FBI Dismisses ‘Shake-Up’ Reports

Rebutting persistent speculation about possible “shake-ups” inside the FBI because of the Richard W. Miller spy case, an FBI official last week called the episode an “aberration” and scoffed at reports of wide-scale changes in personnel or procedure as a result of Miller’s alleged espionage activity.

“Most of us consider his alleged conduct an aberration--aberrant behavior,” FBI spokesman Tony Genakos said in Washington.

The public comment from Genakos came as other sources inside the Justice Department continued to speculate privately about a possible “house cleaning” inside the FBI once the case is finally resolved and an official administrative review has been completed.

Exactly three months after the Aug. 6 start of Miller’s trial on seven counts of espionage, a Los Angeles federal court jury declared itself “hopelessly deadlocked” Wednesday and a mistrial was declared. Government prosecutors said they plan to prosecute Miller on the same charges in a second trial, which they hope to begin as early as January.

From the time of Miller’s arrest on Oct. 2, 1984, for allegedly passing secret FBI documents to Soviet agents, there has been criticism about the assignment of the bumbling, overweight agent to the Soviet counterintelligence squad in Los Angeles and speculation both inside and outside the FBI about the possible repercussions on Mormon superiors in the agency accused of “coddling” him. Miller was an excommunicated Mormon.

Genakos, however, defended both Richard T. Bretzing, head of the FBI’s Los Angeles office and a Mormon bishop, and P. Bryce Christensen, another Mormon official who was Miller’s first supervisor on the Soviet squad and who serves now as one of three assistant agents in charge of the Los Angeles office.

“You can’t try to blame Bretzing and Christensen for any of the alleged conduct of Miller,” Genakos said. “The severest disciplinary action taken against this guy was taken when Christensen and Bretzing were his superiors--a one-week suspension and a two-week suspension.”

While Genakos defended Miller’s superiors, other Justice Department and U.S. intelligence community sources continued to predict some repercussions.

“I think Bryce (Christensen) did sort of cover for him,” said one Justice Department official, referring to the period of 2 1/2 years that Miller served under Christensen’s direct and indirect supervision in the Los Angeles office. “I think there will be some shake-ups. This was a major administrative blunder.”

Saying that the Miller case revealed both the worst and the best about the FBI, another Justice Department source praised the FBI for its handling of the investigation of Miller, but criticized the wisdom of keeping Miller on the Soviet squad during a time when he was also being threatened with dismissal from the FBI for a chronic weight problem.

“It’s clear there’s going to have to be a house cleaning,” he said.

The FBI spokesman also denied that FBI counterintelligence agents are now being given spot polygraph examinations as a result of Miller’s alleged spy activities to prevent a similar incident.

“We use it in some internal inquiries, but there are no periodic control checks,” he said, responding to reports from FBI counterintelligence sources that polygraph tests have been used on some agents since the Miller case.