FROM THE KGB TO THE FBI

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000302630012-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: March 17, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000302630012-6
A1:`1I C A1'F
011 FAGS
NEWSWEEK
17 March 1980
From the KGB to the FBI
To their neighbors in New York's Westchester County, Ru-
dolph and Inga Herrmann were East European emigres who
traveled frequently and asked a lot of questions about American
politics. He was a successful free-lance photographer, she a
friendly homemaker who helped a crippled neighborhood boy.
Last fall, the Herrmanns suddenly moved away. Last week, their
neighbors found out why. Sitting behind a frosted screen at a
Washington press conference, his voice disguised electronically,
Herrmann admitted that he was a longtime spy for the Soviet
Union-and, for the last several years, a double agent for theU.S.
Most KGB agents pose as diplomats and operate under diplo-
matic cover. But, as FBI officials told it, Herrmann was an "ille-
gal" agent posing as an ordinary citizen. "I tried to blend in with
the local community," Herrmann said. All the while, however,
he received weekly coded instructions from Moscow on a short-
wave radio at his home. His assignments seemed tame. He was to
study American political attitudes, get close to a Presidential
candidate if he could and collect messages from other KGB
agents. But Herrmann's real function, the FBI said, was as a
"sleeper" agent. If U.S.-Soviet diplomatic ties were severed and
"legal" operatives ordered home, the unassuming Westchester
photographer was to help run KGB spy operations in the U.S.
New Identity- Federal agents picked up Herrmann's trail sev-
eral years ago because of a blunder by one of his KGB con-
tacts. They offered him a choice: either face prosecution or turn
double agent. Herrmann turned, supplied details about Soviet
communications methods and helped identify other KGB oper-
Boynton unveils Herrmann: A `sleeper' comes out of the cold
atives in the U.S-several of whom were quietly expelled last
year. FBI officials decided to bring Herrmann out of the cold
last fall, when the KGB ordered his 21-year-old son to return to
Moscow for advanced espionage training. Now, Herrmann and
his family will be relocated and given new identities. "He's a
very talented man," said FBI spokesman Homer Boynton.
"Quite possibly, he can find his way into the mainstream of
American life."
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000302630012-6