Feds say former CIA analyst obtained items for op-eds on South Korea

A former CIA analyst charged with spying for South Korea in change for designer items enlisted her columnist husband to co-write propaganda articles for her alleged handlers, in accordance with federal court docket paperwork and social media.

Sue Mi Terry, 54, can also be a distinguished professional on North Korea, who has been in demand as a tallking head on MSNBC, CNN and Fox Information, giving her extensive entry to the internal workings of nationwide media organizations.

“I had entry to all the knowledge there was on North Korea,” she advised an interviewer in 2021.

As an analyst on each North and South Korea, Terry has lengthy been in demand and was typically accompanied by her mom in numerous TV community inexperienced rooms, in accordance with social media posts.

Terry additionally co-wrote a collection of opinion items printed within the Washington Put up with Max Boot, a historian, overseas coverage analyst and columnist for the newspaper — work which is now being scrutinized.

Like Terry, Boot, 54, can also be a member of the Council on Overseas Relations the place he’s a senior fellow.

Shortly after Manhattan federal prosecutors charged Terry with secretly working for South Korea, the Washington DC-based suppose tank centered on US overseas coverage took down her bio from its website.

The federal indictment, which was unsealed Tuesday, alleged that since 2013, Terry started assembly with an unidentified “handler”.

On a number of events the handler is claimed to have taken her for lavish dinners in Michelin-starred eating places in New York and Washington and purchased her Bottega Veneta and Louis Vuitton purses.

She was additionally allegedly supplied tens of hundreds of {dollars} to carry a “comfortable hour” in Washington final 12 months the place South Korean intelligence brokers attended alongside US officers, the indictment says.

“On the course of ROK (Republic of Korea) authorities officers, Terry advocated ROK coverage positions, together with in printed articles and through media appearances, disclosed nonpublic US authorities data to ROK intelligence officers, and facilitated entry for ROK authorities officers to US authorities officers,” the indictment alleges.

When approached by The Put up this week, Terry denied she was a overseas agent. When requested why she had been charged, she responded: “It would all be defined… My legal professionals are engaged on it,” and refused additional questions. Her attorneys haven’t returned additional requests for remark.

In November of 2013 Boot ended a divorce from Jeannette Boot, a lawyer, who was his first spouse and mom to his three grownup youngsters.

Jeanette had filed for divorce in New York State Supreme Court docket in Westchester County a 12 months earlier, in accordance with public data.

“He was very involved in regards to the divorce on the time as a result of he thought he may need to maneuver to Washington to work for Mitt Romney,” stated a supply who was near the Boots, referring to the Utah senator and former presidential candidate.

Three years after his divorce, Boot and Terry purchased a sprawling $1.8 million three-bedroom condo on the Higher West Aspect, public data present.

By that point, Terry had additionally divorced her first husband and father of her two sons, Man Vidra, public data present.

Vidra, works for a enterprise capital agency and was the short-lived CEO of the liberal writer New Republic, appointed in 2014. He left in April, 2016 following a workers revolt over his plans to make the journal extra business-friendly, in accordance with stories.

On Tuesday, Boot signed a $500,000 “look bond” utilizing the couple’s Manhattan residence as collateral to maintain his spouse out of jail till the start of her trial. Her subsequent court docket look is July 30.

Terry’s prosecution comes on the heels of the conviction of New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez this week. The Democrat was convicted on all 16 corruption and bribery costs, together with two costs of appearing as a overseas agent for Egypt and Qatar in violation of the Overseas Brokers’ Registration Act (FARA).

“The Division of Justice has turn out to be way more aggressive once they consider somebody is appearing as an unregistered agent,” stated Joshua Rosenstein, a Washington DC-based legal professional who makes a speciality of FARA compliance circumstances. He isn’t concerned within the Terry case.

In June, a federal appeals court docket rejected the Justice Division’s bid to pressure on line casino mogul and Republican donor Steve Wynn to register for briefly appearing as an agent of the Chinese language authorities.

Final 12 months, rapper and entrepreneur Prakazrel “Pras” Michel was convicted of appearing as a overseas agent for China. He’s interesting the conviction and the court docket is contemplating a brand new trial after his lawyer admitted to misconduct within the case.

