Tiger Trap: America's Secret Spy War With China (43 page)

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on May 7, J.J. was indicted on charges of "gross negligence" for allowing classified documents to end up in Leung's hands:
Eric Lichtblau, "Ex-F.B.I. Agent Indicted on More Serious Charges in Spy Case,"
New York Times,
May 8, 2003, p. A34.

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A federal grand jury handed down a five-count indictment:
Dan Eggen, "Accused Double Agent for China Indicted,"
Washington Post,
May 9, 2003, p. A2.

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appeared in federal court in downtown Los Angeles for a bail hearing before Judge Florence-Marie Cooper:
The author attended the June 19, 2003, bail hearing at the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles, and the description of the scene in the courtroom and the quotes are from the author's notes taken at the hearing.

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she had "reached a tentative decision to grant release with a $2 million bond":
Ibid.

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"if necessary it can be increased to 1 billion":
United States v. Katrina Leung, US District Court for the Central District of California, 03-CR-434, government's Memorandum of Points and Authorities, June 2003, pp. 15–16.

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"whether to publicly disclose 20 years worth of spying secrets":
Susan Schmidt and Kimberly Edds, "Ex-Handler of Alleged FBI Spy Cuts Deal,"
Washington Post,
May 13, 2004, p. A3.

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On May 12, 2004, J.J. pleaded guilty to only one felony count, lying to the FBI:
Eric Lichtblau, "F.B.I. Agent Pleads Guilty in Deal in Chinese Spy Case,"
New York Times,
May 13, 2004, p. A16.

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"to have no further sharing of information relating to this case with Leung":
United States v. James J. Smith, US District Court for the Central District of California, 03-CR-29, Plea Agreement for Defendant James J. Smith, May 12, 2004, p. 7.

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"Owens did the first draft of the plea agreement":
Rebecca S. Lonergan interview, August 24, 2009.

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"That clause was never intended to stop the defense from interviewing J.J.":
Ibid.

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the government had engaged in "willful and deliberate misconduct":
United States v. Katrina Leung, Order Granting Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, January 6, 2005.

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"Smith is being told not to talk to Leung or her attorneys":
Ibid., p. 3.

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"The goal of the clause was to prevent Smith's lawyers from helping Leung's lawyers":
Michael W. Emmick interview, February 23, 2009, and e-mail, August 22, 2009.

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there were discussions between Los Angeles and Washington "about whether more serious espionage charges were supported by the evidence":
Emmick interview, January 9, 2009.

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"When a case has high-level attention, it follows that high-level people will be involved in the decision making":
Lonergan interview, August 24, 2009, and e-mail, August 31, 2009. Lonergan quotes that follow are from the same interview and e-mail.

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"We wanted to reduce the risk of being graymailed":
Emmick interview, January 9, 2009, and e-mail, August 22, 2009.

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"when you declassify, you lose jury appeal":
Emmick interview, June 18, 2009.

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"an agent for the PRC," and ... "she began to work for the Ministry of State Security ('MSS')":
United States v. Katrina Leung, Memorandum of Points and Authorities, pp. 7–8.

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"admitted that she provided intelligence she gained in this manner to the MSS":
RT, p. 15.

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The judge decided on no jail time for J.J. Smith:
"Ex-F.B.I. Agent Convicted,"
New York Times,
July 19, 2005, p. A16.

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It charged that she had failed to pay taxes on at least $435,000 ... she had received from the FBI:
RT, p. 26.

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the complaint charged that she had paid no taxes on $1.2 million that Nortel had paid to her:
Ibid., p. 22.

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the government contended that Leung had engaged in a tax scheme to take annual deductions on mortgage interest of about $40,000 on her home:
Ibid., pp. 22–23.

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She pleaded guilty to lying about her love affair with J.J.... In addition, she pleaded guilty to failing to report $35,000 in income from the FBI:
United States v. Katrina Leung, Plea Agreement, pp. 8–9, December 13, 2005; David Rosenzweig, "Judge OKs Plea Deal in Spy Case,"
Los Angeles Times,
December 17, 2005, p. B3.

