About this episode

The episode discusses the story of Katrina Leung, a double agent who deceived the FBI while working as a top informant for China.

Katrina Leung, code name Parlor Maid, received nearly two million dollars from the FBI for being their top China informant. But little did the Bureau know… she was a double agent, collecting intelligence for China’s Ministry of State Security. Not only that, she was also sleeping with her FBI handler, James J. Smith (J.J.). For nearly two decades, J.J. covered up reports that raised red flags about her. That’s where retired FBI agent Steven Conley comes in. He worked for J.J. in the LA field office and then became Katrina’s new handler, and soon realized she wasn’t exactly providing useful information. Ultimately, he helped extract two painful confessions in a case that damaged the FBI’s reputation for years. Subscribe to Sasha's Substack, HUMINT, to get more intelligence stories: https://sashaingber.substack.com/ For more information about the International Spy Museum, visit: https://www.spymuseum.org/ And if you have feedback or want to hear about a particular topic, you can reach us by email at spycast@spymuseum.org. This show is brought to you by N2K Networks, Goat Rodeo, and the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. This episode was produced by Flora Warshaw and the…

People in this episode

Guest: Katrina Leung

Topics covered

• double agent
• FBI
• China
• intelligence
• espionage
• national security

Keywords

• double agent
• FBI handler
• China informant
• espionage
• intelligence
• Katrina Leung
• James J. Smith
• Steven Conley

Sponsors

N2K Networks, Goat Rodeo, International Spy Museum

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: FBI, China’s Ministry of State Security

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