The Russian Spies

Dec. 14, 2009 — -- A Russian sex tape purportedly showing an American diplomat having sex with a prostitute revealed a new twist on an old Cold War spy game.

American officials accused the Russian intelligence agency that replaced the KGB, the Federal Security Service, of producing the tape in an attempt to smear or recruit Brendan Kyle Hatcher, a 34-year-old married State Department employee who serves as a liaison to religious and human rights groups in Russia.

The tape, which was released on a Russian Web site, showed a montage of clips featuring real surveillance footage of Hatcher that appeared to be cut together with video that American officials claim was doctored.

In one of the most disturbing scenes, hidden camera footage shows Hatcher in a hotel room lying on his bed in only his underwear. The video then cuts to the same room with the lights out where a man and woman are seemingly having sex. Hatcher denied the man in the scene of the darkened room was him.

Intelligence experts say the incident revealed a new heavy-handed twist on an old cold war tactic called the "honey-trap" -- Russian intelligence attempts to extort a diplomat with sex for extortion or recruitment.

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