009 1:48 pm (PDT)


Friday, June 5, 2009
Ex-State Dept. employee arrested for spying for Cuba
Ben Conery (Contact)

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/05/state-department-employee-arrested-fbi/

UPDATED:

A former State Department official and his wife have been arrested on charges of serving as illegal agents of the Cuban government and conspiring to provide classified U.S. information to the Cuban government.

An indictment and criminal complaint against Walter Kendall Myers, 72, and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, 71, was unsealed Friday. Each also was charged with wire fraud.

The couple reside in the District and were arrested Thursday afternoon by FBI agents.

"The clandestine activity alleged in the charging documents, which spanned nearly three decades, is incredibly serious and should serve as a warning to any others in the U.S. government who would betray America's trust by serving as illegal agents of a foreign government," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

According to an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Mr. Myers began his work at the State Department in 1977, initially serving as a contract instructor at the Department's Foreign Service Institute (FSI). After living briefly in South Dakota, he returned to the District and resumed employment as an instructor with FSI. From 1988 to 1999, in addition to his FSI duties, he performed periodic work for the State Departments Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR).

Mr. Myers later began working full-time at the INR and, from July 2001 until his retirement in October 2007, he was a senior analyst for Europe for INR, where he specialized in intelligence analysis on European matters and had daily access to classified information through computer databases and otherwise. He received a Top Secret security clearance in 1985 and, in 1999, his clearance was upgraded to Top Secret/SCI.

Mrs. Myers moved to the District in 1980 and married Mr. Myers in May 1982. She later obtained employment with a local bank as an administrative analyst and later as a special assistant. Mrs. Myers was never granted a security clearance by the U.S. government.

=========================================
WALTER LIPPMANN
Los Angeles, California
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

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20b.
Re: WASHINGTON TIMES: Ex-State Dept. employee arrested for spying fo
Posted by: "[e-mail]" [e-mail]
Fri Jun 5, 2009 2:40 pm (PDT)


Walter I have seen charges of this type in several occasions including in the case of the 5 cuban heroes.

The important word is 'CONSPIRACY'.

As far as what I have read in other e-mails, this couple has been charge of being illegal AGENTS OF CUBA AND OF CONSPIRING TO GIVE SECRET US DOCUMENTS TO THE ISLAND.

Maybe, which is not unusual, it came to light now because the US was humiliated in Honduras, when they had to accept being part of a Resolution taken by consensus of all OEA members, inviting Cuba to be again an active member of that Pan-American institution.

Jose M. Estevez

government

-----Original Message-----
>From: Walter Lippmann <[e-mail]>
>Sent: Jun 5, 2009 4:48 PM
>To: CubaNews <[e-mail]>
>Subject: WASHINGTON TIMES: Ex-State Dept. employee arrested for spying for Cuba
>
>Friday, June 5, 2009
>Ex-State Dept. employee arrested for spying for Cuba
>Ben Conery (Contact)
>
>http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/05/state-department-employee-arrested-fbi/
>
>UPDATED:
>
>A former State Department official and his wife have been arrested on charges of serving as illegal agents of the Cuban government and conspiring to provide classified U.S. information to the Cuban government.
>
>An indictment and criminal complaint against Walter Kendall Myers, 72, and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, 71, was unsealed Friday. Each also was charged with wire fraud.
>
>The couple reside in the District and were arrested Thursday afternoon by FBI agents.
>
>"The clandestine activity alleged in the charging documents, which spanned nearly three decades, is incredibly serious and should serve as a warning to any others in the U.S. government who would betray America's trust by serving as illegal agents of a foreign government," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
>
>According to an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Mr. Myers began his work at the State Department in 1977, initially serving as a contract instructor at the Department's Foreign Service Institute (FSI). After living briefly in South Dakota, he returned to the District and resumed employment as an instructor with FSI. From 1988 to 1999, in addition to his FSI duties, he performed periodic work for the State Departments Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR).
>
>Mr. Myers later began working full-time at the INR and, from July 2001 until his retirement in October 2007, he was a senior analyst for Europe for INR, where he specialized in intelligence analysis on European matters and had daily access to classified information through computer databases and otherwise. He received a Top Secret security clearance in 1985 and, in 1999, his clearance was upgraded to Top Secret/SCI.
>
>Mrs. Myers moved to the District in 1980 and married Mr. Myers in May 1982. She later obtained employment with a local bank as an administrative analyst and later as a special assistant. Mrs. Myers was never granted a security clearance by the U.S. government.
>
>
>
>=========================================
> WALTER LIPPMANN
> Los Angeles, California
> Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
> "Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"
>=========================================


23.
REUTERS: Ex-U.S. State official, wife face Cuba spy charges
Posted by: "Walter Lippmann" [e-mail] walterlx
Fri Jun 5, 2009 3:39 pm (PDT)


Ex-U.S. State official, wife face Cuba spy charges
Fri Jun 5, 2009 5:34pm EDT

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former U.S. State Department official and his wife have been arrested for spying for the Cuban government for nearly 30 years, the Justice Department said on Friday.

