Agencies Debate Value Of Being Out In The Cold
Spies Under Nonofficial Cover' Are Among Most Sensitive Operations
Washington Post, January 12, 1996
Author: Walter Pincus
Edition: FINAL
Section: A SECTION
Page: A18She was a CIA case officer working in Europe covertly, holding herself out as the representative of a Texas foundation that was interested in world economics.
Unlike most CIA case officers overseas who work out of U.S. embassies and purport to be diplomats, she was operating under what CIA calls "nonofficial cover" (NOC).
When tradecraft errors led to her entrapment by French counterintelligence, she left the country and her case eventually became a public embarrassment for both Washington and Paris.
(snip)
The recent flap over the CIA's female NOC who was operating in Europe illustrates the problem.
Several years ago, she approached a French government official and offered him money to write some reports on economic activity in that country that she said her foundation would distribute to American businessmen as her work.
The Frenchman was impressed by her and wanted the money so he supplied her with several papers using inside government information to which he had access. He did not know she was an American spying on France. "It was good cover, and, for a time, it worked," said an intelligence expert familiar with her activities.
When the woman's spying role became apparent to a male friend, however, he turned her in to French counterintelligence, which began a surveillance that exposed her activities.
The French government brought the matter to the attention of the U.S. Embassy in Paris; Ambassador Pamela Harriman had not been aware of the woman's activities.
The former CIA official said the French situation is a case where the intelligence gained through the economic information the woman obtained was not worth the risk.
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