He actually worked in the Kremlin administration but was fired several years ago. Moreover, his position didn't imply regular contact with or meetings with top officials. That's what Dmitry Peskov said about Oleg Smolenkov, who the American media, citing sources in the CIA, declared to be an American intelligence agent. All of this is served, naturally, under the long-sour source of rumors about Donald Trump's connection with Russia, Russian interference in the U.S. election, and the need to oppose Moscow.
Why did they decide to revive these rumors in, so to say, such an exotic way? Our staff correspondent in the USA Denis Davydov tried to figure it out.
In the framework of this spy story, the headquarter of CNN in Atlanta reminds one of a giant microwave oven that is used to try and cook up some tall tales they had been feeding to American TV-viewers not so long ago before the delivery of Special Counsel Mueller's report. The best creative resources are being applied once again to revive the myth of Russian interference. Graphic designers aren't skimping on the use of the ever-alarming color red.
The U.S. President himself is the enemy's best friend, they say it's because of Trump that the CIA had to withdraw who was perhaps its most valuable informant. Less than a year before the election, hammering this idea into American voters' heads looks like an attempt to revive the dead tale of Russian interference or, at least, to present this subject from an unexpected angle.
Jim Sciutto, CNN's chief correspondent in the field of national security matters: "Several officials in Trump's administration, who are directly familiar with the case, told me about a secret operation that hasn't yet come to the public's attention. It was organized in 2017 when the USA successfully removed one of its most top-ranking secret informants inside the Russian government. The source, who was directly involved in the discussion of the operation, said that among the reasons behind the extraction of the informant were concerns related to President Trump and the members of his administration who were repeatedly negligent towards classified intelligence information, which could have resulted in the agent's exposure".
It is supposed that the Americans got very nervous in May 2017, when the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Kislyak, the Russian Ambassador at that time, were given secret information about ISIS by President Trump. The information was received by the USA from Israel. American intelligence started to wonder whether Trump was about to run his mouth about something else. So, they decided to urgently extract the agent to avoid him being exposed. The CIA was greatly surprised by such an interpretation of events.
"CNN's narrative that the CIA makes life-or-death decisions based on anything other than objective analysis and sound collection is simply false. Misguided speculation that the President's handling of our nation's most sensitive intelligence— which he has access to each and every day — drove an alleged exfiltration operation is inaccurate".
The American journalists, naturally, turned a deaf ear to the intelligence service's statement. They say people in Langley have conspired with Trump. They decided to interrogate him themselves.
- How can you comment on your giving classified information to the Russians?
Donald Trump: "I don't know anything about it. As you can see, the CIA did a great job in this case. Whatever the CIA says about this matter, they have my support. But I don't know anything myself".
Nonetheless, all of this is just a little tidbit. The public is served the most delicious meal for dessert. Washington lost its agent in the Kremlin because Moscow recruited a much more valuable agent - their own man in the Oval Office.
Robert Baer, writer, ex-CIA agent: "As I said before, the Kremlin had never seen an agent with the CIA or any other American intelligence agency. I'm confident of that. As for this man, he could have just come to one of our embassies. So, we were very lucky to have him. He was patiently going up the career ladder and was appointed a position in the Kremlin. By the way, he was the first to say, 'Look, the Russians are interfering in the election in support of Trump.' It's been a colossal failure. Now, we basically have to read between the lines. All in all, it made us go blind in Moscow."
- Will this man survive? We remember Sergey Scripal's case. In such cases, the Russians rarely just let it go. Are you concerned about this man's safety?
Robert Baer, writer, ex-CIA agent: "We have a saying, "the KGB doesn't leave any loose ends".
Now the ex-agent who was so eager to impress the anchor put his foot in his mouth. The spy who had to quit is safe and sound. We even know his name: Oleg Smolenkov. He feels quite alright in the well-off interiors of this almost one million dollar house in the state of Virginia. He lives there under his own name with his wife and children. In June 2017, they left Russia for a holiday in Montenegro, from where they were allegedly exfiltrated back to the US by the CIA. The Kremlin warned against exaggerating the significance of what happened. The bird who migrated to the West wasn't a high-flyer.
Dmitry Peskov, President's Press Secretary: "Smolenkov worked in the President's Administration, but, a few years ago, he was fired with an internal order. His position wasn't a high-ranking one, he wasn't an official that was in an order-giving capacity. The American media's speculations about someone urgently extracting someone, saving someone and so on, as you understand, is nothing but pulp fiction, nothing but a crime novel. So, let's just leave it to them".
According to Sergey Lavrov, Smolenkov wasn't even anywhere close to the level of the ministry. For some reason, nobody remembers him on Smolenskaya Square.
Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs: "I've never seen him, never met him. I haven't followed either his career or his movements. I don't want to comment on these rumors. All the more so that, as I said, I've never talked to this man".
But CNN decided not to leave it alone, pushing the story through to the end. Their new dump is already being criticized on 24-hour news. Trump is sending shockwaves across the left-leaning US mainstream media with his opposition to using agents in countries that are hostile to the USA. It is supposed that he considers spies to be unreliable. They do nothing but harm his personal relationship with other leaders. How is someone supposed to trust someone that betrays their own country anyway?
Denis Davydov, Valentin Bogdanov, and Nikolay Koskin, Vesti from the United States.
