Arthur J. Villasanta – Fourth Estate Contributor
Washington, DC, United States (4E) – Former CIA subject agent Jerry Chun Shing Lee was indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia with conspiracy to commit espionage on behalf of China, a treasonous offense that led to the deaths and seize of over a dozen CIA brokers working clandestinely in China.
Lee, 53, is a naturalized U.S. citizen who had top-secret clearance and labored for the CIA from 1994 to 2007. After leaving the CIA, Lee labored for Japan Tobacco International, shaped his personal firm and later joined Christie’s public sale home in Hong Kong
He was arrested in January when he travelled to New York. Lee was charged with one rely of conspiracy to collect or ship nationwide defence data to assist a overseas authorities, and two counts of unlawfully retaining paperwork associated to the nationwide defence. The costs additionally included two counts of unlawfully retaining paperwork associated to U.S. nationwide protection. Lee faces a most of life in jail
FBI brokers in 2012 found handwritten notes on “asset meeting, operational meeting locations, operational phone numbers, true names of assets, and covert facilities” pertaining to China in his Honolulu resort room.
“The allegations in this case are troubling,” stated Tracy Doherty-McCormick, performing U.S. legal professional for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Conspiring with foreign agents poses a real and serious threat toward our national security.”
The New York Times reported that data in Lee’s notebooks is believed to have been utilized by China to dismantle U.S. spy operations and establish CIA informants inside China. In 2010, the CIA stated it had begun “losing its informants in China.” More than a dozen CIA belongings had been both killed or imprisoned on account of Lee’s treachery.
“Some intelligence officials believed that a mole inside the C.I.A. was exposing its roster of informants. Others thought that the Chinese government had hacked the C.I.A.’s covert communications used to talk to foreign sources of information,” wrote the NYT.
The indictment says that three years after Lee left the CIA in 2007, two Chinese intelligence officers approached him and provided to pay him for data, together with paperwork on U.S. protection.
“The Chinese intelligence officers allegedly provided Lee with email addresses so they could communicate covertly. The indictment alleges that Lee made ‘numerous unexplained cash deposits, and repeatedly lied to the U.S. government during voluntary interviews when asked about travel to China and his actions overseas.’ “
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