Another cover up.

• Author: Peters, Charles
• Position: Tilting at Windmills - Brief Article

Remember James J. Smith, the FBI agent who carried on a 20-year affair with a woman suspected of being a Chinese double agent? At Smith's behest, the FBI paid her $1.7 million to provide us with intelligence while she was using her trysts with him to lift confidential documents from his briefcase and copy them.

In May, he was allowed to plead guilty to a simple charge of having concealed the affair. This will enable him to avoid prison time and keep his pension. Why is he being treated so gently? The speculation is that the FBI wants to protect higher-ups who authorized the payment even though they knew about the affair. A "former...