26. Ames Begins His Career as a Traitor
Aldrich Ames spent a stint in Turkey recruiting Soviet spies in the 1960s, before returning to the US in the 1970s. He was posted to Mexico in the early 1980s, where he met his second wife, a Colombian whom he had recruited. They wed in 1985, and that same year, the couple began selling secrets to the KGB. During their run of treason, which lasted until they were finally unmasked in 1994, Ames and his wife were paid over $2.7 million by the Soviets, and after 1991, the Russians.
There were warnings aplenty, but they were ignored. They included conspicuous consumption and extravagant spending; a big $520,000 house paid for in cash; luxury vacations; premium credit cards whose minimum monthly payment exceeded Ames’ salary; and luxury cars that stood out in the CIA’s parking lot. Those were things that no honest public servant could afford on government pay, but no suspicions were aroused for years.
