Found Secret FBI Documents in Miller’s Bedroom, Agent Testifies

Former FBI Agent Richard W. Miller had secret FBI documents in his bedroom dresser the week before he became the only agent ever charged with espionage, according to trial testimony Monday.

FBI Agent Douglas Moke, who helped search Miller’s Lynwood home last fall, testified that he found a 12-page document titled, “Reporting Guidance: Foreign Intelligence Information,” and a one-page document called, “Development of Counterintelligence Awareness.”

Moke testified that both documents, which prosecutors claim Miller copied for convicted spy Svetlana Ogorodnikova, were classified as “secret” but for security reasons, he did not reveal their contents. The witness said he also found a list of FBI agents and their internal telephone extensions and squad assignments, which is not a classified document.

Earlier, jurors heard an audio tape made Sept. 26, 1984, on which Miller told Ogorodnikova the story of “Pygmalion.” The conversation occurred during a shopping trip designed to spruce Miller up for an alleged spying mission to Warsaw, prosecutors said.

The rambling conversation, recorded on a tape recorder hidden beneath the seat of Ogorodnikova’s car, was filled with traffic noise, but Miller could be heard asking Ogorodnikova for advice on how to act with the Soviet officials he was to meet.

Prosecutors claim that Miller and Ogorodnikova planned to fly to Vienna and then on to Warsaw on Oct. 9, 1984, so that Miller could pass secret government documents to the Soviet KGB. They say Miller gave Ogorodnikova at least one document and planned to give her more in exchange for a promised $65,000 in cash and gold.

Miller, 48, claims that he never intended to go through with the plan and never gave Ogorodnikova any intelligence information. He admits that he and Ogorodnikova were lovers but said he was using the petite blonde to salvage his teetering FBI career by infiltrating the KGB.

Miller was also heard telling Ogorodnikova on the tape that he wanted to make a good impression and that she should teach him some Russian.

“I’m worried about judgments,” Miller said. “He’s a very important man. You know a typical Russian more than I do. Is he a typical Russian? You’ll have to teach me.”

He also told her the story of “Pygmalion,” in which a London professor turns a street waif into a sophisticated and beautiful young woman on a bet, implying that Miller needed Ogorodnikova to make him over for the Soviets.

“It’s really a very funny story,” he said. “When she gets angry, though, she forgets everything she learned. What the story is really trying to say is that you can take someone and dress them up in fine clothes, but it’s difficult to make a rich person out of a poor person.”

A passport agent testified that Miller applied for a passport on Sept. 27, listing his occupation as “translator” and his destination as Mexico.

Isabelle Landy said Miller swore, as all passport applicants are required to, that all the statements on the application were true. She said she reminded Miller that he did not need a passport to travel to Mexico, but she could not recall his reply.

In cross-examination, defense attorneys implied that Miller was not trying to hide anything and pointed out that he listed his FBI telephone number on the application.