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Aldrich Hazen Ames (born May 26, 1941) is a former Central Intelligence Agency counterintelligence officer and analyst, who, in 1994, was convicted of spying for the Soviet Union. Download high resolution version (488x724, 103 KB)www. ...
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is the 146th day of the year (147th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
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Counterintelligence or counter-espionage is the act of seeking and indentifying espionage activities. ...
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Early life & work
Ames was born in River Falls, Wisconsin to Rachel Aldrich and Carleton Cecil Ames.[1] Ames began working for the CIA in 1962 in a low-level job. Over the next few years, he graduated from college and advanced through the ranks while working in the Records Integration Division of the Operations Directorate. In 1969, on his first assignment as a case officer, he was stationed in Ankara, Turkey, where his job was to target Soviet intelligence officers for recruitment. While he had some interesting assignments, his personal life was in shambles. He frequently fought with his first wife, Nancy, and would often go out binge drinking to get away from her. When assigned to the US Embassy to Mexico in 1983, he committed adultery with Rosario Dupuy, an employee of the Colombian Embassy to Mexico. Upon his return to the US following that assignment, he began divorce proceedings against Nancy, who had the upper hand in taking the joint assets of their marriage as the divorce was on the grounds of his unfaithfulness. He also began cohabitation with Rosario, who was spending a lot of his money as she was a shopaholic. The financial pressure of his divorce and Rosario's high living made Ames think of a way to figure out how to make a fast buck. He first began spying for the Soviet Union in 1985, when he walked into the Soviet Embassy in Washington to offer secrets for money. River Falls is a city located in Wisconsin. ...
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the countrys second largest city after Ä°stanbul. ...
Drinking too much alcohol may qualify as binge drinking if it leads to at least two days of inebriation and the drinker neglects usual responsibilities The British Medical Association states that there is no consensus on the definition of binge drinking. ...
This article is about the act of adultery. ...
For the record label, see Divorce Records. ...
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The name, coined after Sophie Kinsellas novels, describe a person who is addicted to shopping. ...
Ames was assigned to the CIA's Europe Division / Counterintelligence branch where he was responsible for directing the analysis of Soviet intelligence operations. He had access to the identities of U.S. sources in the KGB and Soviet military. The information Ames provided led to the compromise of at least 100 U.S. intelligence operations and to the execution of at least 10 U.S. sources. He ultimately gave the Soviet Union the names of every American agent working in their country. The Soviets paid Ames approximately $4.6 million, allowing Ames and his Colombian-born wife, Rosario, to maintain a lifestyle beyond the means of a normal CIA officer. With the money he earned from spying for the USSR he bought a new Jaguar, jewlery, designer clothing, and a house in the suburbs valued at $500,000 which he paid for in cash. Ames, who struggled with alcoholism, had no ideological affinity for the USSR. Before he was caught, he was assigned the task of preparing the damage assessment of Jonathan Pollard's activities, and it is believed that he used the opportunity to attribute to Pollard the act of uncovering CIA agents and assets in the USSR. Ames and his wife liquidated about $2.5 million of the money the Soviets paid him for their use, with the Soviets withholding the remaining $2.1 million in a Russian bank account to be utilized once Ames retired from his spying. This article is about the KGB of the Soviet Union. ...
For other uses, see Jaguar (disambiguation). ...
Alcoholism is the consumption of, or preoccupation with, alcoholic beverages to the extent that this behavior interferes with the drinkers normal personal, family, social, or work life, and may lead to physical or mental harm. ...
Jonathan Jay Pollard (born August 7, 1954 in South Bend, Indiana) is a convicted Israeli spy and a former United States Naval civilian intelligence analyst. ...
Various betrayals - Yurchenko was a KGB officer in the Fifth Department of the Directorate K. He defected to the US only to later repatriate to the Soviets. Ames was privy to all the information that Yurchenko gave to the CIA, and was able to report all the information Yurchenko handed over to the KGB which allowed easy cover-ups of lost information (Cherkashin 219).
- In the mid-1980s, Dmitri Polyakov was the highest ranking figure in Soviet military intelligence (GRU) giving information to the CIA. He was executed in 1988 after Ames exposed him. [2] Many agree he was the most valuable of the assets compromised by Ames. A CIA official said of him, "He didn't do this for money. He insisted on staying in place to help us."[3]
- Colonel Oleg Gordievsky was the head of the London rezidentura (residency). He spied for the SIS. Ames handed over information about Gordievsky that positively identified him as a traitor (Cherkashin 179-180), although the SIS later managed to extract him.
- Valery Martynov was a Line X officer at the Washington rezidentura. While a CIA mole was suspected to work at the Washington rezidentura, no one was able to pinpoint who it was. Ames handed over information that led to his arrest and execution (Cherkashin 187).
- Major Sergei Motorin was a Line PR officer at the Washington rezidentura. The FBI blackmailed him into spying for the US.[4] He was one of two moles at the rezidentura who was betrayed by Ames (Cherkashin 187). Motorin too was quickly executed after he was exposed. [5]
- Colonel Leonid Polishchuk was a Line KR agent in Nigeria. He too was betrayed by Ames. His arrest was attributed to a chance encounter where KGB agents observed a CIA agent loading a dead drop. After some time, Polishchuk was seen removing the contents (Cherkashin 191-192).
