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Aldrich Ames
Aldrich Ames

Aldrich Hazen Ames (born May 26, 1941) is a former Central Intelligence Agency counter-intelligence officer and analyst, who, in 1994, was convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and later Russia. Events 451 - The Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire takes place Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. near as long as it used to be several months ago It has been actively summarized and split into sub-articles and there is a dynamic talk page discussion of all This article is a subset article of Intelligence cycle security.

Contents

Early life and work

Ames was born in River Falls, Wisconsin to Rachel Aldrich and Carleton Cecil Ames. River Falls is a city in Pierce and St Croix Counties in the U [1] He attended high school at McLean High School in McLean, VA. McLean High School is a public secondary school located in McLean Virginia. McLean (pronounced "mick-CLANE") is an Unincorporated community located in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. 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 (his performance in turning assets was very poor). Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after İstanbul. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches While he had some interesting assignments, including the handling of Soviet Diplomat Aleksandr Dmitrievich Ogorodnik, his personal life was in shambles. Alexander Dmitrievich Ogorodnik was a Soviet Diplomat who while stationed in Bogotá, was blackmailed by Colombian intelligence agents into spying against the Soviet He frequently fought with his first wife, Nancy, and would often go out binge drinking to get away from her. Binge drinking is drinking certain beverages with the intention of becoming intoxicated When assigned to the US Embassy to Mexico in 1983, he committed adultery with Rosario Dupuy, an employee of the Colombian Embassy to Mexico. Adultery is the voluntary Sexual intercourse between a married person and another person who is not his or her Spouse, though in many places it is Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Soon after his return to the US following that assignment, he began divorce proceedings against Nancy, who had the advantage in gaining the joint assets of their marriage as the divorce was on the grounds of his unfaithfulness. Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the termination of a Marriage. He also began cohabitation with Rosario, who was spending much of his money shopping. Cohabitation is when people live together in an emotionally- and/or physically- Intimate relationship. The financial pressure of his divorce and Rosario's expenses made Ames think of a method to augment his finances. He began spying for the Soviet Union during 1985, when he walked into the Soviet Embassy in Washington to offer secrets for money. Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar)

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. KGB ( Transliteration of "КГБ" is the Russian abbreviation of Committee for State Security ( Komityet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosty 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 government the names of every American agent working in their country. The Soviets paid Ames approximately $4. 6 million, allowing Ames to maintain a lifestyle well beyond the means of a normal CIA officer. With the money he earned from spying for the USSR he bought a new Jaguar, jewelry, designer clothing, and a house in the Northern Virginia suburbs valued at $500,000 (paid for in cash). The jaguar (Panthera onca,, or—especially in British English — is a New World Mammal of the Felidae family and one of Northern Virginia (colloquially referred to as "NOVA" or "NoVA" consists of several Ames, who struggled with alcoholism, did not have an ideological affinity for the USSR; he was interested only in gaining more money. Alcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions Before he was caught, he was assigned the task of preparing the damage assessment of Jonathan Pollard's activities, and defenders of Pollard believe that he used the opportunity to attribute to Pollard the act of uncovering CIA agents and assets in the USSR. Jonathan Jay Pollard (born August 7, 1954 in Galveston, Texas) is a convicted Israeli Spy and a former United States 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.

Various betrayals

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 the Spy Museum.
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 the Spy Museum.

As early as 1985, the CIA's network of Soviet-bloc agents began disappearing at an alarming rate. The CIA noticed that something was very wrong, but was reluctant to admit that there was a mole in the agency. A mole (also called a defector in place, an informant and in the Mafia a rat) is a Spy who works for an enemy Nation, but whose loyalty The CIA was the only Western intelligence agency that had never been proven to be penetrated by the KGB. Initial investigations were far more focused on a communications breach caused by Soviet bugs or by a broken code. A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug, is usually a combination of a Miniature Radio transmitter with a Microphone. By 1990, the CIA was certain that there was a mole, but could not find the source. Recruitment of new Soviet agents came almost to a halt. [10]

The CIA was harshly criticized for not focusing on Ames sooner, given the dramatic increase in his standard of living. At this time, his official salary was about $60,000 USD, but his expenditures included a few surprising items:

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. The Iran-Contra affair was a political scandal which was revealed in November 1986 as a result of earlier events during the Reagan administration. [10] 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. James Jesus Angleton (December 9 1917 &ndash May 12 1987 known to colleagues as Jim and nicknamed "the Kingfisher" was a long-serving chief of the Central Intelligence

In 1986 and again in 1991, Ames passed two polygraph screening examinations while spying for the Soviet Union and Russia, respectively. A polygraph (popularly referred to as a Lie detector) is an instrument that measures and records several physiological responses such as Blood pressure Explanations for this include the possibility that Ames was in fact a sociopath and consequently immune to the polygraph test, or had learned or been trained how to defeat the "lie detector". Sociopathy is a loosely-defined term that may be used to refer to Psychopathy Antisocial personality disorder Dissocial Ames himself admits that the techniques needed to defeat the polygraph are relatively easy to learn and perform; and critics claim the CIA's over-reliance on the device to be harmful to national security.

