According to court papers unsealed Monday, the FBI intercepted a message from SVR headquarters, Moscow Center, to two of the defendants describing their main mission as "to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in US." Intercepted messages showed they were asked to learn about a broad swath of topics including nuclear weapons,US arms control positions, Iran, White House rumors, CIA leadership turnover, the last presidential election, the Congress and political parties.
Eight of 10 were arrested Sunday for allegedly carrying out long-term, deep-cover assignments in the United States on behalf of Russia.Two others were arrested for allegedly participating in the same Russian intelligence program within the United States. An 11th defendant, who allegedly delivered money to the defendants, is at large.The court papers cited numerous examples of communications intercepted in the FBI probe that spelled out what the 10 allegedly were trying to do.
The timing of the arrests was notable given the emphasis that Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev have placed on "resetting" U.S.-Russia relations. The two leaders met just last week at the White House after Medvedev visited high-tech firms in California's Silicon Valley, and both attended the G-8, G-20 meetings over the weekend in Canada.
Intelligence on Obama's foreign policy positions, particularly as they relate to Russia, appears to have been one of the top priorities for the alleged spies, according to the filings.Each of the 10 was charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison on conviction.
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