从有消息称美国联邦调查局(FBI)已经将纽约市的俄罗 斯间谍嫌疑人抓捕归案后，一个挥之不去的疑问是：他们用自己那种拙劣电影中才有的间谍手段到底想干什么？
保罗•布朗(Paul Browne)认为他知道是怎么回事。早在他升任纽约市副警长一职之前，就曾亲身经历过被一名俄罗斯特工招募的事──当时那个特工是苏联间谍，他押注的是 跟一个小镇报社记者拉近关系终有一天会带来回报。
那是在1973年，当时24岁的布朗辞去了《水镇日报》(Watertown Daily Times)政治新闻记者的工作，到哥伦比亚大学攻读新闻学硕士学位。在联合国大楼中上的一门课程中，他遇见了32岁的亚历克斯•雅克夫列夫(Alex Yakovlev)，并且与之成了朋友。当时雅克夫列夫向东欧播报联合国新闻。
雅克夫列夫开始在推杯问盏之间拉拢布朗。有一次，他向布朗提出给他30美元，让他写 一篇自由撰稿的文章，随便他写什么内容都行。在随后的一次晚餐中，雅克夫列夫盘问布朗关于教授的情况，并问他班里是否有外国学生。他提出给布朗钱，以获得 他的课堂笔记和外交人员的名字。布朗在他为课业所写的文章中匿名援引了雅克夫列夫的话。
雅克夫列夫还要布朗在联合国大楼中遇到他的时候， 假装不认识他。雅克夫列夫在谈到他们之间的关系时说，今后当你在一家大型报社或政府机构工作的时候，或许甚至你的朋友都会以此来对付你。这让布朗受够了。 他给一个教授打了电话，教授又给院长打了电话，院长随后建议联邦调查局介入。
在与布朗 的第一次会面中，联邦特工勾画出了雅克夫列夫和他的一些助手的画像，并且说他们认为雅克夫列夫是在试图招募布朗作为一名“有影响力的特工”。他们是在布朗 身上投资，以期今后布朗晋升到有影响力的位置时，可以利用他们之间的这种关系来敲诈他。联邦调查局对布朗说，雅克夫列夫或许是因为布朗的父母出生于爱尔兰 而对他产生兴趣的，因为俄罗斯人认为父母出生在国外的人不如父母土生土长的人忠诚。
联邦特工还说，预计俄罗斯人会试图引入一位迷人的女间 谍来色诱他，把他引诱到他们一方。布朗开玩笑地说，我当时年轻又是单身，准备为国家服务。不过，不幸的是，我是那里唯一一个可爱的红发男。
在 联邦调查局的授意下，布朗继续与雅克夫列夫见面。布朗说，他会与雅克夫列夫见面的，不过他既不会从俄罗斯人那里、也不会从联邦调查局那里拿钱。联邦调查局 炮制了一篇雅克夫列夫要的文章，是关于纽约郊区的人对水门事件的反应的。
当布朗把联邦调查局为他捉刀代笔的文章交给雅克夫列夫时，这个俄 罗斯人非常满意。他毫不遮掩地拿出三张10美元的钞票，明目张胆地把钱推到了桌子这一边。布朗之后把钱上交给了联邦调查局特工。特工告诉他，他接受钱的画 面很可能被拍下来了。
布朗继续与雅克夫列夫会面，喝最贵的啤酒、吸典藏的古巴雪茄。雅克夫列夫谈到未来的写作任务，并请布朗参加犹太防御 联盟(Jewish Defense League)的会议，不过布朗拒绝了。1974年11月，雅克夫列夫说，他要回苏联休假了。几个月后，他给布朗打来电话，说他已经回到了纽约市，两人最 后一次共进了午餐。
1975年5月，布朗毕业后回到了水镇。雅克夫列夫试图打了几次电话，不过布朗没有理睬他的留言。他已经受够了间谍游 戏，不过当年晚些时候，他为《华盛顿邮报》(Washington Post)写了自己被招募的故事。在文章中，这名年轻的记者弄不懂雅克夫列夫为何选了他，他写道：我依然感到最为好奇的是，雅克夫列夫在我们的会面上花费 了那么多的时间和精力。
不过，35年之后，一切似乎都更明了了。在哥伦比亚大学的求学和水镇的记者工作之后，布朗开始担任参议员丹尼尔• 莫尼罕(Daniel P. Moynihan)和财政部执行办公室的幕僚长。在这个职位上，他可以接触到最高机密，并列席每日的联邦执法会议。如今，他是纽约市警长雷蒙德•凯利 (Raymond Kelly)的最高警务策略师之一。
布朗在谈到雅克夫列夫试图招募他的时候说，当时我觉得这说不通，不过回想起来，俄 罗斯人是在放长线钓大鱼；假如当时我成了他们的人，多年后他们会受益的。
Ever since news broke that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had rounded up alleged Russian spies in New York City, the lingering question has been: What were they after with all their B-movie spy craft?
