Secret Agent Man

     Or secret agent woman; high-level skulldugerousness has been a profession open to women longer than many others.

     New York's state government had embedded Chinese agents for years. Linda Sun worked her way up to deputy chief of staff for the governor before being axed over apparent misconduct.  Investigators found she and her husband Chris Hu had been living the high life on Red China's dime.

     Elsewhere, the Department of Justice says Russian propaganda mill RT hired their very own influencer/troll farm.  The description in the indictment matches Tenet Media, employers of Benny Johnson and Tim Pool, among others.  Oops.

     Then there's Senator-for-hire Bob Menendez, D-Dominican Republic, D-Egypt by way of New Jersey.  He was convicted of being on the take in July, with sentencing to come in October.

     Su Mi Terry wasn't a U. S. Senator or even a highly-placed aide to an elected official.  She was a former CIA analyst turned think-tank expert at a level that included meeting with the Secretary of State -- and she was passing notes to the South Korean government in exchange for goodies.

     And here's the thing -- while bribes are illegal and elected officials and government employees are supposed to put the interests of the U. S. first and foremost, if you're not on Uncle Sam's payroll and want to go lobby for Lower Slobbovia or otherwise help advance Slobbovian interests in the U. S.* for gifts or pay, you can do that; it's a free country.  But you have to be up front about it.  You have to register as a foreign agent.  The people you're advising or lobbying or leaning on need to know that you're acting on behalf of a foreign country.

     I wonder who else is lining their pockets in return for surreptitious shilling, sharing secrets and influencing public opinion or legislation?
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* And who wouldn't?