Walter Kendall Myers, 72, aided by his wife Gwendolyn Myers, 71, used his Top Secret security clearance to pass on classified information to the Cuban government and at one point met with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, according to court documents.

The two were charged with conspiracy to act as illegal agents of the Cuban government and to communicate classified information to Cuba, the Justice Department said. They were also charged with wire fraud and acting as illegal agents.

They face up to 35 years in prison. The two pleaded not guilty and will be held until a detention hearing on Wednesday, a Justice Department official said.

A lawyer representing the couple was not immediately available for comment.

The arrests come as the United States and Cuba have offered glimmers of hope that they might be ready to end years of hostility. In mid-April, President Barack Obama pledged a "new beginning" with Cuba after modestly easing the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Havana.

The Cuban government had no immediate reaction.

According to court documents, the two were recruited in 1979 by a Cuban official who directed Kendall Myers to pursue a job at either the State Department or the CIA.

Myers worked part-time at the State Department since 1977 and joined full-time in 1985, eventually working his way up to a position of senior analyst specializing in intelligence analysis on European matters.

With a Top Secret/SCI security clearance, he had daily access to classified information and viewed more than 200 intelligence reports about Cuba, according to the affidavit.

He retired in 2007.

Gwendolyn Myers worked at a bank. The two received messages from the Cuban government via shortwave radio and hand-passed messages, and typically passed their responses to handlers by hand.

Gwendolyn Myers said her favorite way to pass information was by swapping carts at a grocery story, according to the affidavit filed by an FBI agent.

A Justice Department official said they were motivated by a desire to help the Cuban government, not money. They traveled occasionally to Cuba and other locations across Latin America to meet with their handlers, and met Castro in 1995.

Kendall Myers told an undercover FBI source posing as a Cuban intelligence officer he had received "lots of medals" from the Cuban government. The undercover operation began in April.

In meetings with the FBI source, who at one point offered Kendall Myers a cigar, the couple allegedly agreed to provide information on the April 17-19, 2009 Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, according to court documents.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has ordered a damage assessment and a review of the department's security procedures, the State Department said.

(Additional reporting by James Vicini and Arshad Mohammed in Washington and Tom Brown in Havana)

=========================================
WALTER LIPPMANN
Los Angeles, California
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

[magbana]

2. Karen Wald noted that the US has had its eye on the couple

for thirty years and she wonders if the reason for the indictment now is to throw a "monkey-wrench" into Obama's slow approach towards Cuba. Could be. But, I think this may be targeted more at the US Supreme Court's upcoming announcement (expected June 15) about whether there should be a review of the Cuban 5 case. Prosecuting this spy case now is not to persuade the US Supreme Court about the Five-- I think that's a done deal. But,the Meyers case is useful in quashing the strong reaction by supporters of the Cuban 5 if the Supremes don't go in their favor. Since the Five have been in jail, the number of supporters has increased markedly, not just in the US and Cuba, but around the world.

Cubans spying for Cuba, US citizens spying for Cuba -- lotsa spying going on -- bad, spying Cubans.

Stay tuned.

[flamingdem]

3. Hillary's paws all over this

Interesting analysis about the Cuban 5. They don't want to hand that victory to Fidel. But what do they want.

[magbana]

5. I'm beginning to think that the US needs to keep things . . .

off-kilter with Cuba so that there is less day-to-day scrutiny on the particular Obama administration steps (and pace)towards normalization leaving "events" such as the spy case to shape US public opinion about whether the atmosphere for normalization exists or doesn't. This blockade has been in force for 47 years holding within it alot of US intelligence secrets and I think the US wants to have a plausible excuse in its back pocket to back off when needed.

I think the timing of the Meyers' case is to buttress worldwide sympathy for the Cuban 5 after we hear from the Supremes, but the spying itself will help form overall public opinion about Cuba.

[magbana]

4. NYT: "recruited on an ACADEMIC trip to Cuba" "they did it because they love Cuba"

and my personal favorite, "The couple also expressed some mixed emotions, saying that they were “burned out” by their clandestine activity yet wanted to continue to help Cubans because of their strong ties.
“It’s forever,” the affidavit quoted Mr. Myers as telling the agent. “You know, it’s like Fidel. It’s forever.”"