Paul Browne thinks he has a pretty good idea. Long before he had ascended to his position as a deputy New York City police commissioner, Mr. Browne had firsthand experience being recruited by a Russian agent -- a Soviet spy betting a relationship with a small-town newspaper reporter would one day bear fruit.
The year was 1973, and Mr. Browne, then 24 years old, had taken a leave from his job as a political reporter at the Watertown Daily Times to get a master's in journalism at Columbia University. As part of a class taught at the United Nations, he met and became friendly with Alex Yakovlev, a 32-year-old who broadcast U.N. news to Eastern Europe.
Mr. Yakovlev started wooing Mr. Browne over drinks and dinner. At one point, he offered Mr. Browne $30 to write a freelance article 'on anything you wish.' At a subsequent dinner, Mr. Yakovlev questioned Mr. Browne about his teachers and asked if there were any foreign students in his class. He offered to pay Mr. Browne for notes he took in his class and for the names of any diplomats Mr. Browne quoted anonymously in stories he wrote for the course.
Mr. Yakovlev also asked Mr. Browne to pretend he didn't know him if they saw each other in the U.N. building. In the future, Mr. Yakovlev said of their relationship, 'when you work for a position at a big newspaper or a government position -- maybe even your friends would use it against you.' That was enough for Mr. Browne. He called one of his teachers, who then called the dean, who recommended that the FBI get involved.
At their first meeting with Mr. Browne, federal agents produced pictures of Mr. Yakovlev and some of his associates and said they believed Mr. Yakovlev was attempting to recruit Mr. Browne to be an 'agent of influence.' They were investing in Mr. Browne in hopes they could use the association to blackmail him later if he achieved an influential position. The FBI told Mr. Browne that Mr. Yakovlev was probably interested in him because his parents were born in Ireland, and the Russians believed people with parents born in foreign countries were not as loyal.
The agents also said to expect the Russians to try to introduce an attractive female spy for a sexual liaison as a way of luring him to their side. 'Young and single, I was prepared to serve my country. But, sadly, I was the only cute redhead in the mix,' Mr. Browne joked.
At the behest of the FBI, Mr. Browne continued to meet with Mr. Yakovlev. Mr. Browne said he would, but that he wouldn't take money from either the Russian or the FBI. The FBI produced the freelance article Mr. Yakovlev had suggested; it was about the reaction of suburban New Yorkers to the Watergate scandal.
When Mr. Browne gave Mr. Yakovlev the FBI's story with his byline, the Russian was exceedingly pleased. He very obviously peeled off three $10 bills and slid the money across the table in plain view. Mr. Browne later turned the money over to FBI agents who told him he had most likely been photographed accepting the money.
Mr. Browne continued to meet with Mr. Yakovlev, drinking the most expensive beer and smoking stale Cuban cigars. Mr. Yakovlev talked about future writing assignments and asked Mr. Browne to attend Jewish Defense League meetings, which Mr. Browne refused to do. In November 1974, Mr. Yakovlev said he was headed back to the Soviet Union for a vacation. He called a few months later, saying he was back in New York City, and the two had lunch one final time.
In May 1975, Mr. Browne had graduated and headed back to Watertown. Mr. Yakovlev tried to call a few times after that, but Mr. Browne ignored his messages. He'd had enough of the spy game, but later that year he wrote about his recruitment for the Washington Post. In the piece, the young reporter couldn't fathom why Mr. Yakovlev had picked him: 'And what I still find most curious is the enormous amount of time and energy Yakovlev expended on our encounters.'
But 35 years later, it seems clearer. Since Columbia and Watertown, Mr. Browne has been chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Daniel P. Moynihan and for the Office of Enforcement of the Treasury Department, where he had top-secret clearance and sat in on daily federal law-enforcement briefings. Today, he is one of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly's top policy strategists.
'At the time it made no sense to me,' Mr. Browne said about Mr. Yakovlev's attempted recruitment. 'But in retrospect, the Russians were in it for the long haul. Had I been turned, it would have paid dividends for them years later.'