A Look Back At The Notorious Spy And Traitor John Walker: The Quiet Death Of America's Worst Spy

Mark Ambinder at theweek.com offers a look back at John Walker.

Chief Warrant Officer John A. Walker, who died in federal prison late last month at the age of 77, was the most consequential spy in American history. Over the course of seven years, from 1967 to 1975, he turned over some of the country’s most significant military secrets to the Soviet Union. When he retired, his friend, Jerry Whitworth, continued where he left off. Walker was arrested in 1985. His wife Barbara turned him in.

 

Walker’s motive was money. He spent lots on prostitutes and lots more to try and keep his wife happy. When a woman looked at him crossways, a fellow sailor said, "he would unzip his breeches" in a heartbeat. He was unhappy and erratic, except on his binges. His friends knew this; the Navy did not. Walker was nearing bankruptcy and his most valuable asset was his security clearance: TOP SECRET, with access to cryptologic material. Officially, he volunteered himself to the Soviet Embassy in Washington, walking in under the nose of the FBI, which monitored every movement in and out of the 16^th Street complex. (His spying may actually have begun earlier.)

 

But when he did show up in Washington, he brought sample documents, including schematics of advanced submarine systems and diagrams of rotor wire settings for an encryption machine called the KL-47, which protected the U.S. Navy’s most sensitive traffic. The KGB resident at the time, Boris Solomatin, knew at once that he was a genuine walk-in. When Solomatin, against all protocol, introduced himself immediately, Walker "didn't say anything about his love for communism or for the Soviet Union. And because of that, he showed himself to me to be a decent man because as a rule, the people who want only money always try to camouflage their real desire. They try to act as if they are ideologically close to us. But Walker did not,” he told author Pete Earley.  

 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

 

http://theweek.com/article/index/268744/the-quiet-death-of-americas-worst-spy

 

 

You can also read my Greathistory.com piece on John Walker via the below links:

 

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/04/john-walker-notorious-navy-spy.html

 

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/04/greathistory.html 

Notorious Cold War Spy John Walker Dies In Prison

Denise M. Watson at the Virginian-Pilot offers a piece on the death of Cold War spy John Walker.

John A. Walker Jr, the mastermind who for years operated one of America’s most devastating spy rings out of Norfolk, has died.

Walker, 77, was fewer than nine months away from his expected release from federal prison in Butner, N.C. He had been sentenced in 1986 to two life terms, plus 10 years, but his actual prison stay was to have been much shorter because of federal parole guidelines at the time.

He died Thursday, according to prison officials. He had suffered health issues in recent years, including throat cancer.

For 18 years, Walker sold U.S. secrets to the Soviets, both as a cryptologist in the Navy and after he retired. He eventually enlisted espionage help from his brother Arthur; his son, Michael; and a Navy friend, Jerry Whitworth. Arthur Walker died last month.

The security breach was considered one of the biggest in the nation’s history.

Robert Hunter, the FBI agent who arrested John Walker, described the ring’s leader as one of the most treacherous men he’d ever met.

“I think the man was pure evil,” said Hunter, who is retired and living in Virginia Beach.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/08/spy-ring-mastermind-john-walker-dies-nc-prison

You can also read my GreatHistory.com On Espionage column on John Walker via the below links:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/04/john-walker-notorious-navy-spy.html

http://greathistory.com/john-walker-notorious-spy-part-ii.htm

Note: The above photo of John Walker was provided by the FBI.