FBI Director Christopher Wray this week warned that the threat of Russian counterintelligence "continues to loom large" in the United States, according to CNN.
"The Russian traditional counterintelligence threat continues to loom large," Wray said at the Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. "The Russian intelligence footprint, and by that I mean intelligence officers, is still way too big in the United States and something we are constantly bumping up against and trying to block and prevent and disrupt in every way we can."
He added, "I will say that, over the last several years, the U.S. has made positive significant strides in reducing the size of the Russian intelligence officer footprint in the United States, kicking them out, in effect."
Wray noted that Russia is currently using "cut-outs," or intermediaries between intelligence agents such as Mexican national Hector Alejandro Cabrera Fuentes, who is serving a federal prison sentence for spying on behalf of Russia.
CNN reported that the U.S. previously expelled 60 Russian diplomats who had been identified as intelligence agents and ordered the Russian consulate in Seattle to close following the alleged use of nerve gas to poison a former Russian spy who had immigrated to the United Kingdom.
Wray said on Thursday: "If anybody needs a reminder of what Russia's interests are, you can just look at what's going on in Ukraine. And so, we never lose sight of the fact that these are the same people that are involved in unconscionable activity and aggression in Ukraine."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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