Sandra Grimes, Who Helped Unmask A CIA Traitor, Dies At 79

I read that former CIA officer Sandra Grimes, a member of the team that uncovered CIA spy and traitor Aldrich Ames, has died. She was 79. 

You can read her obit via the link below:

Sandra Grimes, who helped unmask a CIA traitor, dies at 79 | The Seattle Times  

She wrote Circle of Treason, an account of the "Ames Mole Hunt" written by two former CIA officers who were key members of the CIA team that conducted the hunt for a spy within the CIA. 

I interviewed her for Counterterrorism magazine in 2014. You can read the interview via the pages below:

 

Note: The above photo is of Aldrich Ames and his wife, and the photo below is the CIA team that uncovered Ames.

On This Day In History CIA Spy And Traitor Aldrich Ames Was Arrested

As History.com notes, on this day in 1994 CIA officer Aldrich Ames was arrested for spying for the Soviet Union.

You can read about the spy and traitor via the below link:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/double-agent-aldrich-ames-is-arrested?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2017-0221-02212017&om_rid=de5e4076c942a595dbda53f758321d197499484f6d117f61b6ac5c08e0d6f0aa&om_mid=151281413&kx_EmailCampaignID=9996&kx_EmailCampaignName=email-hist-tdih-2017-0221-02212017&kx_EmailRecipientID=de5e4076c942a595dbda53f758321d197499484f6d117f61b6ac5c08e0d6f0aa

You can also read my Counterterrorism magazine interview with Sandra Grimes (seen above on the left of the photo), one of the CIA officers who brought Aldrich Ames down.

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2014/02/the-ames-mole-hunt-my-q-with-sandra.html

Jeanne Vertefeuille: CIA Spy Hunter

The CIA released a piece on the late Jeanne Vertefeuille (seen above in the center of the group photo), one of the CIA officers who caught CIA spy and traitor Aldrich Ames.

At first, I wanted to jump across the table and strangle him. But then I started laughing. It was really funny, because he was the one in shackles, not me.”

This was the reaction of CIA officer Jeanne Vertefeuille upon learning that Aldrich Ames, the most damaging mole in CIA history, had once given his Soviet handlers her name when they asked what other CIA official could be framed for Ames’s own treachery.

Fortunately that strategy did not pan out, and instead Jeanne led the internal task force that ultimately brought Ames to justice. It was the pinnacle of a long and memorable career in CIA.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2016-featured-story-archive/spy-catcher-jeanne-vertefeuille.html

You can also read my Counterterrorism magazine interview with Sandra V. Grimes (seen on the left in the above group photo) via the below link:

Grime worked with Jeanne Vertefeuille and helped catch Ames. She and Jeanne Vertefuille wrote Circle of Treason: A CIA Account of Traitor Aldrich Ames and the Men He Betrayed.

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2014/02/the-ames-mole-hunt-my-q-with-sandra.html

Barely Anyone Watched The Best Spy Show Of 2014

Armin Rosen at businessinsider.com offers a piece on the TV series The Assets, a show that I enjoyed.

From 1985 to 1987, the spy war between the US and the Soviet Union reached a bizarre fever pitch.

CIA assets inside the KGB were rounded up and executed, and no one could figure out why. A disgruntled ex-CIA agent evaded an FBI surveillance dragnet and fled to Moscow, partly by using a human-sized dummy to throw off his trackers. A US Marine guard fell for a KBG honeypot and allowed a Soviet operative into the American embassy in Moscow. To top it all off, a KBG colonel defected to the US and then re-defected to the Soviets after fleeing his CIA handler while they were eating at a French restaurant in Washington, DC's posh Georgetown neighborhood.

Events that could shift the balance of Cold War were coming hard and fast, and one man was in some way connected to all of them: Aldrich Ames, a CIA veteran currently serving a federal life sentence for espionage (seen below in the photo with his wife).

