Top NYPD Cop Paul Browne Was Once Recruited By KGB

July 6, 2010 3:22 PM

By Celeste Katz

PAUL BROWNE

There were 1,249 recruits sworn as the NYPD police academy’s newest class, but it was another not-quite recruit for the KGB who was the talk of today's press conference, reports Erin Einhorn of our City Hall Bureau:

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said he indeed knew that his Deputy Commissioner for Public Information, Paul Browne, had once been approached to spy for the Soviet Union -- an very interesting aside, considering the blanket coverage of the Anya Chapman spy case...

“I’m very happy that he chose the right side,” Kelly quipped.

Browne later tried to downplay the news, saying, “There were few cloaks and no daggers,” but he offered this account to reporters:

“When I was in graduate school, I met somebody who turned out to be a Soviet KGB agent and, according to the FBI, he saw me as someone who would potentially go on into government and possibly journalism and be in position later on to be of use for the Soviets. He probably didn’t realize that the Soviet Union would collapse in the interim, but there you go. The Russians were in it for the long haul. They thought I had potential as somebody they could either turn ideaologically or blackmail by photographing me taking money.”

Asked for his memories of his interactions, Browne said:

“Well, the FBI provided documents, things that had looked like I was cooperating with them for a time to keep the arrangement going, and he introduced me to at least one other KGB agent and some principals in the UN who were, obviously, he was in contact with, some ranking member in the Soviets so I suppose it was useful in that way to the FBI to get a sense of how deep the penetration in the UN was, which was significant. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one approached. I was one of many, I’m sure.”

More after the jump...

"Don't Blab!"

Here’s the rest of the Q&A:

“Were you worried about that? Did you think somehow you could get tangled up and the next thing you know…”

“No. There were few cloaks and no daggers in my world.”

“What year was it?”

“It was 1974 - '73, '74, in there. A long time ago, but the Russians have long memories and they like to invest long-term - something our corporations should think of.”

And because I'll probably never have a chance to do this again, here's one of my oldie-but-goodie favorite songs by the band Kino, featuring the late, great Viktor Tsoi: