by Bryan Denson
I’m also grateful to the many former prisoners who served time with Jim at Sheridan, including the cellmates, workmates, and prayer meeting friends who alternately depicted him as saint and sinner. Some supplied me with UNICOR work records, commissary lists, chow hall menus, inmate handbooks, and annotated maps of the medium-security lockup. Most notably, I’d like to thank Rob Tillitz and John Will for the time they gave me in interviews and written accounts of life inside the prison.
I owe much to First Amendment lawyer Jeff Kosseff, at Covington & Burling LLP, my attorney and former investigative partner at The Oregonian. Jeff, one of the smartest humans I know, worked behind the scenes in an attempt to get the Department of Justice to permit an interview of Jim Nicholson. We also hoped to mount a legal challenge to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s Special Administrative Measure that forbade Jim from communicating with me. Neither Jeff nor I have given up hope of challenging the SAM in federal court.
I’m also thankful to my best friend, the author Stephen Kelly, who pushed me to report my way into this story and pulled me out of a few panic attacks as my deadlines approached. I am extremely grateful to my family in Texas—my mom, Patricia Jean Denson, and my brothers J.M. “Dutch” Denson and Cavan P. M. Denson—for encouraging this multiyear project even as it took me in directions away from them.
I’ll close by thanking Nathan and his family for choosing me to tell their painful but revealing story. I’m forever indebted.
Notes
All page numbers refer to the print edition of The Spy’s Son. Please use the search feature on your reader to locate the text that corresponds to the note entries below.
Chapter Two
27: “A death sentence awaits me”: “Undelivered speech of Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr.: Upon his return from the United States of America on August 21, 1983” (as published by the Official Gazette by order of the Office of the President of the Philippines Under Commonwealth Act No. 638)
38: he would deny ever cheating on her: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
39: Pol Pot, who had superintended genocide in Cambodia: “Cambodian Genocide, 1975–1978,” a paper by World Without Genocide, at William Mitchell School of Law
Chapter Three
52: the SVR’s top official in Kuala Lumpur, Yuri P. Vlasov: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
52: throw open the door to dialogue between the two spy agencies: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,”, GQ March 1998, by David Wise
53: a group of Arab terrorists—some battle-hardened by the Soviet war in Afghanistan: “Malaysia’s forgotten, forgiven 9/11 history,” Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd., by Derek Henry Flood, September 11, 2010
53: hanging out the shingle: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
53: He had broken into houses, planted bugs: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
54: Jim was tortured by nightmares of going to prison: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
54: [Ames] accused the CIA’s careerist bureaucrats of deceiving generations of Americans: “Spy Voices Shame and Defiance Before Receiving a Life Sentence,” The New York Times, by David Johnston, April 29, 1994
54: Ames would acknowledge in a letter: Aldrich Ames letter to the author, received January 18, 2011
54: the SVR might be in the market for another highly paid mole inside the CIA: “The Spy Who Loved Them: Jim Nicholson Explains Why He Spied for Russia,” NBC News, Katie Couric, July 14, 1997
54–55: Jim told Vlasov he was in trouble: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
55: “That should not be a problem”: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
55: “What did you do wrong?”: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
56: Vlasov gave Jim a mail-drop address in Harare: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
56: responding with a pass-phrase: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
