EXCLUSIVE: Some of the spies expelled last month from the US were tracking Russian defectors and their families https://t.co/Xkeyyk6A15 pic.twitter.com/YT0ndhSLCA — CNN (@CNN) April 25, 2018 
 
 Russian spies tracking defectors were among those expelled from the United States last month, according to a new CNN report. 
 
 In March, President Donald Trump ordered the expulsion of a number of Russian diplomats in retaliation for a Cold War-esque poisoning of a former Russian spy in England. 
 
 Among that group of expelled Russian nationals, it seems, there were spies that were actually monitoring and seeking out Russian defectors. 
 
 In one case, one spy was hunting down an émigré on American soil who was part of a witness protection-type CIA program that provides thee with new identities. Other spies were thought to be tracking Russian nationals living in the United States deemed traitors. 
 
 The news set off alarm bells among intelligence and law enforcement officials, who told CNN the presence of Kremlin spies raises “concerns that the Russians were preparing to target Russian émigrés in the US labeled by the Kremlin as traitors or enemies.” 
 
 The latest report also comes just months after a Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democratic staff document warned of Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s silencing of critics, including those living abroad. 
 
 That report also called for President Trump to take prompt action to stop Russia’s interference. 
 
 “President Trump must be clear-eyed about the Russian threat, take action to strengthen our government’s response and our institutions, and – as have other president’s in times of crisis – mobilize our country and work with an international coalition to counter the threat and assert our values,” Sen. Ben Cardin said. 
 
 He added in the Senate Foreign Relations report, “it is imperative that the American people better understand the true scope and scale of Putin’s pattern of undermining democracy in Russia and across Europe.” 
 
 [image via screengrab] 
 
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 Washington (CNN) Among the dozens of Russian diplomats the US expelled last month were suspected spies who US law enforcement and intelligence officials believe were tracking Russian defectors and their families who had resettled in the US, officials briefed on the matter tell CNN. 
 
 In at least one instance, suspected Russian spies were believed to be casing someone who was part of a CIA program that provided new identities to protect resettled Russians, the officials said. 
 
 That episode and other US intelligence raised concerns that the Russians were preparing to target Russian émigrés in the US labeled by the Kremlin as traitors or enemies, law enforcement and intelligence officials said. 
 
 The CIA declined to comment. The White House declined to comment. 
 
 The Russian embassy did not respond to a request for comment. 

 This crawl of online resources of the 115th US Congress was performed on behalf of The United States National Archives & Records 

 Some of the Russian diplomats expelled from the United States last month were reportedly tracking Russians who had immigrated to the U.S. 
 
 CNN reported Wednesday that some of the diplomats included suspected Russian spies. Those individuals were thought to be tracking Russians who were deemed traitors or enemies of the Kremlin, U.S. officials told the news outlet. 
 
 In at least one case, the spies were said to be focused on a Russian national who received a new identity as part of a CIA program to protect resettled Russians. 
 
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 The Russian embassy did not respond to a request for comment from CNN. 
 
 The White House announced the expulsion of 60 Russian officials last month in response to the attempted poisoning of Sergei Skripal, an ex-Russian spy living in Britain, and his daughter. The U.K., Germany, France and other European nations also blamed the attack on Moscow and expelled Russian diplomats in response. 
 
 Russia retaliated by expelling an equal number of U.S. diplomats, and has denied responsibility for the poisoning. 
 
 The State Department noted that a number of the expelled Russian diplomats could be replaced by other Russian officials, adding that the same is true for a number of American officials booted from the consulate in St. Petersburg.
– Some of the 60 Russian diplomats recently expelled from the US were suspected of spying on Russian defectors, including at least one person who was given a new identity under a CIA program, CNN reports, citing officials briefed on the matter. The diplomats were expelled in response to the nerve agent poisoning of a former Russian spy in the UK, an act the US blames on Russia, and the report raises the possibility that the Kremlin was looking to target enemies of the state who resettled in the US in a similar way. CNN points out that in a January report, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee drew attention to the suspicious deaths of some two dozen critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin and highlighted a Russian law passed in 2006 "that permits the assassination of 'enemies of the Russian regime' who live abroad." "It is imperative that the American people better understand the true scope and scale of Putin's pattern of undermining democracy in Russia and across Europe," Sen. Ben Cardin wrote at the time, per Mediate. The State Department previously said some of the expelled diplomats could be replaced by other Russians, the Hill points out.