- Sergey Fedorenko was a nuclear arms expert assigned to the Soviet delegation to the United Nations. In 1987, Ames was assigned to handle him, and Fedorenko betrayed information about the Soviet missile program to Ames. The two men became good friends, hugging when Fedorenko was about to return to Moscow. “We had become close friends,” said Ames. “We trusted each other completely.”[6] Ames was initially hesitant to betray his friend, but soon after handing over the majority of the information decided that he would also betray Fedorenko because to "do a good job" for KGB he should really tell them every secret he knew. [7] Back in the USSR, Fedorenko used political connections to get himself out of trouble. Years later, Fedorenko met his friend Ames for an emotional reunion over lunch and promised to move to the US for good. Ames promised to help. Shortly after lunch, Ames betrayed him to the KGB for a second time. [8] Fedorenko escaped arrest, defected, and is currently living in Rhode Island.[9]
Dmitri Polyakov (1926 - March 15, 1988) was an officier in the Soviet armys military intelligence unit, the GRU. Starting in 1961, he began revealing Soviet secrets to the CIA. He was known by code names Top Hat, Bourbon, and Roam. ...
Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky (born 10 October 1938 in Moscow, Russia), was a Colonel of the KGB and KGB Resident-designate (rezidentura) and bureau chief in London, who defected to the United Kingdom. ...
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6),[1] is the United Kingdoms external intelligence agency. ...
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ...
The foundation of the U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. ...
This article is about the KGB of the Soviet Union. ...
“RI†redirects here. ...
CIA response
 Replacement of the mailbox used by Ames: a horizontal chalk mark above the USPS logo to signal a needed meeting. 37th and R Sts. NW. Original in a museum. As early as 1985, the CIA's network of Soviet "assets" began disappearing at an alarming rate. The CIA noticed that something was very wrong, but were reluctant to admit that there was a mole in the agency. The CIA was the only Western intelligence agency that had never been infiltrated by the KGB. Initial investigations were far more focused on a communications breach caused by Soviet bugs or by a broken code. By 1990, the CIA was certain that there was a security breach, but could not find the source. Recruitment of new Soviet agents came almost to a halt. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 738 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1108 × 900 pixel, file size: 89 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 738 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1108 × 900 pixel, file size: 89 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
The term mailbox may refer to: The storage space used for Electronic Mail or Voicemail messages. ...
A USPS Truck at Night A U.S. Post Office sign The United States Postal Service (USPS) is the United States government organization responsible for providing postal service in the United States and is generally referred to as the post office. ...
A mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation and works within his nations government. ...
A bug is the common name for a covert listening device, usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. ...
The CIA was harshly criticized for not focusing on Ames sooner, given the dramatic increase in his standard of living. It has been alleged that investigation into the breach was discouraged in the late 1980s when the CIA was reeling from the Iran-Contra Affair and was desperate to avoid another major embarrassment. Another explanation is that the CIA was anxious to avoid a repeat of the internal turmoil generated by the brilliant, but extremely paranoid former ADDOCI James Angleton, whose obsessive conviction that the CIA was riddled with Soviet double agents adversely affected agency operations during the 1970s. The Iran-Contra Affair (also Irangate), was a political scandal occurring in 1987 as a result of earlier events during the Reagan administration in which members of the executive branch sold weapons to Iran, an avowed enemy, and illegally used the profits to continue funding rebels, the Contras, in Nicaragua. ...
James Jesus Angleton (December 9, 1917–May 12, 1987), known to friends and colleagues as Jim and nicknamed the Kingfisher, was the long-serving director of the CIAs counter-intelligence division, an occasional poetry aficionado, and an avid fly-fisherman and orchid-grower. ...
In 1986 and again in 1991, Ames passed two polygraph screening examinations while spying for the Soviet Union and Russia, respectively. Explanations for this include the possibility that Ames was in fact a sociopath and consequently immune to the trials of a polygraph, or has been trained / learned how to defeat the "lie detector". Ames himself admits that the techniques needed to defeat the polygraph are relatively easy to learn and perform and critics blame the CIA's over-reliance on the device to be harmful to national security. Polygraph results are sometimes recorded on a chart recorder A polygraph (commonly yet incorrectly referred to as a lie detector) is a device that measures and records several physiological variables such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration and skin conductivity while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions. ...
Antisocial personality disorder (APD) is a personality disorder which is often characterised by antisocial and impulsive behaviour. ...
Due to the inability of the CIA to uncover the leak, and the fear that the counter-intelligence division may not have been secure, the CIA turned to the FBI to investigate the matter. The FBI soon focused on Ames as one of the prime suspects, putting him under constant surveillance. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ...