56: He turned over the names of more than a dozen assets: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
Chapter Four
62: getting down to the business of catching spies: “Clinton signing order on new FBI-CIA relationship,” The Associated Press, May 3, 1994
62: ordered the FBI and CIA to share information: “Clinton Alters Counterspy Net in Wake of Ames Case,” Los Angeles Times, by Ronald J. Ostrow, May 4, 1994
64: “tied up in the security purgatory”: See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA’s War on Terrorism, Robert Baer, Crown Publishers, 2002
66: a hulking fellow with a broad face and dark hair thinning above his temples: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
66: sack held a batch of CT dossiers: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
66: Polyakov handed him a brown paper package: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
66: Polyakov was chief of the SVR’s South Asia Division: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
67: prepared him to defeat the test without drugs: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
67: threw him a curve by putting him through their own single-issue test: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
68: In July, he mailed the Russians a postcard: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
69: The KGB reportedly killed at least ten: “An Assessment of the Aldrich H. Ames Espionage Case and Its Implications for U.S. Intelligence” (Senate Select Committee on Intelligence), November 1, 1994
69: One of the Jaguars he drove was valued at $49,000: “An Assessment of the Aldrich H. Ames Espionage Case and Its Implications for U.S. Intelligence” (Senate Select Committee on Intelligence), November 1, 1994
70: broke things off with Lily: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
73: The Russian told him that some of the information about Ames was new: “The Spy Who Sold the Farm,” GQ March 1998, by David Wise
74: “You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself”: “Million Idea: Use Greed for Good,” Chicago Tribune, by Bob Greene, December 15, 1986
75: honed in on the phone to help knock off the Chechen leader: “Did NSA Help Russia Target Dudayev?” Covert Action Quarterly, by Wayne Madsen, 1997, No. 61
Chapter Five
100: took as trophies the uncircumcised penises of more than six thousand enemies: “Eunuchs in the OT, Part 1, Introduction and Summary,” by Bruce L. Gerig, 2008
101: Ames earned a reputation as a talented, if forgetful, spy: “An Assessment of the Aldrich H. Ames Espionage Case and Its Implications for U.S. Intelligence” (Senate Select Committee on Intelligence), November 1, 1994
Chapter Six
105: “It must be gained from what is learned by men”: Sun Tzu: The Art of War, The New Translation, Research and Reinterpretation by J. H. Huang, Quill/William Morrow and Company Inc., 1993
111: “bull-in-a-china-shop bureaucrat”: “C.I.A. Chief Charts His Own Course,” The New York Times, by Elaine Sciolino, September 29, 1996
111: “Shoot-ready-aim” . . . “unguided missile”: “C.I.A. Chief Charts His Own Course,” The New York Times, by Elaine Sciolino, September 29, 1996
111: $3 billion, 17,000-employee spy agency . . . Diet Coke–guzzling . . . “Tora Nora”: “Nora Slatkin’s Mission Impossible: The CIA,” Business Week, by Stan Crock, February 26, 1996
112: quality of foreign assets over quantity: Denial and Deception: An Insider’s View of the CIA, Melissa Boyle Mahle, Nation Books, 2006
122: CIA also credits OTS scientists with engin
eering the first ultra-miniature camera: CIA press release, September 16, 2011
Chapter Eight
135: “the Bible begins with a betrayal”: Paris Review, “The Art of Theater No. 2, Part 2,” Arthur Miller as interviewed by Christopher Bigby, Fall 1999
139: his client would vigorously fight the accusations: “Alleged Mole to Plead Not Guilty,” Los Angeles Times, by Robert L. Jackson, November 21, 1996
146: Bloch faced no charges: Spy Book: The Encyclopedia of Espionage, Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen, Random House, 1998
Chapter Nine