"U.S. Charges Couple With Spying for Cuba

By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: June 5, 2009

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department charged Friday that a former State Department analyst and his wife worked as spies for Cuba for nearly 30 years, using a short-wave radio to pass on secret diplomatic information to their Cuban handlers.

Officials said the couple, Walter K. Myers, 72, and Gwendolyn S. Myers, 71, received little in the way of compensation from the Cubans except for the short-wave radio and some travel expenses. Rather, the officials said, the couple appears to have been driven by their strong affinity for Cuba and their bitterness toward “American imperialism.”

“We think they did it because they love Cuba,” said a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

The Myerses, who live in Washington, were arrested on Thursday and charged in a grand jury indictment unsealed Friday with serving as illegal agents of the Cuban government and wire fraud. A defense lawyer declined to comment on the charges.

The case had been under investigation for three years but intensified two months ago, when an undercover agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, posing as a Cuban agent, approached Mr. Myers. That led to a series of meetings in which the Justice Department said that Mr. Myers and his wife made incriminating admissions about their decades-long work for Cuba.

Mr. Myers began working as a contract instructor at the State Department in 1977 and rose to the position of senior analyst with top-secret security clearance, specializing in European affairs. He retired from the department in 2007.

In the indictment, the Justice Department said that Mr. Myers examined some 200 intelligence reports that dealt with Cuba in 2006 and 2007, many of them classified or top-secret reports that were unrelated to his own duties at the State Department.

While some of the material that the government says the Myerses passed on to Cuba apparently related to State Department personnel and internal policy matters, the indictment does not detail the bulk of the material or the sensitivity of it.

David Kris, the assistant attorney general for national security at the Justice Department, called the Myerses’ activity for Cuba “incredibly serious.”

The indictment and the government’s supporting material say the Myerses were recruited as spies during an academic trip to Cuba in 1978.

In a diary entry that the Justice Department said Mr. Myers wrote at the time of the trip, he expressed his passion for Cuba and its Communist revolutionary goals and his distaste for “American imperialism” and the United States’ indifference to medical care, the poor and other basic public needs. “Cuba is so exciting!” he wrote, adding that “the revolution has released enormous potential and liberated the Cuban spirit.”

The government alleged that soon after their return to the United States, the Myerses began using Morse code, encrypted messages and the short-wave radio to pass sensitive diplomatic information to Havana. They met Fidel Castro on a clandestine trip to Cuba in 1995 and made trips over the years to meet Cuban contacts in Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Jamaica, the government charged.

It appears from government documents that suspicions among American counterintelligence officials about a possible security leak within the State Department first led the authorities to focus on Mr. Myers two or three years ago.

This April, an undercover agent from the F.B.I., posing as a Cuban official, approached Mr. Myers outside the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, where he taught. The agent said he had instructions to contact him concerning the thawing diplomatic changes in the air between Cuba and the United States. The agent offered Mr. Myers a cigar and wished him a happy birthday.

The agent directed Mr. Myers to search out State Department information about Cuba, and at one in a series of follow-up meetings, Mr. Myers and his wife told the agent that they hoped to “sail home” to Cuba some day on their sailboat, the government said.

The couple also expressed some mixed emotions, saying that they were “burned out” by their clandestine activity yet wanted to continue to help Cubans because of their strong ties.

“It’s forever,” the affidavit quoted Mr. Myers as telling the agent. “You know, it’s like Fidel. It’s forever.”"
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/us/06spy.html

[Judi Lynn]

6. Thanks for providing some depth to this news. No doubt the timing provides a great explanation

for this discovery of a sitution which has been in place forever.

You recall the Brothers to the Rescue (Hermanos al Rescate) just happened to make another forray into Cuban air space and get their asses handed to them at EXACTLY the right moment in order to get public opinion mobilized against Cuba (how dare they protect their own air space after warning the Brothers to turn back) in time to press forward with the Helms-Burton embargo measures, decried world wide for being illegal in international law.

A completely unusual sudden developement helped sway public opinion at PRECISELY the moment it was needed to obtain an objective.

Like so many other things, like the entire slate of staged event idea designed to kick off attacks on Cuba in the Operation Northwoods plan signed by all the Joint Chiefs of Staff but dismissed by John Kennedy before he was murdered.

Two important reasons a situation they undoubtedly knew about long ago would be useful for news value: Cuban 5 and the upcoming Supreme Court request, and the progress on the horizon with the new administration, as mentioned in your thread. BOTH significant enough to haul out their sudden "discovery" of these two older dangerous terrifying (help!) spies.