Does Russian intelligence still use TASS (the official news agency) as cover here?
Yes, they still do that. They were kicked out of (the newspaper) Izvestia. But they still use TASS. And the foreign ministry, and the foreign trade office. During the Cold War the KGB operated a large station out of the Soviet consulate in San Francisco. Is that still active? The KGB operation there was one of the most ineffective. That’s where the FBI taught its agents surveillance techniques, and they had round-the-clock surveillance, so the KGB guys there used it as an excuse not to try to do anything. They’d tell Moscow the FBI was all over them and they couldn’t do anything. I remember that in the ’70s and ’80s they didn’t have a single meaningful operation there. Today are any Russian agents volunteering to work for the FBI or CIA? I don’t think so. It’s too dangerous. And it doesn’t bring very good money. All intelligence services around the world are notorious for being cheap. And remember, two employees in the Washington station who were betrayed by Ames got shot when they got
