Illegals Program

Article summary

The Illegals Program (so named by the United States Department of Justice) was a network of Russian sleeper agents under unofficial cover. An investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) culminated in the arrest of ten agents on June 27, 2010, and a prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States on July 9, 2010. The arrested spies were Russian nationals who had been planted in the US by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (known by its Russian abbreviation, SVR), most of them using false identities. Posing as ordinary American citizens, they tried to build contacts with academics, industrialists, and policymakers to gain access to intelligence. They were the target of a multi-year investigation by the FBI. The investigation, called Operation Ghost Stories, culminated at the end of June 2010 with the arrest of ten people in the US and an eleventh in Cyprus. The ten sleeper agents were charged with "carrying out long-term, 'deep-cover' assignments in the United States on behalf of the Russian Federation." The suspect arrested in Cyprus skipped bail the day after his arrest. A twelfth person, a Russian national who worked for Microsoft, was also apprehended about the same time and deported on July 13, 2010.…

Key claims

1. date of birth: 2009 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. date of death: 2010-06-13 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
3. date of death: 1947 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
4. date of death: 2022 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
5. release date: 2010-09-20 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of birth is "2009". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the date of death is "2010-06-13". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. The record states that the date of death is "1947". What evidence would count against this claim?
5. The record states that the date of death is "2022". What evidence would count against this claim?
6. The record states that the release date is "2010-09-20". What evidence would count against this claim?
7. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
8. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1367939201