SPYCRAFT 101

177. Traitor or CIA Double Agent? The Richard Craig Smith Story


Listen Later

In this solo episode, Justin share some of his own research. Today he discusses the very unusual case of Richard Craig Smith. Craig was a former army counterintelligence agent who was arrested in April, 1984 for passing classified information to a KGB officer in Japan on several occasions. There are two very different versions of Craig's story. He did meet with a Soviet intelligence agent. He did give him information on American double agents and he was paid for this information. Craig did not dispute this during the trial, but his defense was that he'd done it at the behest of case officers from the CIA who had approached him and recruited him as a double agent against the KGB. If that was so, why was he ever brought to trial in the first place? Because the CIA did not claim him as one of their recruited agents. So, either he was a spy and a traitor... or he was a double agent left out in the cold by his own country.

Connect with Spycraft 101:
Get Justin's latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here.
spycraft101.com
IG: @spycraft101
Shop: shop.spycraft101.com
Patreon: Spycraft 101

Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.
Check out Justin's second book, Covert Arms, here.
Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.

Grayman Briefing Classified
Use code GBCSpycraft to save 20% on your subscription.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

SPYCRAFT 101By Justin Black

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

341 ratings


More shows like SPYCRAFT 101

View all
The WW2 Podcast by Angus Wallace

The WW2 Podcast

1,255 Listeners

SpyCast by SpyCast

SpyCast

1,532 Listeners

Dan Snow's History Hit by History Hit

Dan Snow's History Hit

4,808 Listeners

Secrets and Spies Podcast: Espionage | Global Issues | Current Affairs by Secrets & Spies

Secrets and Spies Podcast: Espionage | Global Issues | Current Affairs

284 Listeners

History Unplugged Podcast by History Unplugged

History Unplugged Podcast

4,052 Listeners

Cold War Conversations Podcast by Ian Sanders

Cold War Conversations Podcast

473 Listeners

WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk by Goalhanger

WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk

1,419 Listeners

The Team House by dee takos

The Team House

1,663 Listeners

True Spies: Espionage | Investigation | Crime | Murder | Detective | Politics by SPYSCAPE

True Spies: Espionage | Investigation | Crime | Murder | Detective | Politics

1,955 Listeners

Real Dictators by NOISER

Real Dictators

5,158 Listeners

Warfare by History Hit

Warfare

532 Listeners

American History Hit by History Hit

American History Hit

1,592 Listeners

NatSec Matters by Beacon Global Strategies LLC

NatSec Matters

266 Listeners

The Spy Who by Audible

The Spy Who

601 Listeners

The Rest Is Classified by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Classified

1,242 Listeners