John —

Here’s something you probably don’t know about me — before I ever was in politics, I convicted an FBI agent who was spying for Russia during the Cold War. This is not our usual campaign email, but I think you’ll find it interesting. Trust me.

It was a classic sex for secrets case, and the biggest case of my career. That was, until I investigated Donald Trump and presented the case at his first impeachment trial.

Before I go on (and I hope you’re going to want to read on), I want to ask you to chip in $10 to my campaign, so I can continue holding Republicans and anyone who seeks to undermine our democracy accountable.

Richard Miller was an FBI agent assigned to the counterintelligence division (literally the bureau meant to combat Russian influence) in Los Angeles in the early 1980s. Here’s him with the Russian asset who seduced him.

Miller was recruited by a Soviet emigree named Svetlana. (Why do Russian spies always seem to be named Svetlana, I used to joke.) After coming to the United States with her husband, she was disaffected with her new country and longed to go back to the USSR. But defectors were viewed as traitors by the Soviet Union and she had to earn her passage home. So, she became a Russian intelligence asset, and Miller became her target. With marriage and financial difficulties, Miller was an easy mark.

I’ll spare you the details of their sordid dalliances, which were numerous. But eventually in 1984, Svetlana made her move, telling Miller the Russians would pay him for classified documents. Miller asked for tens of thousands in cash and gold.

He drove up to San Francisco with Svetlana, and provided a Soviet intelligence officer at the Russian consulate with his FBI badge and a classified FBI counterintelligence manual to prove he could deliver.

Things only escalated from there, but the FBI caught on to Miller and put him under surveillance. Miller discovered his tail and went to his superiors, and concocted an alibi that he was acting as a “secret double agent.” He was arrested, confessed, and then walked back the confession. Svetlana and her husband would later plead guilty.

Miller’s first trial was a mistrial, and his second was overturned on appeal. We had one more chance. That’s when I was brought into the case. At the time, I was about thirty and serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles.

It was my first blockbuster trial. And the pressure was immense.

I prepped for months, and during that time, I came into contact with dozens and dozens of FBI agents who had worked with Miller, but also investigated him. It was a crash course in the Bureau’s counterintelligence mission — which I got to know even better many years later during my time at the Intelligence Committee, and while investigating Trump.

The Miller trial was in 1990, so of course they gave me a pretty early version of a cell phone — it looked like the nuclear football, it was that big! I worked on the case all day and was on that big phone with agents all night.

The trial commenced less than a year after the Berlin Wall came down and just a couple of years before the Cold War finally ended. This is part of what I told the jury in my closing argument:

“Miller had betrayed his job, his family, and the entire community that placed its trust in his hands … this is a case of government misconduct and government corruption of the highest and most disturbing order.”

The judge agreed, and the weight of the evidence was enough to convict him. Miller was found guilty, and sentenced to twenty years in prison. He would go down as the first FBI agent ever convicted of espionage. Sadly, he would not be the last.

I learned a lot about the Russians during that investigation, the kind of people they target, their tradecraft, and the vulnerabilities they look for. They want people with access to information that is of use to them, and they look for people they can exploit — with marital issues, or who are motivated by greed or resentment. The Russians found a very, very good target with Richard Miller.

I’ve made it my mission in the halls of Congress to protect our country and our democracy, just as I did in the courtroom.

That’s why I’m asking you to donate $10, or whatever amount is meaningful to you today, so we can all do our part to protect our Democracy and hold those accountable who seek to weaken or destroy it:

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:

Thanks for reading this story, and I hope it helps you understand a little more about me and what motivates my work. It’s also why I’m so grateful you’re on my team.

— Adam