ESPIONAGE

Suspected Kremlin Spy Worked at U.S. Embassy in Russia: Report

She reportedly worked at the embassy for years and may have had access to confidential material.

A woman suspected of being a Russian spy worked at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for over 10 years, The Guardian reports. She may have had access to confidential information, including the schedules of the president and vice president, through the embassy’s email and intranet systems. She could have collected information without supervision and “had access to the most damaging database, which is the US Secret Service official mail system,” a source told The Guardian. A 2016 State Department investigation found that she often met with Russia’s security agency without permission. The woman was fired after Russia limited U.S. presence in retaliation for sanctions, which allowed for her covert removal, an intelligence source told The Guardian. “The Secret Service is trying to hide the breach by firing [her],” the source said. “The damage was already done but the senior management of the Secret Service did not conduct any internal investigation to assess the damage and to see if [she] recruited any other employees to provide her more information.” The Secret Service responded in a statement that it “recognizes that all Foreign Service Nationals (FSN) who provide services in furtherance of our mission, administrative or otherwise, can be subjected to foreign intelligence influence.”