NEWSLINK: “It’s easier for Russia to recruit Americans today than it was during the Cold War; The spy game has changed, and is increasingly taking place in the daylight rather than in the shadows” – PoliticoEU/Alex Finley

“Mariia Butina wasn’t hiding. … The very brazenness of this makes some people doubt that it could really be part of an intelligence operation, especially one executed by Russia. After all, we’ve heard stories about Cold War KGB capers involving clandestine meetings and surreptitious missions. Back then, intelligence officers skulked quietly in government circles, hoping to use any number of leveraging tools to recruit diplomats and military and intelligence officials who could hand over their government’s top secrets. These recruited “assets” were people who, in intelligence parlance, “responded to tasking.” In other words, intelligence officials could “task” them to provide information on their government’s plans, intentions and capabilities. Secrecy throughout this process was paramount – the cost of an asset getting caught was simply too high.”