In Terry’s case the important thing ingredient is that if she “willfully” acted as a overseas agent and didn’t register with the US Lawyer Basic’s workplace beneath FARA, in accordance with Rosenstein.

“The defendant has been reminded of FARA reporting necessities on a number of events,” the indictment reads, together with earlier than she testified earlier than Congress in 2016, 2017 and 2022. She additionally obtained coaching on FARA in connection along with her employment, the indictment says.

“If you’re engaged in any exercise on the request of the Korean authorities, which is meant to affect the US authorities or US public with respect to Korean authorities pursuits, corresponding to reaching out to People within the type of op-eds, and DOJ can show that you simply willfully ignored FARA guidelines, then the prosecution has a very good shot,” Rosenstein stated.

Rosenstein didn’t rule out the chance that prosecutors may difficulty superseding indictments within the case with respect to Boot’s co-authorship of the columns.

On March 7, 2023. Terry and Boot wrote an op-ed entitled, “South Korea takes a Courageous Step Towards Reconciliation with Japan”

The article echoed most of the factors that an unnamed South Korean authorities official had impressed upon Terry at a gathering, the indictment says.

That very same day Terry texted the ROK official, “‘Hope you appreciated the article,’ adopted by a hyperlink to the opinion piece,” court docket papers say.

The official praised Terry: “Thanks a lot on your zeal and endeavors! In fact we do. Really ambassador and Nationwide Safety Advisor had been so comfortable on your column.”

Requests for remark from Boot was not answered.

The Washington Put up stated in a press release it’s “dedicated to publishing unbiased journalism and is reviewing the indictment. We do not need additional remark.”

A couple of months later, in August 2023, the couple wrote one other column for the Washington Put up, praising South Korea and a summit convened at Camp David, by President Biden.

“Such a summit would have been unthinkable solely two years in the past. The first acclaim should go to the brave chief of South Korea and the pragmatic chief of Japan for shifting past historic grievances,” the couple wrote.

A couple of days later Terry posted photos on the Telluride Movie Pageant to advertise “Past Utopia,” a movie she produced about North Korea. So many individuals lined as much as see the documentary that the pageant granted one other screening, she posted on Sept. 4

And in Could of this 12 months, a column co-authored by the couple within the Washington Put up repeated the significance of a 2023 Camp David summit with the leaders of Japan and South Korea as “a breakthrough second when Biden introduced a ‘new period’ of partnership that may strengthen deterrence not solely towards North Korea but in addition China.”

The column went on to explain lunch with Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan at his official residence.

On her Fb web page Terry posted images of her keep at Tokyo’s luxurious Okura Lodge, together with one with a desk laden with small plates of fish, rice and different delicacies “Japanese breakfast time …certainly one of my favourite meals!”

Along with the Japan journey in Could, which additionally included a cease in Osaka, Terry chronicled a household journey to Egypt and a jaunt to the Sundance Movie Pageant in Utah in addition to a visit to Las Vegas for the Tremendous Bowl, the place she posted a snap with former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Editors on the Washington Put up added an explanatory be aware to the opinion items written by the couple.

“On July 16, a federal indictment was made public alleging that Sue Mi Terry had acted as an unregistered agent of the South Korean authorities starting in 2013,” the Washington Put up be aware reads.

“The indictment alleged that Terry co-authored this column on the request of a South Korean official. If true, that is data that may have been pertinent for The Put up’s publication determination.

“Ms.Terry has denied these costs and has asserted by counsel the allegations within the indictment are unfounded.”

It’s not the primary time that Boot didn’t disclose his shut relationship with certainly one of his topics. In 2012, a liberal watchdog group Media Issues discovered that columns written about Romney by Boot and others within the Wall Road Journal didn’t disclose they had been advisors to Romney’s marketing campaign.

“In a number of cases, the Journal didn’t disclose an op-ed author’s connection regardless of its personal information part reporting that the author is advising Romney,” the watchdog group stated. 

“With respect to 1 author, the Journal disclosed his ties to the marketing campaign in an preliminary op-ed however failed to take action in subsequent op-ed.”

Extra reporting by Jack Morphet