Peter, The Russian Spy

When we moved into our housing at the Heritage Foundation this summer, they told us about Peter. He was the friendly homeless man who lived on the corner who reminded us all how many days until the weekend, or not to go skinny-dipping. We saw Peter every day in our comings and goings to and from the apartment. He was always friendly, and usually found talking with someone.


Other fun facts about Peter are that he has his own blog, lives just a block from the Senate office buildings, only a few blocks from the Capitol, and not even a block from the Republican National Committee Headquarters. He used to have a big pile of stuff under a large tarp that took up the length of the curb from the driveway to where he sits by the tree until one day the district moved it all to an urban housing unit. He refused to go with it, and prefers to stick out his post. He often is seen doing odd jobs for the gas station, but mostly talking with people. He is not seen at night, and no one knows where he actually sleeps.

Why all this information about Peter? Well, another fun fact about him is that he is a spy. Yes, a Russian spy just down the street from the Senate in a prime location where U.S. Senators and office staff pass by every day. From now on, perhaps we should call him something more fitting, such as Petrov or Pyotr.


Petrov talks to people in nice cars. He talks to people in nice suits. He gets food from everyone. Why would all these people be talking to a homeless guy? (Yes, he is very friendly, and quite resourceful. In fact, one Heritage intern gave him her name and she was a little freaked out when he had a little too much information on her the next time they talked). Where does he sleep at night? Are there messages encoded in those cups of coffee he drinks every morning? Just something to consider.

In all honesty, who knows if this guy is a spy or not. Probably the latter. But it sure was fun to muse about the possibility in a city where it is estimated that there are around 600 spy cameras tapped into 200 known cameras (Spy Museum factoid). Anyway, the point of this is that the Spy Museum in Washington, DC, is awesome. Especially for creative minds like mine. I can't believe I did some recon work on this guy with the cell phone.