DC couple accused of spying for Cuba

Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 2:39 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: Pete Williams

From NBC's Pete Williams

Federal officials say a Washington, D.C.-area couple has been arrested and accused of spying for Cuba.

Officials say both are former U.S. government employees -- he from the State Department, she as a Congressional aide.

One official says the spying went on for more than two decades.

We expect to learn more details later today when a federal indictment is unsealed. For now, officials will not disclose the names or any other details.

EMAIL THIS

Comments

I'm sure Cuba found tons of info that could destroy America's Parks and Recreation programs. I am assuming they got information to build a better merry go round.

Louis J (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 2:57 PM)

Domenico, if they have'nt posted any Names yet, then what is the Sense in You Posting this thread?

Rick,Ky (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 2:58 PM)

Spying for Cuba? For what? So they can use their vast industrial might to build weapons to use against us? Looking for military weaknesses so they can use their large population to invade us?

Chris - IL (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:03 PM)

This is a non story until we have more facts, names, where they worked etc.

eagle1776 (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:04 PM)

For all the good it did Cuba. I hope this couple fleeced them good. LoL

Anna Molly (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:04 PM)

Alan, NJ (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 2:30 PM)

You 'amaze' me (not a compliment). Are you a professional 'spin meister'? Or is this just a hobby for you?

I was wondering when we would see the first, "Economy turned around on its own" comment. Bush wrecked it, Obama's trying to fix it.

Bush's stimulus was larger in dollar amount than Obama's. Bush's WAR budget was OFF THE BOOKS. The end of the error was 1-20-09. But do spin away - look at all the miles your bike is racking up. You'll be due for a new one soon. Further stimulating the economy - single handedly, no doubt.
^^^^^^^^
PS. Feistmeister, I would love to stay up all night chatting with Lawrence O, Paul Begala or Keith Olbermann. With Keith O - I would get the added bonus of the sports angle; which would make me VERY happy!

Clara Kansas City, MO (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:06 PM)

Rick, KY - I think we all need to know when our government's been breached, plus - this isn't going to set well with the recent 'outreach' to Cuba. I think Raul has some 'splaining to do.

Clara Kansas City, MO (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:07 PM)

Let's see how their treatment compares with the two AIPAC lobbyists who were spying for Israel

Richard, Washington State: '...MSierra:

I think acting in our own self-interest has been, on balance, decisively on the side of "more good" in the world.

I'm also guessing that acting in your own self-interest has been decisively on the side of more good in your own world as well....'

i won't argue that balance of good and bad
Clearly, it's been good for Europe, but Bad for the Palestinians

What I'm saying is that there's a pretense that we're doing it to help others
It's really OUR SELF INTEREST were looking after
Often the results are good

B, La.: '...Msierra-
I don't beleive that is always true. Why did we intervene in Bosnia and Kosovo? What interest did that serve for the US?...'

You may be right, in that case
I think we opposed 'evil' in Bosnia and Kosovo

I'm just syaing it's not USUALLY the Case
And, usually we get unintended consequences
(i.e.e the rise of Iranian influence by intervening in Iraq)

MSierra, SF (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:11 PM)

They spied for more than two decades. But, they were discovered on Obama's watch, so the GOP will find a way to blame it on him, I am sure.

Watch and see! (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:22 PM)

Micheal Steele's reaction: It's Obama's fault for palling around with Chavez and Cuban terrorists.

Cjake (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:24 PM)

Clara, from your post you seem to think I approved of what George W Bush has done to the economy. I don't, and never did. He is still the only lunatic I know of who thought you could cut taxes and prosecute two wars.

On the Obama stimulus I don't understand what you think I'm spinning. VP Biden came out today and said the president will be making a speech on Monday aimed at speeding up the stimulus. So from that, unless I'm spinning, he does not think it is having the desired effect yet. And no, as I already said, I think the jury is out on whether the economy has turned. I was using other posters comments in support of the stimulus to show that they were actually contradicting themselves.

Finally, if Bush's stimulus was bigger and it did not have the desired effect then the current smaller stimulus is unlikely to succeed.

Alan, NJ (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:39 PM)

I think the US should turn them loose,that is what the US has been telling North Korea and Iran,oh I forgot, the Us is the only country that is suppose to spy on other countries nd the US and Israel are the only countries that are suppose to have WMD'd.

John Nettles (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:41 PM)

" think the US should turn them loose,that is what the US has been telling North Korea and Iran,oh I forgot, the Us is the only country that is suppose to spy on other countries nd the US and Israel are the only countries that are suppose to have WMD'd. "

Really, you honestly believe the two girls being held in North Korea are spys? You cannot possibly believe that. All three held were reporters, not spys and it is sad that you believe Iran and North Korea more than your own country.

Julie, Palm Desert, CA (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:47 PM)

I guess we're going to have just drive off the cliff in order to convince the Obama cheerleaders that what he's doing just isn't good for the economy, or the country.

