Comments From Agent ‘Uncle Sasha’ Not Disclosed : U.S. Spoke to KGB Man Tied to Lonetree

QUANTICO, Va. — U.S. officials have “discussed certain matters” with a man identified as a KGB operative involved in attempts to compromise the security of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, prosecutors in the espionage trial of Marine Sgt. Clayton J. Lonetree disclosed Thursday.

The extent and content of the discussions with the Soviet operative were not divulged by the prosecutors, but a lawyer for the former embassy security guard said the talks “will show Sgt. Lonetree did not turn over anything of value to the Soviet Union.”

The discussions were disclosed during the second day of Lonetree’s court-martial as lawyers for the former Moscow embassy guard pressed motions to force prosecutors to turn over relevant documents under the legal process known as discovery.

Power Failure

The proceedings at Quantico, a Marine base south of Washington, were suspended Thursday afternoon when a power failure darkened the courtroom and left it without air conditioning in sweltering 100-degree heat. They are scheduled to resume today.

Lonetree is charged with 13 counts of espionage, disclosure of the identity of U.S. intelligence agents and violation of military regulations by having an affair with a Russian woman believed to be an intelligence agent. His links with the Soviet operative, known as “Uncle Sasha,” have been a key element in the case.

Michael Stuhff, one of Lonetree’s lawyers, told the presiding judge that the defense recently learned that the State Department had had “contact and conversations . . . over some period of time” with Sasha, who had been identified earlier in court documents as Alexei Yefimov, a KGB operative. Stuhff asked for access to any statements made by Sasha.

‘No Written Statement’

The chief military prosecutor, Marine Maj. David Beck, told the judge that he had learned recently that “State Department representatives had discussed certain matters with Sasha.” He sai1679848552from Sasha” but that a government witness will testify about the discussions with the Soviet operative.

Although the circumstances surrounding the reported State Department contacts with Sasha are not known, official discussions of any kind with a KGB operative in relation to a criminal investigation would be extremely unusual. Sasha is believed to be still in the Soviet Union, but it is not known whether he was reached by phone or was met face to face.

According to previously filed government documents, investigators contend that Lonetree was introduced to Sasha by Violetta Seina, an attractive Russian woman who worked at the embassy as a translator and with whom Lonetree was having an affair. Sasha then persuaded Lonetree to provide sensitive information, the investigators assert.

‘Innocent Intent’

Stuhff said testimony about U.S. contacts with Sasha will help to prove that Lonetree “did not try to compromise the security of the United States.” Talking with reporters outside the courtroom, the lawyer said his client was “foolish but had innocent intent.” Stuhff has contended that Lonetree developed contacts with the Soviets because he had fantasies of being a counterintelligence agent.

At the State Department, a spokesman declined to comment on the disclosures during the Quantico proceedings, saying only: “We don’t talk about intelligence matters.”

Another department official usually well informed on such matters said he knew nothing about U.S. contacts with a Soviet operative. “If it was in the intelligence field, I could see why people wouldn’t want to say anything about it,” this official said.

The responses indicated that any such contacts may have been made by representatives of U.S. intelligence agencies, such as the Central Intelligence Agency, perhaps during urgent efforts to determine the extent of U.S. intelligence losses in the Moscow embassy spy scandal.

Before the Quantico proceedings were suspended Thursday, the judge rejected a motion by defense lawyers to have Lonetree released on bail. But the judge, Navy Capt. Philip F. Roberts, left open the possibility that he would order an easing of Lonetree’s incarceration. Lawyers for the Marine said he is being held in solitary confinement.