“Some former officials who reviewed the evidence described the case against Mr. Lee as strong but circumstantial, not bulletproof. Some at the C.I.A. argued that officials were too quick to suspect a mole — especially a Chinese-American — when there were other explanations.” New York Times “Fake news is a sign of intolerant and hypersensitive attitudes, and leads only to the spread of arrogance and hatred. That is the end result of untruth. (…) This false but believable news is ‘captious’, inasmuch as it grasps people’s attention by appealing to stereotypes and common social prejudices and exploiting instantaneous emotions like anxiety, contempt, anger and frustration.” Pope Francis — January 24 2018

Several media have reported that former CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee has been charged for allegedly helping the Chinese government dismantle a US spy network. This information is simply not correct. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

The ‘Independent’ reported that:

“Jerry Chun Shing Lee has been charged for allegedly helping the Chinese government dismantle a US spy network after being asked by two Chinese intelligence officers in 2010 and 2011 to trade information for money. He lived in Hong Kong at the time. Mr Lee’s actions allegedly led to the imprisonment or killing of more than a dozen Chinese nationals who were helping the US, which the New York Times reported in January was one of the most devastating intelligence setbacks for the agency in recent decades”.

The website ‘IntelNews’ claims that US government prosecutors confirm CIA officer passed information to China.

“A case officer in the United States Central Intelligence Agency, who was arrested in January of this year for violating the Espionage Act, shared classified information with China, according to an official indictment.”

These information are incorrect. The indictment does not charge Mr Lee with such crime. The US prosecutors do not accuse Mr Lee of passing classified information to Chinese Intelligence officers. Instead, they say he had the intention to do so. That is a big difference. In fact, the indictment does not address at all any effects of Mr Lee’s alleged espionage.

Intel Today reached a former FBI agent and a retired CIA officer. Both agree with our analysis.

As the former FBI agent explains:

“The indictment never explicitly says that Lee passed the materials. He is charged with possessing and conspiracy to pass these documents. I did not see an overt act [in the indictment] of passing the document only in keeping, preparing and “conspiring” to pass the data.”

Whether or not, Lee passed such information to the Chinese Intel officers is of course a different question. We do not know the answer. Why not? Perhaps because Lee did not commit that crime. Perhaps because the FBI has no evidence against him for this transfer of documents. We simply do not know.

What is however certain is that Lee is NOT charged with such a crime. FULL STOP.

It is wrong for journalists to claim otherwise. And it speaks volumes that these journalists have not yet corrected this mistake more than two days after it was clearly explained to them. This is nothing short of disinformation.

Is it Possible?

Is there a possibility that Lee passed the information to the Chinese IOs? Of course! This possibility cannot be ruled out at this point.

The retired CIA officer I contacted told me that “there is a consensus at the Agency is that Lee betrayed all of our Chinese assets.” But, “the problem is they didn’t catch him in the act passing secrets,” he added.

Information classified at the ‘Secret’ level

According to a DOJ Press Release (dated , Lee has admitted preparing a document containing secret information in response to taskings from Chinese Intelligence officers.

“Agents also found a thumb drive on which was stored a document later determined to contain information classified at the Secret level. During voluntary interviews with the FBI, Lee admitted preparing the document in response to taskings from the IO.”

Let us be clear about another thing. This information is certainly NOT about the CIA assets in China.

I would like to believe that any information regarding these assets would be classified at a higher level than ‘Secret’.

“I too would believe the identity of covert sources would be classified above the secret level. Our government does tend to over classify anyway,” the former FBI agent told me.

REFERENCES

Former CIA official charged with helping China dismantle US spy network that left ‘more than a dozen informants dead’ — Independent

US government prosecutors confirm CIA officer passed information to China — IntelNews

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Fake News — The Case Against Former CIA Officer Jerry Lee