Markus Wolf, the retired director of the Stasi's foreign intelligence directorate, claimed in his memoirs that Gardner Hathaway, recently retired as CIA counterintelligence director but haunted by his failure to identify Ames, approached him in 1990 with an offer of cosmetic surgery, lavish compensation, and a new life in the United States if he were to defect and help the CIA identify the source of Ames's ongoing leak. Wolf also claimed to have declined the offer in the belief that he would have to compromise moles he had placed and that he had insufficient guarantees that the CIA would not betray him. Markus Wolf. ...
Logo of East Germanys Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS or Stasi) / Ministry for State Security This article is about Stasi, the secret police of East Germany. ...
Arrest In February of 1994, Ames was scheduled to fly to Moscow as part of his duties for the CIA, and the FBI feared that he would defect. This led to the arrest of Ames and his wife on February 21, 1994, by the FBI for providing highly classified information to the Soviet KGB and its successor organization, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. In the plea Ames made to the court, he said that he had compromised "virtually all Soviet agents of the CIA and other American and foreign services known to me" and provided the USSR and Russia with a "huge quantity of information on United States foreign, defense and security policies."[10] A defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. ...
is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ...
Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki (Служба внешней разведки) (SVR) is Russian for Foreign Intelligence Service and is the name of Russias primary external intelligence agency. ...
On February 22, 1994, Ames and his wife were charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union. Ames could have faced the death penalty, since his betrayal resulted in several CIA "assets" being killed. However, he received a sentence of life imprisonment, and his wife received a 5-year prison sentence for conspiracy to commit espionage and tax evasion as part of a plea-bargain by Ames. Upon her release from prison, Rosario went to South America to reside. is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ...
The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C. “Justice Department†redirects here. ...
Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ...
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime, nominally for the entire remaining life of the prisoner, but in fact for a period which varies between jurisdictions: many countries have a maximum possible period of time (usually 50 years) a prisoner may be incarcerated, or require the...
This article contrasts tax evasion, tax avoidance, tax resistance and tax mitigation. ...
Although generally regarded as a traitor and in fact indicted for treason, Ames was never convicted of treason. The United States Constitution defines treason as granting aid and support to the enemy in times of war. Although the Cold War was a source of much tension, Congress never declared war on the Soviet Union. Actual fighting and hostilities must be undertaken in order for someone convicted of aiding an adversary to qualify as treason. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
Wikisource has original text related to this article: The United States Constitution The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. ...
Ames was ineligible for a death sentence due to a law passed in the 1950s that prohibited the death penalty [citation needed] in peacetime espionage cases following the huge debate and controversy that followed the executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. In 1994, Congress reinstated the death penalty for peacetime espionage as a result of the Ames affair [citation needed] . The Rosenbergs Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg (1915-1953) and Julius Rosenberg (1918-1953) were American Communists who captured and maintained world attention after being tried, convicted, and executed for spying for the Soviet Union. ...
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Ames is currently housed in the US Penitentiary in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. [10] The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a subdivision of the United States Department of Justice, and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. ...
Allenwood Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) is a United States Federal Bureau of Prisons facility located on U.S. Route 15 in Union and Lycoming Counties in Pennsylvania. ...
Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area Ranked 33rd - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 km²) - Width 280 miles (455 km) - Length 160 miles (255 km) - % water 2. ...
Ames received a total of $4.6 million for his spying, over $2 million of which remains to this day in an undisclosed bank account. Russian intelligence has refused to disclose this bank account information in order for the United States to seize it; arguing that that money was rightfully earned by Ames and will remain with him (although it is unknown how Ames will be able to collect). Aldrich Ames is to date, the highest paid spy in American history, and is one of five spies to have earned the "big money" ($1 million or more). Clyde Conrad, Larry Wu-Tai Chin, John Anthony Walker, and Robert Hanssen are the other four. Clyde Lee Conrad was an American non-commissioned officer who, from 1974 until his arrest on August 23rd 1988, sold top secret classified information to the Hungarian military intelligence service, including top secret NATO war plans. ...
Larry Wu-tai Chin (é‡‘ç„¡æ€ ) was a former Chinese language translator working for the CIAs Foreign Broadcast Information Service. ...
John Anthony Walker, Jr. ...
This article is about a former FBI official and convicted spy. ...
In popular culture Ames' story is dramatized in the 1998 movie Aldrich Ames: Traitor Within, with Timothy Hutton as Ames. Ames was included as a character in the 1997 Frederick Forsyth novel Icon, in which several Soviet agents recruited by the United States were betrayed by him. [11] Image:Timhut. ...
Frederick Forsyth. ...
Icon is not just a book. ...
See also Harold James Nicholson--a second mole in CIA at the same time as Ames There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...
References - Cherkashin, Victor, and Gregory Feifer. Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer: the True Story of the Man Who Recruited Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames. New York: Basic Books, 2005. ISBN 0-465-00968-9
- Earley, Pete. Confessions of a Spy: The Real Story of Aldrich Ames ISBN 0-425-16712-7
- Maas, Peter. Killer Spy: The Inside Story of the FBI's Pursuit and Capture of Aldrich Ames, America's Deadliest Spy, Warner, 1995, ISBN 0-446-51973-1
- Wise, David. Nightmover: How Aldrich Ames sold the CIA to the KGB for $4.6 Million, HarperCollins, 1995, ISBN 0060171987
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