Circle of Treason (33 page)

What was Rick like as a person? Sandy first met Rick in the early 1970s when they were in the early stages of their careers as SE Division officers. Although they did not socialize outside the office, they came to know one another fairly well in 1975, when they, along with two other Division officers, carpooled. The rides to and from work were enjoyable, consisting of friendly banter and discussions of hypothetical operational scenarios. To Sandy the Rick Ames of the 1970s and early 1980s was simply a nice guy—easygoing, a good conversationalist, and comfortable to be around. Like an absent-minded professor, he was unpretentious in dress and manner. His hair was unkempt, his sock colors often did not match, his shirts were rarely pressed, and he was always late for the carpool whether he was the driver or the rider. However, none of that really mattered to his contemporaries at the office. Rick was just Rick—a gentle sort whose company his fellow officers enjoyed while silently laughing at his goofy physical appearance. This is not to say that he was always happy-go-lucky. Occasionally he became irritated, particularly if his operational judgment was questioned by those at his level. They might be equals, but he was a greater equal. Nevertheless, to this day Sandy insists that there was no way the Rick of those early years could have ever betrayed his colleagues and his country to become one of the most famous traitors of our time. He had neither the anger, the courage, nor the soul to commit such an act.

Jeanne's contacts with Rick covered the same period, but were more casual. Like Sandy, she remembers him as being mildly unkempt, with hair that badly needed styling, teeth stained from his cigarette habit, and outmoded frames for his eyeglasses. On the other hand, she found him an interesting conversationalist, full of ideas. He was not the sort of person who bored his listener with descriptions of the traffic on his way to work or
comments about the cafeteria menu. Like many who knew him superficially in the office, Jeanne as well as Sandy had no idea that his alcohol consumption was anything but normal.

In retrospect, there are some aspects of Rick's background and persona that warrant comment. First of all, his father's CIA career was a relative failure, a fact he must have known. Indeed, Rick has stated that he read his father's personnel file. This is somewhat baffling because he should not have had access to this restricted record. Rick could not or would not explain how it happened. Yet it was important enough for him to have remembered it and mentioned it during his 1994 debriefings.

Rick's mother, on the other hand, was a popular teacher at McLean High. In contrast to his father, his mother was successful in the career path she had chosen. It must not have been comfortable for Rick to be a student at a school where his mother was a teacher, but we do not know how he dealt with this situation.

Many have commented on Rick's lack of self-discipline and tendency to procrastination. His unsuccessful career at the University of Chicago is an early example. Certainly he had the intelligence to succeed but, away from home for the first time, he failed to study or attend classes regularly. Throughout his career his managers recorded his inattention to submitting his financial accountings on time. And there was one fairly egregious instance where he neglected to submit a performance appraisal report (PAR) for one of his employees on time, finally handing in a sloppy, superficial product. It was so far below standards that, when the promotion panel convened to review all PARs for the year it was singled out for criticism and a formal memorandum was sent to Rick outlining his deficiency in the matter.

Along with his lack of self-discipline, Rick had a habit of doing only what interested him, and letting other things slide. As someone said, he “never had a boss.” When intellectually engaged, he could do a superior job and could articulate why a certain project was important or why it was necessary to make a specific decision. His work in the counternarcotics center in developing coordination between the countries bordering the Black Sea is an example. Even after his sentencing, he was still interested in how this initiative was faring.

Another example is his behavior vis-à-vis the GTWEIGH case in the summer of 1985. He had an advisory role in operational decisions
involving Division sources and developmental cases outside the Soviet Union. For the first time in Sandy's experience in the Africa Branch, Rick not only exercised his role on one of her cases, but did so forcefully. He was adamant in his disagreement with Sandy on the passage of funds in Moscow and repeatedly argued that the potential risk of compromise to Poleshchuk was too great.

What is of particular interest here, of course, is whether Rick was making this argument because he really believed it, even though he was working for the KGB and the position he was advocating worked against KGB interests. Jeanne believes that Rick was able to compartmentalize. Sometimes he was a straightforward, concerned CIA officer, with no heed to the fact that he was also a KGB spy.

Sandy disagrees with this interpretation. She contends that Rick wasn't arguing his course of action because he really believed it was correct, even though it worked against KGB interests. She sees his action as a combination of guilt and self-preservation. Even Rick has some soul and it must have been almost unbearable waiting for his actions to culminate in the various arrests. Conversely, in his arrogant mind he could make himself look good by advocating the proper decision. He was in a position to say: “I told you all it was too dangerous. See how smart I am.” Lastly, his advocacy made him an unlikely suspect should GTWEIGH's compromise lead to an immediate mole hunt.

Along with all this, as Sandy has noted, Rick had some of the attributes of an absent-minded professor. The most famous example of this trait is his behavior in New York, as recounted earlier. After meeting a sensitive asset, Rick took the subway to a rendezvous with the FBI. He got off the train, leaving his briefcase, which contained debriefing notes, behind. Luckily the FBI safely retrieved the briefcase for him.

