INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kevin Mallory, a former CIA officer, admits he met with Chinese spies (Representational)
Kevin Mallory, a
former CIA officer, admits he met with Chinese spies
He admits he planned a covert meeting with one of the operatives, that he handed over U.S
intelligence documents and that he accepted thousands of dollars.Federal prosecutors call it espionage
But the Virginia man, who for years held a top-secret clearance, says it was no crime
He contends it was a ruse intended to out the spies to U.S
authorities.On Tuesday, Mallory goes on trial in federal court in Alexandria, where a jury will decide which story they believe.Mallory, 61,
of Leesburg, is a fluent Mandarin Chinese speaker who spent two decades working in U.S
Public defenders Geremy Kamens and Todd Richman say he used that experience to ensnare two Chinese intelligence operatives who approached
him as staffers for a Shanghai think tank."He sent what he thought was worthless information to keep his Chinese contacts interested in him
until the CIA would meet with him," the defense attorneys wrote in one court filing.Prosecutors say that, on the contrary, Mallory's plan
was to cash in on his covert knowledge to get himself out of debt
If he did not share everything he knew, they argue in court filings, it was only because he was holding out for better pay
And if he was somewhat open with old colleagues at the CIA, it was only to cover his tracks.He "was seeking to develop a long-term,
financially profitable relationship," prosecutors John Gibbs and Jennifer Kennedy Gellie said in one motion.Mallory is one of two former CIA
officers accused in Alexandria federal court of working with Chinese intelligence
Jerry Chun Shing Lee, 53, is set to go to trial in February on similar charges
Prosecutors say Lee, like Mallory, was co-opted by Chinese spies when his post-government career was foundering.Mallory served in the
military from 1977 to 2011, on active duty for the first decade and as a reservist after
According to his defense attorneys, he was kidnapped and seriously wounded while serving in Iraq in 2005.He also spent years in the
intelligence world, working as a covert case officer for the CIA from 1990 to 1996, for the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2007 to 2010,
and at various government agencies and defense contractors in between
Since 2012 he has run his own consulting business.Prosecutors say that business was failing though, and Mallory's only income in 2017 was
the $25,000 he was paid by the Chinese spies.Court filings say Mallory was contacted by one of those spies through the networking site
LinkedIn in February 2017
Richard Yang presented himself as a recruiter for the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, a think tank prosecutors describe as in part a
cover for government spies
In March, Mallory went to Shanghai and met Yang and his boss, Michael Yang.Before that trip, according to court filings, Mallory asked
Michael Yang for a mobile phone, saying he might bring information on an SD card
Mallory told Yang to put the phone in a double-sealed envelope, and to initial around the seals before leaving it for him at his hotel
He emailed Yang three documents he had scanned at a FedEx store in Virginia that were not classified but were government documents related
to intelligence."I will look for a person who has a newspaper under their left arm with keys in their left hand," Mallory wrote, according
"Please find a private place that we can meet one another for a few minutes."The Chinese contacts paid Mallory $10,000 in cash on that trip,
according to prosecutors, and for his hotel and flights
Mallory did not declare the cash to customs when he returned.On another trip the following month, Mallory was given a Samsung phone and paid
$15,000, according to the court filings
In May, he sent two more documents that have been determined to contain classified information
Prosecutors say he even lied to the Chinese and claimed the $15,000 was seized at the U.S
border, asking them to replace it
He promised to deliver more documents, prosecutors added."Your object is to gain information, and my object is to be paid for it," he said
in one message, according to court filings.Yet all along, Mallory was also reaching out to former contacts at the CIA, and he told them he
had been approached by Chinese intelligence."I've been over their again, and I keep getting banged on," he wrote in one text message,
according to court filings
"In the past I suspected who they are and didn't really know but this time they were even more suspicious with me."In May 2017, Mallory sat
down with a CIA agent, revealing he had met intelligence agents in Shanghai and that he had been given a phone
He said he would meet again and bring the phone to be examined.The next meeting was two weeks later
Instead of CIA officers, Mallory was met by two FBI agents.He let the agents copy the phone
But according to his indictment, Mallory was surprised when messages he had sent and received appeared, saying he thought the phone was set
up to delete all previous history.He also lied, prosecutors say, claiming he had given the Chinese only unclassified white papers on policy
in exchange for the $25,000.From jail, Mallory asked his wife and son in Chinese to look for the SD card he had bought
FBI agents had found it wrapped in foil in a shoe in his closet; eight documents containing classified information were on it, according to
court papers, including the two given to the Chinese.But Mallory said then and argues now that the documents he did hand over were to string
the operatives along.He believed the information he gave "was essentially worthless," his attorneys argue in one filing, while he withheld
his knowledge of "several highly classified and sensitive projects that would be of enormous interest and value to the People's Republic of
China."In one document Mallory added false classification markings, according to his attorneys, and another contained "virtually illegible
handwritten notes" that were not classified.Prosecutors say they will call witnesses from intelligence agencies who will say they disagree
with Mallory's characterization
In court filings, defense attorneys say Mallory's own expert on classification, a 27-year veteran of the CIA named Harry P
Cooper Jr., is being intimidated
A senior attorney for the CIA Office of General Counsel called Cooper, they say, to remind him of his obligation not to reveal classified
information if he testifies for the defense.This is not the first time Mallory has been accused of handing over classified information
According to an inspector general's report, Mallory shared details on sources with a defense contractor in 2010 while trying to launch a
career outside government.Mallory had been suspended by the Defense Intelligence Agency for "performance issues" when he started consulting
without telling the government, according to the report.Mallory denied the transgression, saying he had only "spoken in generalities" to the
His security clearance was revoked and he resigned.Mallory has been active in the Montgomery Chinese Branch of the Mormon Church
He and his wife, who was born in Taiwan, have three children."I have always known Kevin to be a man of integrity," wrote fellow church
member Benjamin Tsai in a letter to the court
"He is fiercely loyal to His country and to His God."(This story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is auto-generated
