U.S. Thinks Brother Lied, Will Quiz Arthur Walker

The Justice Department will conduct a new interrogation of convicted spy Arthur Walker because the government suspects his brother John is lying about the family espionage ring, officials close to the investigation said today.

The government is retracing its steps in the Walker case because polygraph examinations administered to John A. Walker Jr. suggest he is being deceptive about the origins and scope of the operation, said the officials, speaking on condition they not be identified.

The Walker spy ring supplied the Soviets with top-secret information about naval communications, and U.S. officials have described it as one of the most damaging espionage operations in the country’s history.

The U.S. attorney in Baltimore said that John Walker’s scheduled Oct. 3 sentencing may be delayed so that the government can take more time to study the case.

Arthur Walker, now serving a prison term, is to be brought to Baltimore for questioning later this week, said the officials.

In October, John Walker agreed to a plea bargain that called for him to be sentenced to life imprisonment, but which would make him eligible to apply for parole after 10 years.

In return, he agreed to testify against former Navy communications specialist Jerry Whitworth and to provide officials with complete information on all the spy ring’s activities.

Federal officials agreed to seek only a 25-year prison term for his son, Michael Walker, who would be eligible for parole after little more than eight years in prison.

Because of the results of the polygraph tests on John Walker, however, Justice Department officials now are uncertain about whether he has lived up to the terms of the plea-bargain agreement.

The lie-detector tests suggest John Walker is not telling the truth when he says he started the spy ring, and that the only other participants were his brother, his son and Whitworth, said the officials. All four served in the Navy. Arthur Walker, not John Walker, may have created the spy ring, the officials have said.