With inflation coming, I'll be buying some real estate as a hedge. Let us know Obama fanatics, let us know how much you $10/gallon gas and $5 loaves of bread.

Stella Pearson (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:48 PM)

Cuban communist spies are all over the place. Remember that traitor Ana Belen Montes? Has anyone check on that commie loving NY Times reporter who was promoted to working in the Pentagon? I am sure that she is getting all kind of information that our enemies would love to get there filthy hands on.

Henry Ag. (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:49 PM)

They spied for more than two decades. But, they were discovered on Obama's watch, so the GOP will find a way to blame it on him, I am sure.

Watch and see!

Why would anyone need spys against us? Obama is releasing documents on our interrogation techniques already, and I'm sure there are more to come. Anything else to make the Republicans look bad will be released soon enough.

Spy vs. Spy (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:52 PM)

Cuba is trying to figure out how to elect a nitwit to be President. They found out how with Obama. You just need a mass media that falls in love with some guy.

Media Matters (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:59 PM)

A Voice from Michigan: '...MSierra, SF: I agree with your statement that all nations act in their own perceived self interests.
I will try to make this point, though. After World War II, when we applied the Marshall Plan to a destroyed world economy, we aided our allies AND our enemies. I agree that this was in OUR self interest, but it had the added benefit of creating untold good will throughout the world. Even in a corporation, good will counts as a monetary benefit worth XX number of dollars. ..'

Voice, you're absolutely RIGHT
The Marshall Plan was 'Enlightened Self Interest'
It worked masterfully

But, the impetus behind the Marshall Plan was a fear that Western Europe might go Communist
Enlightened self interest raised European living standards and got us more customers for our products AND made capitlaism seem far superior to Communism
A Hat trick

Lately, much of our foreign policy seems to depend on 'smart bombs' and missiles

'...And how smart was Dwight Eisenhower to spend money on a national highway system and Truman to spend money on college for our returning veterans...'

Both GREAT Ideas
I wish Obama had put more money into Infrastructure
\But, I think Infrastructure projects take so long to get started

'...How smart is President Obama to spend money on updating our infrastructure (there is real national safety)and send as many youngsters as possible to college (there is real global competiveness) In my opinion, VERY...'

AMEN !!

MSierra, SF (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:59 PM)

Anna Molly (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:00 PM)

Holy Crap!! Well I hope our secret plans on how to more slowly turn a country communist are safe.

Dave, Tn (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:01 PM)

John Nettles,

There is a bit of difference.

In Iran, they just grab any american and say they are spies. Iran has done this multiple times, usually right when there is some pressure being applied to the leadership (either internally or internationally).

North Korean case is different. They grabbed reporter who were in their country illegally. While many politicans seem to support the illegal entering into our country, a nation has the right to stop that. These reporter are more likely overzealous and trying to "scoop" a story than spies. So charging them as spies is overmuch, but the reporters are not blameless either.

As for the WMD issue, we do not want any country to have them. We especially do not want them spread to countries that are known to support terrorists or that sell weaponry on the blackmarket. I wonder why we might react more to Iran and North Korea having nukes? Hmmm. The whole Mutually Assured Destruction philosophy has worked when both enemies were rational. Even then there were some close calls. How will it work with with irrational enemies? Best would be for no WMD to exist. But if they already exist, let's leave them out of the hands of the temper tantrum throwing children.

A Voice (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:03 PM)

"...Taking these two statements together makes clear that the stimulus is not responsible for the "less than expected" unemployment number. It has not had time to have an effect yet. It seems that the economy is beginning to improve on it's own..." Alan, NJ (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 2:30 PM)
----------
My apologies, I jumped on the statement that JUMPED out at me - Where you say, "...the economy is beginning to improve on it's own..."

I think that is malarkey - if we had done nothing - the crater would have been significantly deeper and longer lasting. Part of what government provides is Psychological. When people feel like someone is minding the store - they are more confident. Consumer confidence is a leading indicator of more than just 'status quo'.

I think few are arguing that Bush&Co 'took a knee' on November 6th (some would say the 3rd quarter of this metaphoric game). They basically coasted to January 20th praying like hell the asteroids were "miles away". Well okay, they didn't 'coast', I think they were busy shredding documents, erasing hard drives and essentially "helping" with the transition.

I do apologize for getting snarky with you. That was unnecessary. Have a great weekend.

Clara Kansas City, MO (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:21 PM)

Cuba is trying to figure out how to elect a nitwit to be President.
Media Matters (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:59 PM)

Cool! George W Bush is going to run for President of Cuba? That should insure they will be even more screwed up than they already are!

President Fidel Bush (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:21 PM)

Alan ~ The problem with your argument is that you are buying what Mark Murray said about what the current unemployment numbers represent. Jobs numbers are not trending upwards, they are still trending downward, just more slowly. This hardly shows that recovery is occurring without stimulus; instead, it shows only that the stimulus has not yet kicked in enough to overcome the damage still flowing from the previous administration's now proven worthless policies.
Anna Molly

Or, that the stimulus is not stimulating anything. When you drill down into these numbers, and start looking at other news on the economy, you start to get get a little uneasy. 1 in 7 households in the country collect some kind of welfare from the government. That is not sustainable, not in any free market society. Housing starts are better, but still bad. No need to talk about car sales, worst ever. Other news shows that states budgets gaps will be about 20% MORE next year then this year. Not surprising - 1 in 7 households are on welfare.

