Description

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Brings to light the long history of spies posing as journalists in Washington.

Covert intelligence gathering, propaganda, fake news stories, dirty tricks--these tools of spy craft have been used for seven decades by agents hiding in plain sight in Washington's National Press Building. This revealing book tells the story of espionage conducted by both US and foreign intelligence operatives just blocks from the White House. Journalist Steven T. Usdin details how spies for Nazi Germany, imperial Japan, the Soviet Union, and the CIA have operated from the offices, corridors, and bars of this well-known press center to collect military, political, and commercial secrets.

As the author's extensive research shows, efforts to influence American elections by foreign governments are nothing new, and WikiLeaks is not the first antisecrecy group to dump huge quantities of classified data into the public domain. Among other cases, the book documents the work of a journalist who created a secret intelligence organization that reported directly to President Franklin Roosevelt and two generations of Soviet spies who operated undercover as TASS reporters and ran circles around the FBI. The author also reveals the important roles played by journalists in the Cuban missile crisis, and presents information about a spy involved in the Watergate break-in who had earlier spied on Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater for then-President Lyndon Johnson.

Based on interviews with retired CIA, NSA, FBI, and KGB officers, as well as declassified and leaked intelligence documents, this fascinating historical narrative shows how the worlds of journalism and intelligence sometimes overlap and highlights the ethical quandaries that espionage invariably creates.

About the Author

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Steven T. Usdin is the author of Engineering Communism: How Two Americans Spied for Stalin and Founded the Soviet Silicon Valley. He has written extensively about Cold War espionage, and has been invited to present papers to and participate on panels about espionage issues organized by the National Security Agency, Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, the National Archives, International Spy Museum, and other organizations. Usdin is the Washington editor of BioCentury. His reporting focuses on the intersection of public policy and biomedicine. He has lived and worked in Japan, Italy, Britain, and Hong Kong, and has traveled extensively in Russia and the former Soviet Union, Turkey, and Central and South America.

Praise For…

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“For decades, spies have been busily at work plying their trade just a few blocks from the White House. In his richly documented new book, respected journalist Steve Usdin reveals the cloak-and-dagger exploits by outliers of his profession—Russians, Brits, Germans, French, Japanese, and Americans—who operated from the convenient cover of the National Press Building. Packed with eye-popping tradecraft of spy vs. spy gambits, Bureau of Spies is a must read!”
 
—Richard Ben-Veniste, DC Lawyer, CNN legal analyst, former Watergate prosecutor, and member of the 9/11 Commission

"A remarkable journey into the exciting world of espionage and journalism.  Beautifully written and extensively researched, Usdin casts a wide net and masterfully weaves many intriguing historical accounts of professional journalists who worked as spies and professional spies who worked as journalists during some of the major crises and events of the twentieth century.  Each case he covers is a fascinating read and results in an extremely enjoyable and important book.”

—Jeffrey D. Simon, PhD, author of Lone Wolf Terrorism: Understanding the Growing Threat

“A fascinating, meticulously researched study of Cold War–espionage and the manipulation of fake news by intelligence agencies on both sides.”
 
—Nigel West, intelligence historian

“A fascinating examination of the role journalists have played in the games of espionage over the last century is brought to life in this enlightening new work.”

—Mark Zaid, Washington, DC, national security attorney

“As historian of the National Press Club, I am well aware of the historic events that have happened there since the Club’s founding in 1908. But I was astounded by Steve Usdin’s account of the intrigue boiling just below the surface at the National Press Building from the time it opened in 1927. In journalism school, students are warned not to become embroiled in spying for the government, but as Usdin recounts here, that has not stopped pseudojournalists and even a couple of real ones from taking advantage of a building filled with reporters and columnists from around the world. And who knew that the British engaged in fake news and meddled in US elections before World War II? It all must have made interesting whispers in the Club’s famed bar. This is a great tale, and I highly recommend it.”

—Gil Klein, former National Press Club President, chair of the Press Club’s History and Heritage Committee, editor of Reliable Sources: 100 Years at the National Press Club, and author of Trouble in Lafayette Square: Assassination, Protest and Murder at the White House

“With the study centered around the National Press Building, not only does Bureau of Spies discuss in great detail Soviet efforts to influence American journalists, but it also examines the efforts of both British intelligence and FDR to undermine the ‘America First’ movement that opposed US entry into the struggle against Nazi Germany during the Second World War. The book likewise discusses efforts of the American Liberty League to propagandize for an end to Prohibition, not just for the freedom to drink but also to reduce income taxes for the wealthy once the sales tax on alcohol began to evaporate, thereby creating a deep federal budget deficit. The book reveals how methods of media manipulation and ‘fake news,’ both before and during the Cold War, compare and contrast with today’s higher-tech methods. Well worth reading, Bureau of Spies is a real tour de force that provides historical background for all concerned with the present dangers confronting liberty and accuracy of the press.”
 
—Hall Gardner, author of World War Trump