In the coming weeks and months, Deeper Look will host a series examining lingering Cold War mysteries — chief among them being whether there might in fact be an undiscovered Fourth Mole beyond the ‘big three’ of Aldrich Ames, Richard Hanssen, and Ed Howard. Derek Owen and Jeff Daniels have been investigating this for several years, along with R.M. Schneiderman. They’ve invited me to joining as they look into very serious questions around the tantalizing (and disturbing) issue of possible undiscovered moles in the US Intelligence Community.
In case you missed it, a few weeks ago in Politico, Derek and R.M. Schneiderman authored a detailed magazine piece entitled: “We’ve Got a F***king Spy in This Place” which highlights the work that they and Jeff Daniels have been doing in this space.
The vast majority of what they and others have been looking into took place after I left Moscow in 1986, and after I left CIA in 1990, so I’m not bringing insider knowledge to this. Rather — the theory is that I will add value by bringing bringing the boots-on-the-ground experience of Cold War Moscow, and an investigative mindset to look at the evidence carefully, avoid confirmation bias and conspiracy-think, and in a fair and responsible way try to react to the allegations that are out there. I won’t be pitching — I’ll be in my umpire suit calling balls and strikes as I see them. I start from a position of general skepticism that a mole could have survived decades undetected — but I’ve seen enough lingering questions to cause me to feel like this is an endeavor worth taking part in, responsibly and with respect for all parties, especially those who have had accusations leveled at them in the media.
And what are those accusations?
Specifically, that the “1985 losses” cannot be fully accounted for by Aldrich Ames, Rick Hanssen, and Ed Howard, and that going forward from there — after the end of my time with CIA—there were further unexplained anomalies that have led to a belief in some quarters that there very well might have been an undiscovered spy within the ranks of the US intelligence community — a spy who remains undiscovered to this day.
One of the reasons I agreed to participate is that Derek, Jeff, and R.M. Schneiderman have approached this sensitive topic responsibly, without hype or sensationalism. Adding me to the mix provides another layer of careful consideration. So conspiracy theorists may be disappointed. But for those who feel there could be value in a careful, responsible look at the persistent claims about a “Fourth Man” I hope that the series will be good food for thought.
Stay tuned …..more soon on this.
Share this post