Using FBI files it obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Gawker has pieced together a fascinating tale of how the KGB attempted, unsuccessfully, to rope in NBC News correspondent Irving R. Levine when he was stationed in Moscow from 1955-1957.

The soft-spoken, bow-tied Levine died last March. According to the files, he was subject to numerous attempts by the KGB to turn him into a spy, while the FBI, as well, was keeping extensive tabs on him –down to the plans for his wedding– through its own “confidential informant.”

–Elizabeth Jensen