So you can't use the tired excuse that the 'stimulus hasn't kicked in yet'. It's done what it's going to do, and it didn't get the job done.

Hank T., Memphis (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:22 PM)

Not that some people won't use it as a talking point anyway (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:22 PM)

Has it occurred to any of you geniuses that classified info obtained by Cuba could be sold or traded to any country Cuba needs a favor from? No, of course it hasn't. Short of that, it aids Cuba in negotiations with the U.S. to know what we're really thinking -- what we'll settle for in return for what.

jh, nyc (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:25 PM)

Cuba is trying to figure out how to elect a nitwit to be President. They found out how with Obama. You just need a mass media that falls in love with some guy.
Media Matters (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 3:59 PM)
________

I am so tired of people saying Obama was elected because of the media. Of course, from a GOP standpoint, it makes sense. After all, isn't it better for your party to say "the media did this" instead of "we ran an incredibly weak campaign with an incredibly weak candidate and have no ideas left"?

If the liberal media were so all fired powerful in getting a president elected, how come between 1980 and 2008, the GOP held the White House for 20 of those 28 years? Why wasn't the liberal media successful in 1980, 1984, 1988, 2000, 2004?

See, no one can ever answer that, because to do so would ruin yet another talking point. The bottom line is, either the liberal media is powerful enough to get every candidate elected that it wants to, or it has no authority at all. You cannot cherry pick which elections the liberal media wins. It doesn't work that way.

Now, anyone who cares to explain why the liberal media couldn't get someone elected in 1980, 1984, 1988, 2000 or 2004?

Yeah, didn't think so..... (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:26 PM)

Julie,Palm Desert.I was always taught that wrong is wrong regardles of who did it.
No politicians in Korea nor Iran has ever lied to me,I cannot say that the politicians of this country have not lied to me ,remember WMD'd,remember we do not torture.

John Nettles (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:31 PM)

Do the Republicans want to play this tune? (See below)

President Barack Obama's pick to be the top intelligence chief at the Homeland Security Department withdrew from consideration Friday after questions were raised about his role in the CIA's interrogations of terrorism suspects.

Philip Mudd was scheduled next week to face senators considering his nomination as undersecretary of intelligence and analysis at Homeland Security.

On Thursday, Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Mudd's ties to the program would be investigated during the confirmation hearing.

Mudd notified the White House on Friday that he was withdrawing his name because he did not want to be a distraction.

Sub Sailor (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:37 PM)

>>>One official says the spying went on for more than two decades.
==========
For anyone keeping score, that covers Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II.

Any bets on who the little bouncy bouncy man is going to blame?

http://jawillie.blog.com

jawillie, Philadelphia, PA. (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:37 PM)

Yeah, didn't think so. . .:

Just because they were failures so many times doesn't mean they weren't trying.

Richard, Washington State (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:45 PM)

Alan J. The only thing I disagree with in your latest comment is the part about Bush's larger stimulus not working so the smaller one might not either. The problem with Bush's was that it was in the form of a one-time tax rebate which did nothing to stimulate the economy; people didn't spend it plus the states and our country reaped no benefit from that huge expenditure, nothing tangible. To have borrowed that much money with no benefit was a waste. Money spent building and repairing things has a better chance at impacting the economy by providing jobs. Pres Obama's biggest focus was on infrastructure; too bad the democrats caved and allowed the republicans to weaken it by eliminating things that might have had a greater impact. We must keep in mind that much of the country is just now seeing decent weather for construction to begin.

Jody, Iowa (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:46 PM)

>> If the liberal media were so all fired powerful in getting a president elected, how come between 1980 and 2008, the GOP held the White House for 20 of those 28 years? <<

Because the Democrats were that freaking bad!! Even their bowing media couldn't get them elected. We're seeing the same thing today, with the Democrats, being so bad.

History Repeats (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:47 PM)

One official says the spying went on for more than two decades.

=================

Those a$$holes must have stolen the wrong test!

Donald "Boon" Schoenstein, Delta House (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:54 PM)

Yeah, didn't think so. . .:

Just because they were failures so many times doesn't mean they weren't trying.
Richard, Washington State (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 4:45 PM)
=====================================================

The even larger problem with the 'liberal media' argument is the fact that most of the media (notice I did not say all) is owned by very conservative owners and corporations. Everyone needs to read 'What Liberal Media?' by Eric Altman (I think that title is right and I think that is the author, don't have the book at hand but they are at least close).

Wait a minute, those pesky facts just won't get in the way of the right wing talking points . . . never mind.

Matthew, Houston, TX (Sent Friday, June 05, 2009 5:23 PM)

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