A woman suspected to be a Russian spy worked at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and had access to highly sensitive information for more than a decade before she was quietly let go in 2017, according to a report.
The Russian national, who was recruited by the U.S. Secret Service, had access to the agency’s intranet and emails — including presidential and vice presidential schedules — until a periodic U.S. Department of State’s Regional Security Office security check in 2016, reported the Guardian on Thursday.
Through their probe, two security office investigators reportedly learned she frequently held unauthorized meetings with members of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, commonly known as the FSB.
Despite the Secret Service learning of the security office’s findings in January 2017, the Guardian reports the agency did not conduct its own major investigation into the serious security breach.
The woman’s departure occurred shortly before Russian President Vladimir Putin expelled more than 700 U.S. diplomats and staff from Russia in August 2017 in retaliation for economic sanctions imposed by Congress.
The Secret Service told the Guardian in a written statement that it was aware that all non-U.S. citizens working within its ranks were at risk of being influenced by foreign actors, and that the foreign service national assisted U.S. attaches and the agency in working with the Russian government “in furtherance of Secret Service interests.” The statement continued that at no time were foreign service nationals in a position to obtain national security information.
The State Department did not provide the Guardian with comment regarding the woman’s specific case, but echoed the Secret Service in saying that it understood that all U.S. government employees were potential targets of foreign intelligence services.
