Monday, March 23, 2009

The [Alleged] Spy That Got Away . . .


As Spy Meeting Looms, Suspect Still on Agenda
Ex-diplomat lives quietly in Triangle

By Anne Blythe - Staff writer, The News & Observer
Published: Sun, Mar. 22, 2009 06:04AM

Excerpt: Felix Bloch, the suspected spy never charged with espionage, used to draw a trail of federal agents and meddling media each time he stepped outside his posh apartment in Washington.

These days, the tall, bald, athletically built former diplomat lives in relative anonymity, driving a Chapel Hill bus in a town full of college students who were still in diapers when he was a prime suspect in one of the Cold War's last spy sagas.

Spy buffs have been fascinated with Bloch for years. In the late 1980s, he was the highest-ranking government official ever to be so publicly branded as a suspected spy for what was then the Soviet Union.

At the time, federal agents alleged that Bloch had passed a briefcase full of government secrets to a Soviet agent. Although agents went to a grand jury with their case, Bloch has never been formally charged.Sphere: Related Content

1 comment:

  1. From the State Department to bagging groceries. This may be a workable model if the day comes when the US gov't decides to downsize.

    ReplyDelete