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.

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. Markus Johannes "Mischa" Wolf ( January 19, 1923 – November 9, 2006) was head of the General Reconnaissance Administration For the regular police in East Germany see Volkspolizei. The Ministerium für Staatssicherheit ( Ministry for State Security 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.

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. In Politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another 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. Events 362 - Athanasius returns to Alexandria. 1245 - Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) Foreign Intelligence Service ( Russian: Служба Внешней Разведки (or SVR) is Russia 's primary external intelligence agency 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. "[11]

On February 22, 1994, Ames and his wife were formally charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union and Russia. Events 1495 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) For animal rights group see Justice Department (JD The United States Department of Justice ( DOJ) is a Cabinet department Ames could have faced the death penalty, since his betrayal had resulted in several CIA "assets" being killed. Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. [10] 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. Life imprisonment or life incarceration is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime often for most Tax avoidance is the legal utilization of the Tax regime to one's own advantage in order to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law Upon her release from prison, Rosario was deported to South America to reside.

Ames is currently housed in the high security US Penitentiary in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. Allenwood Federal Correctional Complex (FCC is a United States Federal Bureau of Prisons facility located on U The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern [12]

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 the money was rightfully earned by Ames and will remain his (although it is unknown how Ames will be able to collect it).

Ames is, to date, the highest paid spy in American history, and is one of five known 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 (b 1948 - January 8, 1998) was an American Non-commissioned officer who from 1974 until his arrest on August 23rd Larry Wu-tai Chin ( Chinese: 金無怠 Pinyin: Jīn Wúdài 1918– February 22, 1986) was a former Chinese language translator John Anthony Walker Jr (born July 28 1937 in Washington DC) is a former Warrant Officer and communications specialist for the U Robert Philip Hanssen (born April 18, 1944) is a former American FBI agent who spied for the Russian KGB against the United

In popular culture

Ames' story is dramatized in the 1998 movie Aldrich Ames: Traitor Within, with Timothy Hutton as Ames. Timothy T Hutton (born August 16, 1960) is an American Academy Award -winning Actor. 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. Frederick Forsyth, CBE (born August 25, 1938) is an English author and occasional political commentator This article describes the novel "Icon" For the biography of Steve Jobs, see iCon. [13]

In Metal Gear Solid 2, Raiden meets a person working for the government called Richard Ames (taken from aldRICH AMES; Ames's nickname is "Rick")), a Secret Service agent and associate of The Patriots US Government who briefs Raiden of the La Li Lu Le Lo before suffering from some form of heart attack, reminiscent of the DARPA chief in Metal Gear Solid. (commonly abbreviated as MGS2) is a stealth action Video game directed by Hideo Kojima, developed by Konami Computer Entertainment whose real name is Jack, is a character in the ''Metal Gear series The federal government of the United States is the central United States Governmental body established by the United States Constitution. Myocardial infarction ( MI or AMI for acute myocardial infarction) also known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply is a stealth-action Video game directed by Hideo Kojima. The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published In the movie Breach Ames' story is referenced several times throughout the story. Breach is a 2007 American Docudrama directed by Billy Ray. The screenplay by Ray Adam Mazer and William Rotko is based on the

See also

Harold James Nicholson--a second mole in CIA at the same time as Ames

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Ancestry of Aldrich Ames
  2. ^ Key Players
  3. ^ Victims Of Aldrich Ames - Printout - Time
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ CIA Traitor Aldrich Ames
  6. ^ CIA Traitor Aldrich Ames
  7. ^ CIA Traitor Aldrich Ames
  8. ^ CIA Traitor Aldrich Ames
  9. ^ videofact
  10. ^ a b c Powell, Bill (2002-11-01), Treason: How a Russian Spy Led an American Journalist to a U. S. Double Agent, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0743229150
  11. ^ An Assessment of the Aldrich H. Ames Espionage Case and Its Implications for U.S. Intelligence - Senate Select Committee on Intelligence - 01 November 1994 - Part One
  12. ^ Federal Bureau of Prisons
  13. ^ Icon by Frederick Forsyth - Books - Random House

Further reading

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