Sasha (espionage)

Sasha was an alleged Soviet mole in the Central Intelligence Agency during the Cold War.

Reparations

Under Public Law 96-450, or the "Mole Relief Act",^[1]C.I.A. employees accused of being Sasha and their careers subsequently ruined were allowed to receive government compensation.

List of accused CIA employees

This is a partial list of CIA employees accused of being Sasha. All were later cleared.

• Serge Karlow
• Richard Kovich ^[2]
• Alexander ″Sasha″ Sogolow^[3]

Others CIA employees, though not suspected to be ″Sasha″, were suspected to be moles in the course of the Sasha molehunt :

• Paul Garbler^[4]
• George Goldberg
• David Murphy
• Vasia C. Gmirkin^[3]

In popular culture

• In Robert Littell's novel The Company, the alleged existence of Sasha is an important plot point.

Footnotes

1. "Public Law 96-450, Sec. 405 (a)" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-02-02.
2. Bernstein, Adam (February 27, 2006). "CIA Officer Richard Kovich; Helped Notable Soviets Defect". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
3. David Wise, Molehunt, passim
4. Bernstein, Adam (April 6, 2006). "CIA Cold Warrior Paul Garbler; Won Payment Over Loyalty Slur". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-02-02.

References

• Martin, David C. Wilderness of Mirrors: Intrigue, Deception, and the Secrets that Destroyed Two of the Cold War's Most Important Agents. New York: The Lyons Press, 2003. ISBN 1-58574-824-2.
• Wise, David. Molehunt: The Secret Search for Traitors That Shattered the CIA. New York: Random House, 1992. ISBN 0-394-58514-3.

See also

• Aleksander Kopatzky

External links

• "Of Moles and Molehunters" by Cleveland Cram, Center for the Study of Intelligence, October 1993.
• "C.I.A. Dug for Moles but Buried the Loyal" by David Johnston, The New York Times, March 8, 1992.