inspect every present carefully......

[markie]

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-a-gift-from-schoolchildren-let-the-soviets-spy-on-the-us-for-7-years

"...a group of Russian children from the Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organisation (sort of a Soviet scouting group) presented a carved wooden replica of the Great Seal of the United States to Averell Harriman, the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union.

The gift, a gesture of friendship to the USSR’s World War II ally, was hung in the ambassador’s official residence at Spaso House in Moscow. It stayed there on a wall in the study for seven years until, through accident and a ruse, the State Department discovered that the seal was more than a mere decoration.

It was a bug....."

[58Sunliner]

1. Didn't inspect it?

[niyad]

2. Shaking my head. .even in the 40's, somebody in spook world should have

known better. Sighhhh. On the other hand, I am reminded of a British government official denying the necessity of intelligence operations, saying "gentlemen don't read each other's mail." Even in my teens, that blindered thinking made me laugh in frusttration.

[harumph]

3. Then there is the situation where you know a bug is there and you use it to

feed disinformation to the listener.

[niyad]

7. That one is always fun. Heck, I even used to do it when I worked in jobs

that had me on mic and camera that were not in intelligence.

[SpankMe]

4. Remember the US embassy in Moscow debacle of the early 80's?

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/PDF/MagazineArchive/Documents/2012/September%202012/0912embassy.pdf

"The new US Embassy in Moscow was half done. Then officials realized the Soviets had built hundreds of listening devices right into the structure."

The Soviets embedded listening devices right into the wood and brickwork.

[MineralMan]

5. ALWAYS Look Gift Horses in the Mouth.

An old, sick horse will cost you a great deal, once you accept it.

[SheltieLover]

6. Not surprised at all.