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How a half-hearted Czech spy managed to penetrate the CIA, join a DC swingers club, play his bosses and the FBI and get home a free man

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Mark Stout
Sep 29, 2022
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Karel Koecher was a horrible choice to become an intelligence officer for any self-respecting  spy service.  Born in 1934, he grew up in Czechoslovakia and was always in some kind of minor trouble with the authorities.

Uncredited, undated photo of Hana and Karel Koecher via SimchaJTV.com

Disgruntled at the shackles placed on him by a repressive one-party …

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A guest post by
Mark Stout
Dr. Mark Stout is an intelligence historian and a former US intelligence officer. He was the founding president of the North American Society for Intelligence History.
© 2025 Jeff Stein
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