The hunt for Ames — who was perhaps the most damaging mole in the agency's history — and the events surrounding his betrayal of the United States was the subject of "The Assets," an 8-part miniseries that ran on ABC in early 2014. The show's pilot was the lowest-rated premier for a primetime drama in history. No matter: the whole thing's on Netflix Instant Watch. And if you have any interest in the Cold War, intelligence, or the darker regions of human nature the show belongs on your to-do list.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.businessinsider.com/barely-anyone-watched-the-best-spy-show-of-2014-2014-12

You can also read an earlier post on The Assets via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2014/08/the-assets-abcs-dropped-drama-based-on.html

I interviewed Sandy Grimes (seen in the above photo), the real CIA officer who helped bring down CIA traitor and spy Aldrich Ames, and co-wrote the book Circle of Treason, the book the TV series was based on.

You can read my Counterterrorism magazine Q & A with Sandy Grimes via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2014/02/the-ames-mole-hunt-my-q-with-sandra.html

The above photo shows Sandy Grimes and the CIA team that uncovered Aldrich Ames.

The Assets: ABC's Dropped Drama Based On The True Story Of The Uncovering of CIA Spy And Traitor Aldrich Ames Now On ABC On Demand

I was sorry to learn that ABC canceled The Assets, which dramatized the CIA's search for a spy and traitor who gave up all of the top Soviet "assets," after only two episodes.

The spy and traitor turned out to be CIA officer Aldrich Ames. Many of the assets, also known as agents, Ames betrayed were later executed by the Soviet KGB.

I suspect ABC expected to bring in ratings like the fictional espionage series The Americans and were disappointed when they did not.

Thankfully, ABC On Demand is now offering the rest of The Assets on Comcast Cable. I watched the rest of the series and I enjoyed it.

So if you have ABC On Demand and you're interested in the history of espionage and/or enjoy a good true spy story, then you might want to watch The Assets.

One of the spy hunters, and the co-author of Circle of Treason, the book the series is based on, is former CIA officer Sandra Grimes.

I interviewed Sandra Grimes for Counterterrorism magazine before the TV series aired. You can read my interview with her via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2014/02/the-ames-mole-hunt-my-q-with-sandra.html

The Ames Mole Hunt: My Q & A With Sandra Grimes, Former CIA Officer, Mole Hunter, And Author Of "Circle Of Treason"

My interview with Sandra V. Grimes, one of a team of CIA officers who helped uncover spy and traitor Aldrich Ames, appears in the current issue of Counterterrorism magazine.

Circle of Treason is an account of the "Ames Mole Hunt" written by two former CIA officers who were key members of the CIA team that conducted the hunt for a spy within the CIA.

Sandra V. Grimes and Jeanne Vertefeuille were two of the five principals of the CIA team tasked with hunting one of their own and were directly responsible for identifying Ames as the mole, leading to his arrest and conviction.

Aldrich Ames has been called one of the most destructive traitors in American history and the CIA's notorious traitor. The CIA officer provided information to the Soviet Union that contributed to the deaths of at least ten Soviet intelligence officers who spied for the United States.

You can read the interview below:

Note: The above photos were provided by the Naval Institute Press. 

You can click on the above photos to enlarge.

A Look Back At The CIA Traitor And Soviet Spy Aldrich Ames

ABCNews offers a look back at Aldrich Ames, the CIA officer who became a traitor and Soviet spy. (He is seen in the above photo with his wife Rosario). Ames gave up the names of several "assets" in Russia who subsequently executed.

You can watch the broadcast via the below link:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/feb-24-1994-aldrich-ames-arrested-espionage-21372905

I recently interviewed former CIA officer Sandra V. Grimes for Counterterrorism magazine. Sandra Grimes was one of the CIA officers who uncovered Aldrich Ames (she is seen in the above team photo on the left).

Grimes and  Jeanne Vertefuille (seen in the center of the above photo) wrote an account of their "mole hunt" in the CIA, which lead to their uncovering Ames as a spy called Circle of Treason (Naval Institute Press).

I'll post the Sandra Grimes interview here when it is published.

Note: The above photos were provided by the Naval Institute Press.

