ESPIONAGE
The act of securing information of a military or
political nature that a competing nation holds
secret. It can involve the analysis of diplomatic
reports, publications, statistics, and broadcasts, as
well as spying, a clandestine activity carried out by
an individual or individuals working under secret
identity to gather classified information on behalf
of another entity or nation. In the United States,
the organization that heads most activities dedi-
cated to espionage is the CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
AGENCY (CIA).
Espionage, commonly known as spying, is
the practice of secretly gathering information
about a foreign government or a competing
industry, with the purpose of placing one’s own
government or corporation at some strategic or
financial advantage. Federal law prohibits espi-
onage when it jeopardizes the national defense
or benefits a foreign nation (18 U.S.C.A. § 793).
Criminal espionage involves betraying U.S. gov-
ernment secrets to other nations.
Despite its illegal status, espionage is com-
monplace. Through much of the twentieth cen-
tury, international agreements implicitly accepted
espionage as a natural political activity. This
gathering of intelligence benefited competing
nations that wished to stay one step ahead of
each other. The general public never hears of
espionage activities that are carried out cor-
rectly. However, espionage blunders can receive
national attention, jeopardizing the security of
the nation and the lives of individuals.
Espionage is unlikely to disappear. Since the
late nineteenth century, nations have allowed
each other to station so-called military attaches
in their overseas embassies. These “attaches” col-
lect intelligence secrets about the armed forces
of their host country. Attaches have worked
toward the subversion of governments, the
destabilization of economies, and the assassina-
tion of declared enemies. Many of these activi-
ties remain secret in order to protect national
interests and reputations.
The centerpiece of U.S. espionage is the CIA,
created by the National Security Act of 1947 (50
U.S.C.A. § 402 et seq.) to conduct covert activity.
The CIA protects national security interests by
spying on foreign governments. The CIA also
attempts to recruit foreign agents to work on
behalf of U.S. interests. Other nations do the
same, seeking to recruit CIA agents or others
who will betray sensitive information. Some-
times a foreign power is successful in procuring
U.S. government secrets.
One of the most damaging instances of
criminal espionage in U.S. history was uncov-
ered in the late 1980s with the exposure of the
Walker spy ring, which operated from 1967 to
1985. John A. Walker Jr. and his son, Michael
L. Walker, brother, Arthur J. Walker, and
friend, Jerry A. Whitworth, supplied the Sovi-
ets with confidential U.S. data including codes
from the U.S. Navy that allowed the Soviets to
decipher over a million Navy messages. The
Walker ring also sold the Soviets classified
material concerning Yuri Andropov, secretary
general of the Communist party until 1984;
the Soviet shooting of a Korean Airlines jet in
