The World - News from July 4, 1989

Time magazine, in an unusual journalistic debunking, said in this week’s edition that the Soviets never successfully penetrated communications at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow--thus challenging the findings of a book that Time excerpted four months ago. Citing 60 interviews with officials and “a highly classified intelligence community assessment,” Time said federal investigators have concluded that “there was no evidence of a devastating communications breach in Moscow.” In the magazine’s Feb. 20 issue, author Ronald Kessler charged that the U.S. government has covered up evidence that the Soviets bugged the U.S. embassy. The CIA earlier took the unusual step of issuing a public statement denying the account.