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PARLOR MAID
stood before Judge Cooper for the last time:
Judge Florence-Marie Cooper died seven years later on January 15, 2010, at age sixty-nine, after suffering a stroke.
Los Angeles Times,
January 16, 2010, Metro, p. 26.

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"I love America":
Linda Deutsch, "Ex-FBI Informant Takes Deal in Spy Case," Associated Press, December 17, 2005.

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"With my luck the judge's husband just ran off with his thirty year old secretary and I'll get five years breaking rocks":
This and following quotes are from an e-mail J.J. Smith sent to friends May 21, 2004, United States v. James J. Smith, Exhibit 2.

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"As though I were put in the cosmos to take care of her":
Kam Leung interview, June 25, 2003.

19. EAGLE CLAW

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The FBI learned that an American spying for China, his identity not yet certain, had stayed in room 533 of the Qianmen Hotel in Beijing:
Tom Carson interview, September 18, 2009.

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the FBI searched his luggage at Dulles International Airport and found a key to room 533:
Ibid.

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he was hired as a translator for an Army liaison office in Fuzhou, China:
Chin biographical details from Tod Hoffman,
The Spy Within: Larry Chin and China's Penetration of the CIA
(Hanover, NH: Steerforth Press, 2008), pp. 47–48.

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he passed that information to the Chinese, for which he was paid $2,000:
Stephen Engelberg, "The Multiple Characters of Suspect in Spy Case,"
New York Times,
December 8, 1985.

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he met with his Chinese handler, Ou Qiming:
Ibid., and Hoffman,
Spy Within,
pp. 158, 237.

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Chin later said he might not have passed if the questions had been asked in Chinese:
Stephen Engelberg, "Man Accused of Spying Passed His Only Lie Test,"
New York Times,
February 4, 1986, p. A17.

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he explained his wealth by saying that he played blackjack and was an expert card counter:
Ruth Marcus, "Accused Spy's Property Valued at $700,000,"
Washington Post,
January 11, 1986, p. A4.

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he squirreled them in his clothing or briefcase and walked out of the building:
Hoffman,
Spy Within,
p. 173.

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Chin ... passed the films to Chinese agents in a series of meetings in a Toronto shopping mall:
Carlyle Murphy, "Chin's Motives Debated at Spy Trial's Opening,"
Washington Post,
February 5, 1986, p. A16.

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The meal included "Bears' feet" and "muttonpot":
Carlyle Murphy, "Chin: 'Nothing to Regret,'"
Washington Post,
February 11, 1986, p. A5.

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classified memos on President Nixon's secret preparations in 1971 for the historic opening to China:
Carlyle Murphy, "Accused Spy Says He Meant to Promote U.S., China Ties,"
Washington Post,
February 7, 1986, p. A11.

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the agency's deputy director, Bobby Inman, personally presented the Career Intelligence Medal to Chin at a retirement ceremony:
Hoffman,
Spy Within,
p. 43.

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A week later, Chin flew to Hong Kong, met with a Chinese intelligence contact, and was paid $40,000:
Murphy, "Chin's Motives Debated at Spy Trial's Opening."

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His name was Yu Zhensan:
Hoffman,
Spy Within,
p. 19.

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Yu's father had reportedly been married to Jiang Qing:
Kenneth J. Schiffer interview, August 13, 2009.

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He contacted the CIA and warned the agency that Beijing had a spy inside American intelligence:
Ibid.

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Smith gave Yu Zhensan the code name
PLANESMAN
:
I. C. Smith interview, August 26, 2008.

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Yu Zhensan ... said that the mole had flown to Beijing on a Pan Am flight that left New York:
Schiffer interview, August 13, 2009; Carson interview, September 19, 2009.

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The passenger was Larry Wu-Tai Chin:
Schiffer interview, August 13, 2009.

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"We delayed the flight at Dulles enough to take the luggage":
Carson interview, September 18, 2009.

