JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Curious Story of an American Arrested by the Kremlin” – Stratfor/ Scott Stewart
“Highlights
- Russia has arrested an American corporate security director, Paul Whelan, but he doesn’t have the profile befitting a non-official cover intelligence officer, even though there are elements in his background that would bring him to the attention of the Kremlin’s security services.
- Russian authorities arrested Whelan not long after Russian citizen Maria Butina pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to being an unregistered foreign agent, but it doesn’t appear that Moscow is seeking a prisoner swap.
- The Kremlin could try to hold Whelan to exchange him in the future for any ‘illegal’ Russian operative caught operating in the United States.”