While Rick would vehemently deny it, both Jeanne and Sandy sensed that, with the exception of his wives, he had a somewhat condescending attitude toward women. Although his first wife Nan outranked him and made more money than he did, which was unusual in those days, he remained extremely proud of her intellectual abilities and achievements. Moreover, after she left the Agency he often spoke glowingly of her work on the 1972 congressional campaign of Democrat joe Fischer, who ran against and defeated a well-known incumbent Republican. The same can be said of Rick's respect for Rosario and her academic accomplishments.
However, outside the house Rick's offhand comments and demeanor left a different impression regarding his views on the ability of women in the workplace. Also, we had the distinct feeling that he was pleased to know that it was two women that were heading up the investigation of the 1985 compromises, because it would be easier to outwit us.

In the later days of his career, after he had become comfortable with his espionage activities, Rick exuded self-confidence, as if he was certain that he would never be caught. Whether this had anything to do with his attitude toward women, or whether it was associated with his long-held inability to face unpleasant facts, is moot, but it certainly existed. On Sandy's first morning in the Counterintelligence Center, Rick nonchalantly walked into her work area to welcome her. After some small talk he casually asked about her new assignment. When told that she and Jeanne and two FBI representatives were going to try to find answers to our 1985 compromises, Rick immediately began a lecture on the most basic tenets of a counterintelligence investigation. “Sandy, the first thing you should do is look for differences between the cases we lost and the new sources we are currently and successfully running.” He added that he would be more than happy to offer any assistance. A few months later, Jeanne had a similar experience. The day after Rick had been interviewed by the task force, Jeanne and he happened to be waiting for an elevator at the same time. Rick mentioned the interview, said that he had given the problem some thought and, like he had with Sandy, offered his assistance.

Much has been made of Ames' alcohol use. As we see it, he certainly abused alcohol on occasion and is best described as a binge drinker. Yet he could use alcohol normally on social occasions and he was not alcohol-dependent in the sense that he slipped some vodka into his orange juice every morning. Interestingly, neither of his two wives, when interviewed after the arrests, considered him a true alcoholic.

Rick probably began drinking early in adulthood. As noted in
Chapter 12
, there were two DUI incidents at the outset of his career, and he overindulged at two Christmas parties. The only time that his management took official notice of his drinking was in Mexico City. When Rick came back to headquarters after this assignment, he was called in by the Office of Medical Services for an interview. He admitted that he had been drinking too much, but attributed it to the breakup of his first marriage
and the subsequent stress. He added that he was now on an even keel and alcohol was no longer a problem.

This was not the truth, however, because on one occasion in Rome he got dead drunk and was picked up by the police. Significantly, this happened while Rosario was away in Bogota visiting her family. She herself drank very little and did her best to limit his consumption when she was on the scene. For whatever reason, Station management never reported this lapse to CIA headquarters. Another binge took place not too long before his arrest. Once again he was out of Rosario's control, on a trip to meet his KGB handler in Europe. He spent the night in a Zurich hotel. Rosario knew where he was and telephoned him. She got a thoroughly incoherent response when she reached him.

There were also occasions, both in Rome and at headquarters where Rick went out for lunch, had too much to drink, and came back and took a nap at his desk. These cannot have been too frequent, however, because most of his colleagues were not aware of any problem. In general, it appears that overindulgence in alcohol was a solitary pastime. When in company, he drank normally but, as he himself stated during his debriefings, sometimes he felt he “owed it to himself” to go to a bar and knock back a few vodkas.

HANSSEN AND AMES—A COMPARISON

A
FTER
A
MES
'
ARREST AND CONVICTION
, Sandy and Jeanne bowed out of the “mole-hunting” business. Jeanne continued to work at the CIA part-time. She spent one year writing a classified study of the Ames case, then moved to a counterintelligence job that involved operations, not personnel. Sandy meantime devoted herself to her family and private life. However both were peripherally involved in what became, after many false starts, the Hanssen case. Both of them knew that there were several loose ends after Ames was arrested. Some CI leads that indicated a KGB penetration of the U.S. intelligence community just could not be made to fit with Ames' access, no matter how hard the FBI tried.

First and foremost was the Felix Bloch case. As recounted earlier, Bloch was a U.S. State Department officer. In the spring of 1989, when the CIA got wind that he might be cooperating with the KGB, the FBI was immediately informed. Less than two months later, the KGB warned Bloch that he was under suspicion. Ames could not have known about this case. He was in Rome at the time and there was no Italian connection. One theory was that the French DST, which had helped with the surveillance of Bloch, could be responsible for the leak, but there was no evidence that this was so. Thus the case remained a question mark, and a burning one, in the minds of many.

Another operation involved an FBI technical penetration of a Soviet establishment in the United States. KGB technicians removed the FBI's
device and it looked as if they had known exactly where to search for it. The CIA was aware of the technical capability involved, but despite an intensive investigation, the FBI never could ascertain that anyone in the CIA knew about the specific device and its location.