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"We found the hotel key.... It turned out to be the smoking gun":
Ibid.

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Chin suggested to Ou that the Chinese might want to try to recruit Victoria Liu Morton, a woman he had known at the CIA:
Carson interview, September 18, 2009; Murphy, "Chin's Motives Debated at Spy Trial's Opening."

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a Chinese sleeper agent named Father Mark Cheung, a Roman Catholic priest:
Carson interview, September 18, 2009.

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"Mark Cheung was a real priest":
Ibid.

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"He rifled his colleague's desk":
Schiffer interview, August 13, 2009.

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he bought a copy of
The Puzzle Palace
:
Hoffman,
Spy Within
, pp. 61–62.

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A moment later the wiretap picked up Cathy screaming, "He's killing me! He's killing me!":
Hoffman,
Spy Within,
p. 58.

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it was not a spying device, but a sex toy, a battery-operated vibrator:
I. C. Smith,
Inside: A Top G-Man Exposes Spies, Lies, and Bureaucratic Bungling in the FBI
(Nashville, TN: Nelson Current, 2004), p. 41.

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"We sat on the case—we could not move on Chin for about a year until
PLANESMAN
got out":
Schiffer interview, August 13, 2009.

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Late in the afternoon of November 22, 1985, the trio knocked on the door of Chin's condominium in Alexandria:
Hoffman,
Spy Within,
pp. 118, 121.

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"He realized somebody on the inside had betrayed him":
Schiffer interview, August 13, 2009.

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"You have details that only Ou knew":
Stephen Engelberg, "High Chinese Defector Is Linked to Spy Charges against Analyst,"
New York Times,
January 1, 1986.

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"He thought Ou Qiming had defected and was the one who had dimed him out":
Schiffer interview, August 13, 2009.

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Chin took the stand during the four-day trial, and claimed he had spied to improve relations between the United States and China:
Murphy, "Accused Spy Says He Meant to Promote U.S., China Ties."

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because Ou was in prison:
Murphy, "Chin's Motives Debated at Spy Trial's Opening,"

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"stealing documents from the CIA and giving them to the Chinese?":
Murphy, "Accused Spy Says He Meant to Promote U.S., China Ties."

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He had tied a plastic trash bag over his head with a shoelace:
Carlyle Murphy, "Spy Larry Chin Dies in Apparent Suicide,"
Washington Post,
February 22, 1986, p. A1.

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"So, Little Fish, don't worry about me":
Hoffman,
Spy Within,
p. 267.

20. RED FLOWER

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"I work for Red Flower of North America":
Edward M. Roche,
Snake Fish: The Chi Mak Spy Ring
(New York: Barraclough Ltd., 2008), p. 3.

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The phone call to Zhongshan ... was answered by Pu Pei-Liang:
Bill Gertz, "Fumbled China Spy Probe an Intelligence Failure,"
Washington Times,
September 18, 2006, p. A1; for background on Pu, see Roche,
Snake Fish,
pp. 134, 143.

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had been secretly passing sensitive Navy data on US weapons systems to China for more than twenty years:
Gillian Flaccus, "Brothers Accused of Being Agents for China Are Denied Bond," Associated Press, November 29, 2005.

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the Quiet Electric Drive, or QED, a propulsion system designed to allow the Navy's submarines to run silent:
Roche,
Snake Fish,
pp. 12, 197.

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"are certainly against the law":
FBI special agent James E. Gaylord affidavit, in support of complaint and arrest and search warrants for Chi Mak, Tai Mak, and their wives, p. 15.

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The FBI concluded that these were "tasking lists" from Chinese military intelligence:
Ibid., p. 11.

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after Chi Mak was arrested he admitted passing to China ... data about the Aegis combat system:
David J. Lynch, "Law Enforcement Struggles to Combat Chinese Spying,"
USA Today,
July 23, 2007, p. A1.

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Chi Mak, his wife, and his brother were indicted:
United States v. Chi Mak, US District Court for the Central District of California, MJ-05-394, November 15, 2005.