Summary
Overview
This episode examines Kim Philby's interrogations following the defection of his Cambridge spy ring colleagues Burgess and Maclean to Moscow in 1951. Despite mounting circumstantial evidence and pressure from the Americans, Philby survives multiple interrogations through his composure and the lack of hard proof. The episode culminates in his public exoneration by the British Foreign Secretary in 1955, followed by his remarkable reinstatement by MI6 with a posting to Beirut as a journalist, demonstrating how establishment connections and class loyalty shielded him despite growing suspicions.
The First Interrogations and Philby's Defense
After being recalled from Washington to London, Philby faces his first serious interrogations by MI5's Dick White. Philby remains calm because he knows the evidence against him is purely circumstantial - his left-wing Cambridge past, marriage to communist Litzy Friedman, and connections to the defected Burgess and Maclean. Without a confession, he knows MI5 cannot convict him of espionage, and his strategy is simply to avoid cracking under pressure while determining if they possess any new hard evidence.
- Philby called to MI5 headquarters on Curzon Street, with his mother's flat already under surveillance
- First interrogation by Dick White is relatively light - more of a chat than serious questioning
- Philby knows that without a confession, almost no one gets convicted of espionage
- He defends his relationship with Burgess by saying he was just helping an old friend, and argues it would be too stupid to house a fellow Soviet agent
- Americans are pressuring the Brits hard, with MI5 worried about revealing that they knew Philby's first wife was a communist
" I can't believe Guy Burgess is a spy, but after all the foreign office employed him, the foreign office sending him to Washington, it's not my fault I put him up. "
Bill Harvey's Memo and American Pressure
CIA officer Bill Harvey, still enraged from Burgess's insult to his wife at that fateful 1951 dinner party, writes a devastating five-page memo correctly identifying Philby as a traitor. This creates a rift with James Angleton, who defends his close friend Philby. The Americans ultimately force MI6's hand by threatening to cut off intelligence sharing unless Philby is removed, leading to his dismissal with a £4,000 payoff in July 1951.
- Bill Harvey writes a five-page memo in June 1951 outlining the case that Philby is a traitor, correctly identifying him as the source of leaks
- Harvey's memo goes directly to the CIA director, bypassing Angleton who writes his own memo defending Philby
- The CIA tells MI6 they don't want Philby back in Washington or anywhere in MI6, threatening the intelligence-sharing relationship
- The MI6 chief, looking visibly distressed, dismisses Philby in July 1951 with over £100,000 in today's money as compensation
" If you don't pull the plug on Philby, we are going to pull the plug on you. We can't share with your service if someone like Philby, who we think is a traitor, is inside MI6. "
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