155: “you get the chance to see who really loves you”: Suge Knight: The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Death Row Records: The Story of Marion “Suge” Knight, a Hard-Hitting Study of One Man, One Company That Changed the Course of American Music Forever, Jake Brown, Amber Books Publishing, 2002
156: The government spent $52 million to build the prison complex: “Sheridan becomes a prison town,” The Register-Guard, by Eric Mortenson, May 21, 1989
157: carried them to Poland’s spy service, the Służba Bezpieczeństwa: Spy Book: The Encyclopedia of Espionage, Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen, Random House, 1998
158: only person that was arrested as a result of my action was me: “CIA Officer Nicholson Sells Secrets to Russia,” Nightline, June 26, 1997
158: “It flew in the face of everything that I believe”: “The Spy Who Loved Them: Jim Nicholson Explains Why He Spied for Russia,” NBC News, Katie Couric, July 14, 1997
159: “the CIA and FBI are very capable of doing that”: “Parents are still not convinced,” The Oregonian, by Janet Filips, June 6, 1997
160: Scott Scurlock, dubbed “The Hollywood Bandit”: The End of the Dream: The Golden Boy Who Never Grew Up, Ann Rule, Pocket Books, 1998
161: Scurlock escaped, then took his own life: Historylink.org, the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History
Chapter Eleven
184: “My father was pleased I actually had the guts to do it”: “Walker Son Says He Became Spy ‘to Please My Father,’” Los Angeles Times, by Dan Morain, May 20, 1986
192: the embassy served as a haven for spies: “Mexico City Depicted as a Spies’ Haven,” The New York Times, by Robert Lindsey and Joel Brinkley, June 23, 1985
Chapter Fourteen
218: “God was the original surveillance camera”: “Artist Hasan Elahi meticulously documents life after FBI investigation,” The Baltimore Sun, by Julie Scharper, January 22, 2013
Chapter Seventeen
292: turned Rochford down cold: Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer—The True Story of the Man Who Recruited Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames, Victor Cherkashin with Gregory Feifer, Basic Books, 2005
Chapter Eighteen
295: fulfill your main mission, i.e. to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in US and send intels to C: Unclassified federal criminal complaint, Southern District of New York, June 25, 2010
296: The administration backed a spy exchange … as the best option to avoid unnecessary political drama; “Swap Idea Emerged Early in Case of Russia Agents,” The New York Times, by Peter Baker, Charlie Savage, and Benjamin Weiser, July 9, 2010
296: singing such patriotic songs as “From Where the Motherland Begins”: “Vladimir Putin consoles exposed Russian spies with ‘singalong,’” The Guardian, by Tom Parfitt, July 25, 2010; and author H. Keith Melton.
296: double-crossed Moscow to work as a mole for the CIA, earning the code name “Scythian”: “Intrigue and Ambiguity in Cases of 4 Russians Sent to West in Spy Swap,” The New York Times, by Scott Shane and Ellen Barry, July 9, 2010
296: Zaporozhsky gave up information that helped point U.S. authorities toward Robert Hanssen: The Secrets of the FBI, Ronald Kessler, Crown Publishing Group, 2011
297: reportedly rewarded Zaporozhsky with $2 million in housing and benefits: “Intrigue and Ambiguity in Cases of 4 Russians Sent to West in Spy Swap,” The New York Times, by Scott Shane and Ellen Barry, July 9, 2010
297: put under lock and key at Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo prison: “Moscow Court Sentences Former Foreign Intelligence Officer to 18 Years in Prison,” RIA Novosti, by Maria Lokotetskaya, November 6, 2003
297: sentenced him to eighteen years in prison for high treason: “Intelligence Officer Gets 18 Years for Treason,” Gazeta.ru, by Vita Lukashina, June 11, 2003
297: His wife, Galina, living in the suburbs north of Baltimore, died: “Spy swapped in deal with Russia could return to house in Maryland suburb,” The Washington Post, by Annys Shin, July 11, 2010
