ALLEGED ESPIONAGE AT MOSCOW

Grey River Argus, 20 April 1948, Page 5

ALLEGED ESPIONAGE AT MOSCOW

NEW YORK, April 17.

The Moscow newspaper Izvestia published a letter from Cecilia- Nelson, former secretary of Robert Magidoff, Moscow correspondent of the American National Broadcasting Company and the Exchange . Telegraph Agency, in which she says that she involuntarily found among Magidoff’s papers many documents revealing that Magidoff received United States espionage assignments in Russia. The Soviet Foreign Office has asked Magidoff to leave Moscow. The National Broadcasting Company, in a statement said: “Magidoff' has been employed by the National Broadcasting Company as a news reporter since July 21, 1941. His work for us consisted solely of broadcasting reports and sending dispatches. The company has full confidence in his integrity as a working newsman, and, needless to say, never requested him to send any information in violation of the censorship or which might be considered of a military nature.” A State Department spokesman said that Cecilia Nelson had been born in American, but had lived in Russia for 12 years. She had worked in the United States Embassy in Moscow as a clerk in 1943 and 1944. The sookesman denied that Magidoff had received communications from the United States through diplomatic pouches. Such facilities were not granted- to reporters. BERLIN. April 18.

Mr Robert Magidoff, the American correspondent who was expelled from Russia on charges of espionage, said on arrival at Berlin that the “Russains trumped up accusations for internal propaganda. - ”