Confessions of a Spy: The Real Story of Aldrich Ames

391 Pages·1997·19.76 MB·English

by  Pete Earley

I
J
The Real Story of
ALDRICH AMES
Author of Family of Sph
A. $27.50
ada $37.50
"There are things that hav out f
about this case. There are still secrets that - *
J.
only a few know. "
—Aldrich Ames to Pete Parley
Confessions of a Spy is the first and only complete
story of the "spy of the century"—the story that
no one could tell until now—from the author of the
bestselling Family of Spies.
When Aldrich Ames was arrested in February
1994, he had been feeding the KGB information for
nine years; he had been paid more than two and a
half million dollars, with the promise of two million
more; and he had been personally responsible for
the betrayal that led to the execution of most of the
United States' top assets in the Soviet Union.
Never before had one man done so much damage
to American security.
Several books about the case were immediately
rushed to publication. But Pete Barley knew that
the truth could not be hurried, that it would take
time and patient investigation to uncover the real
story—and he did.
Pete Barley is the only writer to conduct fifty
hours of one-on-one interviews with Ames, with-
out a government censor present. He is the only
writer to have traveled to Moscow to speak to
Ames's KGB handlers and with the families of the
spies he betrayed. He is the only writer to have had
access to the remarkable CIA mole-hunting team
that tracked down Ames through its own detective
work.
The result is a portrait of a much more complex
and diabolical man than has previously been
depicted; an account of damage far worse than
has ever been chronicled, including startling reve-
lations of unreported double agents and scandal
in high Washington circles; and a story of three
women—a gray-haired lady in tennis shoes, a
knockout blonde, and a shy, gum-chewing secre-
tary—who bucked every obstacle the CIA male
establishment could throw at them, to expose
perhaps the most devastating spy in modern U.S.
history.
This is an extraordinary human drama, a mod-
ern morality play charged wi+h <:o-v nreed,
betrayal, and heroism—and ding.
9702
CONFESSIONS OF A SPY

PETE EARLEY
CONFESSIONS
OF A SPY
AMES
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS NEW YORK
G. R Putnam's Sons
Publishers Since 1838
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Copyright © 1997 by Pete Earley, Inc.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be
reproduced in any form without permission.
Published simultaneously in Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Earley, Pete.
Confessions of a spy: the real story of Aldrich Ames / Pete Earley.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-399-14188-X
1. Ames, Aldrich Hazen, 1941- . 2. United States. Central
Intelligence Agency. 3. Intelligence officers—United States.
4. Intelligence service—United States. 5. Espionage, Soviet—
United States. I. Title.
JK468.I6E27 1997
327.12,092—dc20 96-18425 CIP
[B]
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
This book is printed on acid-free paper. 0
Book design by Kate Nichols
FOR KEVIN Ml

CONTENTS
PROLOGUE: THE DRAMA BEGINS 1
PART ONE: THE SEEDS 15
PART TWO: LOVE AND BETRAYAL B9
PART THREE: FALSE STARTS 171
PART FOUR: NOT A CARE
IN THE WORLD 255
PART FIVE: A FINAL PERFORMANCE 303
SOURCES 353
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 363
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 365