Journalist says he's received threats following 'false' accusations that he's a Russian agent

A veteran Ottawa journalist says he and his family have received threats since he was accused of being a Russian agent during a House of Commons committee meeting last month — a claim he refutes and describes as "preposterous."

"There are now calls that I be executed or tortured and that my family be deported," David Pugliese, a reporter with the Ottawa Citizen, told MPs on the House public security committee on Thursday.

Appearing before the same committee last month, Chris Alexander — a former immigration minister in Stephen Harper's Conservative government and a former Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan — accused Pugliese of being a Russian agent.

"Mr. Alexander's fabricated claims are not only outlandish but dangerous to my family," Pugliese told the committee. He said he has had to increase security around his home as a result.

Alexander claimed Pugliese was recruited by Russia because of his role as a journalist and provided documents to the committee about the claims. He told the committee the documents are "evidence of a serious effort to undermine Canada's national security and collective self-defence." 

The documents — copies of which CBC News has obtained — are described on the cover page as being from the Archives of the State Security Committee in Kyiv, Ukraine, and are dated 1984 through 1990. CBC News has not independently verified the authenticity of the documents.

The translated versions of the documents name Pugliese but largely refer to him as "Stuart." They say the KGB saw him as a potential asset and sought for one of their agents, "Ivan," to build a relationship with him. The documents do not indicate if such efforts ever led to recruiting "Stuart" as an agent.

Pugliese said the documents are full of "factual errors and falsehoods" about his personal life.

The documents suggest Pugliese lived in Ottawa in 1984 and had been a student activist; he told MPs that both of those assertions are false. He said that during the 1980s he worked for a U.S. military publication that covered topics that wouldn't have shed a positive light on the Soviet Union.

"We were writing stories about how to nuke the Soviets off the face of the earth. How to get more weapons. The need for NATO expansion, that type of thing," he said.

Pugliese said he has no idea why Alexander made the accusation in the first place.

"I don't know what was going through Mr. Alexander's brain," he said. He did point out that he reported on Alexander when he was a cabinet minister.

Pugliese said he's been the subject of similar accusations in the past, including one claiming he was a CIA agent and a Taliban sympathizer.

"Fast forward to 2024, I'm a Russian spy. I'm living this exciting life," he said sarcastically.

Pugliese has said that Alexander's claims would be considered libel if they hadn't been said before a parliamentary committee. Testimony at committees is protected by parliamentary privilege.

Alexander told the Canadian Press last month that he stands by his statements at committee. CBC News reached out to Alexander for further comment on Thursday.

In his opening statement, Pugliese said he was disturbed by the fact that no MP pushed back against Alexander's claims. A number of MPs later said they were shocked by the accusations against Pugliese and claimed they hadn't had enough time to review the documents Alexander had put forward.

Brent Jolly, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists, joined Pugliese at committee on Thursday. He voiced support for the reporter and said Alexander's comments were "dumbfounding and dangerous."

"Mr. Pugliese has been tarnished unnecessarily and is guilty of nothing more than being a journalist," Jolly told the committee.