L.A. FBI Chief Testifies He Grilled Miller

Fired FBI agent Richard W. Miller confessed on the night of his arrest that he had passed a classified document to his lover, a Soviet spy, the chief of the Los Angeles FBI office testified Friday.

“I asked him how he could justify passing that kind of information to a Soviet agent,” said Richard T. Bretzing. “Mr. Miller remained silent. He did not answer.”

Bretzing was the sixth witness to tell of confessions on Oct. 2, 1984, by Miller, the only FBI agent ever charged with espionage.

He said the 48-year-old Miller also acknowledged he had given his FBI credentials to Svetlana Ogorodnikov to take to the Soviet consulate in San Francisco in the summer of 1984.

“He advised that he had indeed provided her with his FBI credentials in order for her to establish her credibility with her Soviet contacts,” Bretzing said.

$65,000 in Cash, Gold

Miller is accused of conspiring to pass secret documents to the Soviet Union for $65,000 in cash and gold. He could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. Mrs. Ogorodnikov and her husband, Nikolay, pleaded guilty in the middle of their earlier espionage trial and have received prison terms.

Bretzing, who like Miller is a Mormon, said under questioning by U.S. Atty. Robert Bonner that he became involved personally in Miller’s interrogation after he was told Miller had been less than candid during intensive questioning in the days before his arrest.

“I said perhaps I could personally appeal to Mr. Miller and tell him he needed to be truthful and tell us what damage had been done,” he recalled.

Religious Tie Cited

He said he called Miller to his office the night of Sept. 29 for a meeting. Bretzing, a Mormon bishop, did not immediately tell jurors what happened during the meeting, but he testified at pretrial hearings that he cited their common religion and urged Miller to confess for the salvation of his soul.

Bretzing said it was about midnight Oct. 2 that he went to Miller’s San Diego County avocado ranch and arrested him. He said Miller’s confession came as they were in a car driving to FBI headquarters in San Diego.

“He admitted passing to Svetlana Ogorodnikov the 1984 Positive Intelligence Reporting Guide,” Bretzing said. “He said he knew it was secret and that all of the documents crossing his desk were secret.”

He said he then asked Miller how he could justify such actions, and Miller fell silent.