299: “It really reflects, I think, an anachronistic mind-set”: “Spy vs. Spy: Real Catch Is the One Who Gets Away,” Morning Edition, National Public Radio, by Rachel Martin, July 5, 2010
299: made a client of Alan Patricof, a venture capitalist who served as finance chairman of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign: “Russian spies were succeeding, FBI official says,” Los Angeles Times, by Ken Dilanian, October 31, 2011
300: The FBI established a link between the illegals and Karetnikov: “Russian spy worked for Microsoft,” The Guardian, by Charles Arthur, July 14, 2010
300: “You need to fulfill the task set in the interests of your motherland for many, many years”: “Vladimir Putin sang patriotic songs with spies expelled from US,” The Telegraph, by Andrew Osborn, July 25, 2010
300: Medvedev awarded the illegals—at least some of them—Russia’s top government honors: “Agents Deported by U.S. Are Honored in Moscow,” The New York Times, by Michael Schwirtz, October 18, 2010
300: “Whatever equivalent of thirty pieces of silver they get, it will get stuck in their throats”: “Vladimir Putin: Russian secret services don’t kill traitors,” The Telegraph, December 16, 2010
300–301: hindered their operations with poor equipment, requiring them to meet in unsecured spots: “Alexander Poteyev, Russian Intelligence Officer, Convicted of Betraying U.S. Spy Ring Including Anna Chapman,” The Associated Press, by Vladimir Isachenkov, June 27, 2011
301: “Mary, try to take this calmly”: “Alexander Poteyev, Russian Intelligence Officer, Convicted of Betraying U.S. Spy Ring Including Anna Chapman,” The Associated Press, by Vladimir Isachenkov, June 27, 2011
301: Anna Chapman later revealed that she feared she’d been betrayed: “Alexander Poteyev, Russian Intelligence Officer, Convicted of Betraying U.S. Spy Ring Including Anna Chapman,” The Associated Press, by Vladimir Isachenkov, June 27, 2011
302: Fishenko was charged as the mastermind of the illegal procurement network: “Russian Agent and 10 Other Members of Procurement Network for Russian Military and Intelligence Operating in the U.S. and Russia Indicted in New York,” FBI press release, Eastern District of New York, October 3, 2012
Epilogue
323: reconfigured its death row facilities at the Terre Haute Federal Correctional: “‘Little Gitmo,’” New York magazine, by Christopher S. Stewart, July 10, 2011
323: a team of counterterrorism experts in West Virginia could remotely snoop: “‘Guantánamo North’: Inside Secretive U.S. Prisons,” All Things Considered, National Public Radio, by Carrie Johnson and Margo Williams, March 3, 2011
325: Forty-nine U.S. prisoners would be held under SAMs: “Silencing stories: Special administrative measures handcuff First Amendment,” by Rachel Bunn, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, The News Media and The Law, Winter 2012
Index
All page numbers refer to the print edition of The Spy’s Son. Please use the search feature on your reader to locate the text that corresponds to the index entries below.
accommodation address (mail drop), 56, 68, 99, 117
Adamson, Beatrice Marie “Betty.” See Nicholson, Beatrice Marie “Betty”
address. See accommodation address
Afghanistan
casualties, 174
CIA in, 34, 44, 53
Almon, Tom, 120–21
amendments. See Constitution, U.S.
Ames, Aldrich, 95, 98, 140, 141, 146, 291, 292, 296
cash payments from Russia, 54, 69, 70
character, 136
CIA career, 101
code name for, 54
debriefings, 69
evidence against, 69
influence and aftermath, 62, 63, 64, 111, 114
as mole, 54, 56, 64, 69
with plea bargain, 69–70
Ames, Rosario (wife), 69–70
Anderson, Mike, 127
Anderson, Robert, Jr., 303–4
Anna (CIA secretary), 90–91
anticommunism, 29, 42, 45
Apex System LLC, 302
Aquino, Benigno “Ninoy” Jr., 26–27
Arc Electronics Inc., 301–2
arraignments
Nicholson, Jim, 1–4, 268
Nicholson, Nathan, 268–69
arrests
Hanssen, 195, 291, 292, 296
Nicholson, Jim “Batman,” 126–35, 265
Nicholson, Nathan, 264–66, 271
arson, 221, 251
Art of War, The (Sun Tzu), 105
Asia. See Southeast Asia; specific countries
“asset validation scrub,” 111–12
Baer, Robert, 64–65
Balizan, Art, 311
Bangkok, Thailand
CIA in, 38–40
U.S. Embassy in, 39