Oleg Smolenkov

Oleg Smolenkov's house in Stafford, Virginia

Oleg Smolenkov

Early mentions in media

• Obama’s secret struggle to punish Russia for Putin’s election assault - Washington Post, June 23, 2017 (archive, video, audio)

  Inside was an intelligence bombshell, a report drawn from sourcing deep inside the Russian government that detailed Russian President Vladi­mir Putin’s direct involvement in a cyber campaign to disrupt and discredit the U.S. presidential race. But it went further. The intelligence captured Putin’s specific instructions on the operation’s audacious objectives — defeat or at least damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump.

• From the Start, Trump Has Muddied a Clear Message: Putin Interfered - The New York Times, July 18, 2018
• Potential Clash Over Secrets Looms Between Justice Dept. and C.I.A. - The New York Times, May 24, 2019

Life in Russia

According to media reports, he was officially registered in a 1-room flat (однокомнатная квартира) with his mother on the 9th floor of a multi-flat 14-storey house in northern Moscow, with estimated value of 5.37 mln rubles (about 82.6 k $ ). He left this place after marriage in 2005

Disappearance in Montenegro

• An employee of the President’s Administrative Department disappeared without a trace with his wife and three children - Daily Storm, September 12, 2017 (in Russian)
• Russia investigated disappearance of suspected US spy as possible murder - The Guardian, September 10, 2019
• Russia asks Interpol for help over alleged CIA mole's whereabouts - The Guardian, September 12, 2019
• Father of the child, who was taken from Russia by the alleged CIA agent Oleg Smolenkov: in fact, my son was kidnapped - RTVi, September 12, 2019

Russiagate allegations

Main article: Russiagate

• Spy Oleg Smolenkov told CIA how President Putin meddled in election - The Times, September 11, 2019

  Oleg Smolenkov, 50, is said to have had access to papers on the Russian president’s desk and to have been instrumental in confirming to American intelligence that Mr Putin personally ordered interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

Extraction

• Exclusive: US extracted top spy from inside Russia in 2017 - Jim Sciutto, CNN, September 9, 2019
• C.I.A. Informant Extracted From Russia Had Sent Secrets to U.S. for Decades - The New York Times, September 9, 2019
• CIA Spy Extracted From Russia Sent Information ‘For Decades,’ New York Times Claims - Sputnik, September10, 2019
• U.S. Spy Evacuated From Russia Was Possibly a Senior Kremlin Official’s Aide – Kommersant - The Moscow Times, September 10, 2019

  The alleged U.S. spy could be Oleg Smolenkov, an official with President Vladimir Putin’s administration, Kommersant reported Tuesday, citing anonymous social media channels and past media coverage.

  Smolenkov had been a longtime trusted assistant of Yury Ushakov — a senior foreign policy aide to Putin — dating back to Ushakov's years as Russian ambassador to the U.S., Kommersant cited several unnamed sources as saying.

• Kremlin has no evidence Smolenkov worked for CIA - TASS, September 10, 2019
• The former Russian government official, who had a job with access to secrets, was living openly under his true name- NBC, September 10, 2019

CIA response published in Western media: “CNN’s narrative that the Central Intelligence Agency makes life-or-death decisions based on anything other than objective analysis and sound collection is simply false,” a CIA spokesperson told the news outlet when contacted. “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.”

Russian media speculates that an adviser III class, who "vanished" with his family on a vacation in Montenegro on 14 June 2017 may be that person (Peskov; Kommersant). According to Peskov, "a few years ago he was dismissed by internal order, his position did not belong to the category of senior officials, the so-called designated posts". This employee was laid off "about two or three years ago". "According to his job duties, he would have no direct contacts with the president of the Russian Federation."

Life in USA

• Possible Russian spy for CIA now living in Washington area - NBC News, September 10, 2019
• Virginia Residents Question Whether Their Neighbor Was A Russian Informant - Todd Prince, RFE/RL, September 10, 2019

FWIW, the home shown in RFE/RL report was sold June 4, 2018 for 925 K $ . Estimated monthly tax is $994 and mortgage (if there is one) $3700. Total monthly costs of owning this home (mortgagee, insurance, tax) is $5000 per month, 60,000 per year.

Russian salary of adviser III class? Some info here. Take it at 2886 rubles for the class, 7258 rubles salary, per month. This is too low. There may be "monetary rewards" of 3 times the salary, and premiums. Let's take it at 10,000 rubles per month, $612 presently. Wife is state employer as well, so double to $1200 monthly total. Takes 64 years of work with 0 spending (for a family with 3 kids) to buy this house for cash. Or 4 years of no-expense work for 1 year of no-expense living in the mortgaged house.

There wellness may be in property in Moscow, that may be potentially significant but that is difficult to sell while "disappearing".

• Hiding in plain sight: Alleged spy lived under his own name in a suburb near Washington - National Post, September 11, 2019
• Russia asks Interpol for help over alleged CIA mole's whereabouts - The Guardian, September 12, 2019

Sources

• Syria Update - Russian Team Back in Moscow, 2/7/2012, Sullivan, Jacob J H, 12/31/2015 F-2014-20439 , Clinton emails, US Department of State archive.
• Alexey Venediktov , Echo Moskvy, July 14, 2018

  Moreover, if you look at this accusation (Mueller's indictment of 12 Russians) you will see that it is quite obvious that this is not, how to say it, not a technological investigation. Not a remote investigation.

  It is quite obvious, including (that) those “moles” that scouts, spies who exist in Russia, the CIA, inside the General Staff, also worked on this.

  Noted: Venediktov opinions are unreliable on defense/security/technology side of things

• V CheKa-GPU , telegram channel, September 10, 2019 (in Russian).

  Semi-original comment; unknown whether info or disinfo.

Denials

• The Federation Council called the CNN story about a "Russian spy" an outright fake -RIA, September 9, 2019

  The story of the "Russian spy" published by the American television channel CNN is an outright (откровенный) fake, said member of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Franz Klintsevich.

• Pompeo: I've seen that reporting, the reporting is materially inaccurate . I don't talk about things like this often , it is only the occasion when there's something I think puts people at risk for the reporting is so egregious as to create enormous risk to the united states that I comment in the way I just did and I won't say anything more about it. I know the cia put out a statement, suffice to say that reporting is factually wrong (about 12:15 on the video)
• Peskov "does not confirm" that he had access to special services information - TASS, September 11, 2019
• Trump Administration Blasts Reports it Pulled Top US Spy from Kremlin - VOA News, September 10, 2019

Analysis

• Obama And Brennan Burned A Very Useful Spy And Now CNN Outs Him - Moon of Alabama, September 10, 2019
• Murdered In Montenegro, Or Living In Suburban Virginia? Unraveling The 2017 American Spy Story - Aric Toler, Bellingcat, September 10, 2019
• John Brennan's and Jim Clappers' Last Gasp? - Larry C. Johnson, September 10, 2019
• Double-Edged Source: Why Alleged Kremlin Mole May Pose Danger to IC & Top Obama Officials - Sputnik, September 14, 2019
• The tale of Oleg Smolenkov is just the latest load of high-level BS dumped on us by intelligence agencies - Matt Taibbi, Information Clearing House, September 14, 2019
• The Spy Who Failed - Scott Ritter, Consortium News, September 14, 2019