Many Germans simply find Rust’s behavior bizarre. But there may be a reason: in Lefortovo, attorney Yitzhak Goldfine told Newsweek, interrogators gave him repeated doses of drugs–perhaps barbiturates–in effort to learn how he reached Red Square and if he had CIA ties (which he denies). Among the side effects, according to medical specialists for the defense: blackouts and bouts of aggression that can persist for years. “The truth,” said Goldfine, “is that Matthias was not entirely responsible for his actions.” It does make a novel defense: the Russians made me do it.