Jeanne Vertefeuille, CIA Offical Who Helped Catch A Notorious Mole, Dies At 80

Jean Vertefeuille, a former CIA officer known for her role in exposing CIA "Mole" Aldrich Ames, has died. She was 80.

Ames, currently serving a life sentence in prison, was a CIA officer who betrayed his country and the CIA by becoming a Russian spy and caused the death of many Russians who were helping the U.S. during the Cold War and Post-Cold War. Vertefeuille and Sandra Grimes recently published a book about their mole hunt in the CIA called Circle of Treason: A CIA Account of Traitor Aldrich Ames and the Men He Betrayed (Naval Institute Press).

Jean Vertefeuille's obituary ran in the New York Times today.

Jeanne Vertefeuille joined the Central Intelligence Agency as a typist in 1954 and then began inching up through the ranks, obtaining postings overseas. By 1986 she had become a midlevel expert on the Soviet Union and counterintelligence. She remained a quiet agency soldier, however — purposefully nondescript and selflessly dedicated. She lived alone and walked to work.

But if she was a gray figure at the agency, Ms. Vertefeuille was also a tenacious and effective one, and in October 1986 was asked to lead a task force to investigate the disappearance of Russians whom the C.I.A. had hired to spy against their own country.

      

Almost eight years later, the investigation led to the unmasking of a C.I.A. employee, Aldrich Ames, as one of the most notorious traitors in American history. He had sold out the Russian agents — at least eight were executed — for millions in cash. His downfall was in no small part owed to Ms. Vertefeuille (pronounced VER-teh-fay), who brought to the mission a deep knowledge of Soviet spycraft and of her own agency’s workings. 

 

You can read the rest of the piece via th below link:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/us/jeanne-vertefeuille-who-helped-catch-aldrich-ames-dies-at-80.html?ref=obituaries&_r=0   

Two Women CIA Officers Who Brought Down The Traitor Aldrich Ames

Susan Reimer at the Baltimore Sun wrote an interesting column about an interesting book called  Circle of Treason: A CIA Account of Traitor Aldrich Ames and the Men He Betrayed (Naval Institute Press). 

Jeanne Vertefeuille and Sandra Grimes could be George Smiley's people.

They were recruited on their college campuses by the Central Intelligence Agency during the height of the Cold War. Jeanne wanted travel and adventure. Sandy didn't know much about the CIA; she just needed a job.

Jeanne and Sandy. That's how they refer to themselves in the book they co-authored, "Circle of Treason."

It tells the story of these two women — Jeanne worked her way up from the equivalent of the steno pool, while Sandy was immediately in the Soviet division (and over her head) because she could speak Russian — and how they brought down the most devastating traitor in the history of the agency: Aldrich Ames.

Their meticulous investigation and combing of records also revealed losses that could not have come from Mr. Ames. They pointed more to the FBI and eventually led to a traitor in its midst, Robert Hanssen, who spied for the Soviets for 22 years, doing damage that more than rivaled that done by Mr. Ames. Both men are serving life terms for espionage. Those they betrayed were executed.
"Circle of Treason" is the first book about the decade-long mole hunt not written by academics or journalists but by members of the team that uncovered the spying of Messrs. Ames and Hanssen.

You can read the rest of the column via the below link:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-reimer-aldrich-ames-20121217,0,3484978.column

• X
  Maurice Sendak lit up dark corners of childhoodWhat is the right number of blows to the head?Dads and diaper makers hug it outThere's no debateAre we ready for myalmamater.com? From Annapolis to AfghanistanAt home with the Jesuses 'Eat, goats. Eat!'Presidential campaign 'legitimately' toxic?Grown-ups failed accused Perry Hall shooterWhy did David Petraeus have to step down from the CIA?With Mega win, life would be a beachSheila Dixon — making women look bad all over againWarmer winter wakes up the gardenPresidential election or abortion referendum?Building a pre-retirement nest Commencement speakers: the rude, the unfunny and the insightfulThe board game that launched a lifetime of errand running