Espionage

Meet Putin’s American Prisoner, Paul Whelan

The American arrested in Russia and accused of being a spy is a former cop and retired Marine, who once described having contacts in law enforcement agencies around the world through his work as a global security chief for private companies

Paul Whelan, 48, of Michigan, is also an avowed Russophile who first visited Moscow over a decade ago, when he made a point of befriending Russian soldiers, calling them on his website “the sneaky Russians who had kept the western world at bay for so long.”

Whelan’s brother, David, confirmed to the Daily Beast on Tuesday that he was the man in custody on espionage charges. In a statement first issued to CNN, David Whelan said the family lost contact with Paul on Dec. 28, “which was very much out of character for him even when he was traveling.”