[104-10210-10068.pdf — page 158]
# TOP SECRET246. MAHONEY arrived in Moscow on 4 October 1960 as the Assistant General Services Officer at the U.S. Embassy. His specific CIA mission there was to support the handling of PENKOVSKIY inside the Soviet Union. MAHONEY lived in America House. From the start of his tour he was active in his attempts to familiarize himself with Moscow and he frequently toured various areas of the city on foot. In checking locations connected with the PENKOVSKIY case, MAHONEY went to the Pushkin Street dead drop location on two occasions during November and December 1960, and he made a thorough examination of the dead drop itself as well as of its related signal site on 21 January 1961. Throughout, MAHONEY was subjected to intensive KGB surveil- lance. In a report dated 25 October 1960, ABIDIAN commented on this as follows: "I find this type of coverage (five surveillants on a recent trip to the barber shop) completely out of character with that which is usually given a new arrival of similar rank. My only inference is that the KGB has at least strong suspicions of MAHONEY'S primary role (CIA officer. As for surveillance on my- self, it continues to be eccasional and extremely discreet."George BLAKE, the KGB penetration of MI-6, was arrested in London on 14 April 1961. In his confession he said that he had passed the KGB a master list of the names of persons connected with the joint U.S.-British project with which MAHONEY had been connnected in Frankfurt, as well as other materials on this project. On this basis, "AHONEY was relieved shortly thereafter of further duties connected with support of the PENKOVSKIY operation; he was withdrawn fron Moscow in September 1961, less than a year after his arrival.CIA records indicate that GARBLER was detailed to CIA by the Navy in April 1952 and served CIA under Naval cover in Berlin from January 1953 until July 1955. In the fall of 1955, he resigned his naval commission, and in May 1956 he was assigned as a CIA officer to the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm. GARBLER served there until August 1959 in the cover position of Second Secretary and Political Officer (FSR). On 3 June 1961, he returned to active duty with the Navy, and on 31 August 1961 his appointment was announced as Assistant Naval Attache to Moscow, with the rank of Commander. In September 1961 his official biographic data was forwarded to the office of the Soviet Naval Attache in Washington, who had requested this information, and the same month GARBLER made an official call at the Soviet Embassy. GARBLER arrived in Moscow on 29 November 1961. He was the CIA Chief of Station there.Prior to his affiliation with CIA, GARBLER served in Korea and there was acquainted with George BLAKE. In April 1960 GARBLER was a participant in joint CIA-MI-6 discussions in Washington on the question of tourist operations into the Soviet Union (see Part V.D.8); BLAKE, who had access to information on the agenda and participants for these talks, admitted after his arrest in 1961 that he had photographed the minutes of this meeting and had passed them to his Soviet handlers. On this basis CIA presumed that GARBLER was identified to the KGB prior to arriving in Moscow at theTOP SECRET