Soviet Defector

A front-page story (March 24), “Espionage--Coverage Poses Risks,” left a distinct impression that a story in our Feb. 3 issue was erroneous in stating that a high-level Soviet intelligence official had defected to the West.

The Times article said U.S. News & World Report was “officially” standing by its story, but the implication was that somehow we now had second thoughts about it. In addition to the on-the-record confirmation by Sen. Chic Hecht (R-Nev.), pointedly referred to as a “junior” senator in your article, let me reiterate that this magazine remains positively convinced that the defector on whom we reported does exist and was, as of at least last week, still in the country.

Let me add that the most important details of our story were obtained from more than a half-dozen sources and that each fact was confirmed by at least two sources.

MATTHEW V. STORIN

Washington