Manhattan, NY – NYPD Deputy Commissioner Once Recruited By KGB

Manhattan, NY – Ever since news broke that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had rounded up alleged Russian spies in New York City, the lingering question has been: What were they after with all their B-movie spycraft?

Paul Browne thinks he has a pretty good idea. Long before he had ascended to his position as a deputy New York City police commissioner, Mr. Browne had firsthand experience being recruited by a Russian agent—a Soviet spy betting a relationship with a small-town newspaper reporter would one day bear fruit.

The year was 1973, and Mr. Browne, then 24 years old, had taken a leave from his job as a political reporter at the Watertown Daily Times to get a master’s in journalism at Columbia University. As part of a class taught at the United Nations, he met and became friendly with Alex Yakovlev, a 32-year-old who broadcast U.N. news to Eastern Europe.

Mr. Yakovlev started wooing Mr. Browne over drinks and dinner. At one point, he offered Mr. Browne $30 to write a freelance article “on anything you wish.” At a subsequent dinner, Mr. Yakovlev questioned Mr. Browne about his teachers and asked if there were any foreign students in his class. He offered to pay Mr. Browne for notes he took in his class and for the names of any diplomats Mr. Browne quoted anonymously in stories he wrote for the course.

Mr. Yakovlev also asked Mr. Browne to pretend he didn’t know him if they saw each other in the U.N. building. In the future, Mr. Yakovlev said of their relationship, “when you work for a position at a big newspaper or a government position—maybe even your friends would use it against you.” That was enough for Mr. Browne. He called one of his teachers, who then called the dean, who recommended that the FBI get involved.

At his first meeting with Mr. Browne, federal agents produced pictures of Mr. Yakovlev and some of his associates and said they believed Mr. Yakovlev was attempting to recruit Mr. Browne to be an “agent of influence.” They were investing in Mr. Browne in hopes they could use the association to blackmail him later if he achieved an influential position. The FBI told Mr. Browne that Mr. Yakovlev was probably interested in him because his parents were born in Ireland, and the Russians believed people with parents born in foreign countries were not as loyal.

“Young and single, I was prepared to serve my country. But, sadly, I was the only cute redhead in the mix,” Mr. Browne joked.

At the behest of the FBI, Mr. Browne continued to meet with Mr. Yakovlev. Mr. Browne said he would, but that he wouldn’t take money from either the Russian or the FBI. The FBI produced the freelance article Mr. Yakovlev had suggested; it was about the reaction of suburban New Yorkers to the Watergate scandal.

When Mr. Browne gave Mr. Yakovlev the FBI’s story with his byline, the Russian was exceedingly pleased. He very obviously peeled off three $10 bills and slid the money across the table in plain view. Mr. Browne later turned the money over to FBI agents who told him he had most likely been photographed accepting the money.

Mr. Browne continued to meet with Mr. Yakovlev, drinking the most expensive beer and smoking stale Cuban cigars. Mr. Yakovlev talked about future writing assignments and asked Mr. Browne to attend Jewish Defense League meetings, which Mr. Browne refused to do. In November 1974, Mr. Yakovlev said he was headed back to the Soviet Union for a vacation. He called a few months later, saying he was back in New York City, and the two had lunch one final time.

In May 1975, Mr. Browne had graduated and headed back to Watertown. Mr. Yakovlev tried to call a few times after that, but Mr. Browne ignored his messages. He’d had enough of the spy game, but later that year he wrote about his recruitment for the Washington Post. In the piece, the young reporter couldn’t fathom why Mr. Yakovlev had picked him: “And what I still find most curious is the enormous amount of time and energy Yakovlev expended on our encounters.”

But 35 years later, it seems clearer. Since Columbia and Watertown, Mr. Browne has been chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Daniel P. Moynihan and for the Office of Enforcement of the Treasury Department, where he had top-secret clearance and sat in on daily federal law-enforcement briefings. Today, he is one of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly’s top policy strategists.

“At the time it made no sense to me,” Mr. Browne said about Mr. Yakovlev’s attempted recruitment. “But in retrospect, the Russians were in it for the long haul. Had I been turned, it would have paid dividends for them years later.”