Prosecutors say former CIA case officer Kevin Mallory betrayed his country, by giving a Chinese spy information about human assets and other top-secret inf
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA – Prosecutors say former CIA case officer Kevin Mallory betrayed his country, by giving a Chinese spy information about human assets and other top-secret information in exchange for $25,000.
But defense lawyers say their client is a loyal American who was merely stringing the Chinese along to try to get them to expose details of their own intelligence operation.
A jury heard opening statements Wednesday in the trial of Mallory, 60, of Leesburg, who was investigated after returning from Shanghai with more than $16,000 in undeclared cash while working as a self-employed consultant.
Defense attorney Geremy Kamens said Mallory had grown suspicious about a Chinese think tank’s job offer and hatched a plan to feed them phony documents. He told people at the CIA, but prosecutors said that was just to cover his tracks.
Prosecutor Jennifer Gellie told jurors that Mallory’s scheme unraveled when he was selected for secondary screening at O’Hare Airport in April 2017 on a flight back from Shanghai with his son. There customs agents found $16,500 in unreported cash, and they questioned Mallory about the nature of his trip. The customs agents allowed Mallory entry after assessing a $188 tariff on some electronics Mallory said he had purchased. But Gellie said the encounter prompted Mallory to reach out to some old CIA contacts to concoct a cover story for his espionage.
Gellie said Mallory agreed in May 2017 to be questioned about his contacts, and that he was caught off guard during that interview when text conversations between Mallory and the Chinese recruiter were found on a Samsung phone given to him by the Chinese.
