'WHITEWASH WEDNESDAY.' Fittingly, the CIA was the first to know. But many in its rank and file were dismayed by Director James Woolsey's closed-circuit report to the staff on the investigation of CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames. "Whitewash Wednesday," one officer called it. Woolsey shared few secrets. While deploring Ames's betrayal, which destroyed the CIA's Soviet network of spies and consigned 10 agents to death, he largely blamed "systemic failure." He reprimanded 11 officers and singled out by name only one--both publicly and in-house--for lapses.
Even then, he pulled his punches. Three of the severely reprimanded had already retired and one, former Bonn station chief Milton Bearden, was only days from retirement. Although Ted Price, the deputy director of operations, was singled out, Woolsey blunted the criticism by lauding his "ability and professionalism" and keeping him at his post. Among the reprimanded but not named was Alan Wolf, the CIA station chief in Rome when Ames's drinking problems and security violations were overlooked.
Then I found this:
Duane 'Dewey' Clarridge longtime CIA field agent (NE & SE Asia) and administrator pardoned by GHW Bush for Iran-Contra involvement; was Aldrich Ames' supervisor (See A Spy for All Seasons, 1997, Scribner's).
Does anyone else find it strange that the two people that Cannistraro name are the same ones that worked with Aldrich Ames, the person that "outed" Valerie Plame to the Russians?
Is there any reporting on this besides Cannistraro's word? I will see what I can find.
What is going on here? I do find it strange that the two people that Cannistraro names are the same ones that worked with Aldrich Ames, the person that "outed" Valerie Plame to the Russians?
My mind doesn't operate enough to figure out a scenario, but I don't believe in those kind of coincidences.
And I will add, much as I've always thought of Woolsey, I'm surprised and disappointed to hear about how he handled that entire matter.
Interesting.