Pod Insights Scamfluencers Rick & Rosario Ames: The Spy Who Told Too Much | 188 About this episode At the CIA, Rick Ames had a reputation as a middling agent with a drinking problem and a knack for skating by. But despite poor performance reviews, Rick just kept failing up. As he landed bigger and better assignments, he saw an opportunity to turn his access to Soviet-era secrets into cold, hard cash. For nearly a decade he sold classified intelligence to the KGB in exchange for a life of luxury with his wife, Rosario – who soon joined in on the betrayal. Together they pulled off one of the most devastating acts of espionage in U. S.history, harming CIA operations and costing countless lives before their luck finally ran out.
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Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Sarah Hagi? Audible subscribers can listen to all our episodes of Scamfluencers ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.
0:14 Sarah Hagi? Sachi, don't you think the genre of spy movies and TV shows are kind of skewed towards how overly competent they are? But really, there's no way it's as glamorous or chic as James Bond or whatever. I think most spies are probably pretty mundane people. That's how they're getting away with it, you know? Yeah, I mean, ultimately, they are just government workers who, as we know from real life and this show, get away with quite a lot. I would be bad at that job. I would love to tell everybody everything. Well, today, I'm going to tell you the story of a double agent so gross and incompetent that he basically failed his way to the center of US-Russia relations during the Cold War.
0:57 Sarah Hagi? And he did so much damage, even spy agencies had to admit, they fucked up.
1:06 Sarah Hagi? It's a gloomy February morning in 1994 in an upscale neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia. Rosario Ames is putting on makeup while her young son plays in the next room. Rosario is in her early 40s with dark eyes, a sharp jawline, and short curly hair. Her husband, Aldrick Ames, who goes by Rick, walks into the room. He says he's been called into work even though it's President's Day weekend. Rosario probably isn't surprised. Rick's been a CIA agent for more than 30 years, and it's not unusual for him to work holidays. Rosario reaches for her usual dark red lipstick when the doorbell rings.
1:49 Sarah Hagi? She tightens her robe and heads to the top of the stairs as the housekeeper answers the door. Standing outside are a man and a woman, both wearing suits. They tell Rosario that they're FBI agents and ask her to step outside. Then they share some shocking news. Her husband has just been arrested on charges of espionage. And they're here to arrest her, too. When Rosario looks out to the lawn, she sees that the house is surrounded by FBI vehicles.
2:23 Scaachi Koul? This is like the best episode of Real Housewives in the world. This is Sprinter van on bath salts. I love it.
2:30 Sarah Hagi? Yes, and in a panic, Rosario runs up the stairs to the guest bedroom. She wakes up her mom and asks her to take care of her son. The agents tell Rosario to remove her jewelry and leave her purse behind. She tries hard not to cry as she promises her son that she'll be home soon. But Rosario likely knows that this is a lie. Because for nearly a decade, Rick's been working as a double agent for the Soviet Union. He's been sharing CIA secrets that have sabotaged undercover operations and even gotten people killed. Rosario has known about this for the past two years.
3:12 Sarah Hagi? But instead of turning him in, she chose to help her husband hide his secrets. As the agents escort Rosario out, she looks back at her beautiful house one last time. She knows things are about to change forever. Soon, everyone will learn that Rick didn't pay for their extravagant lifestyle with CIA paychecks. He paid for it by selling out his country. Despite being one of the most bumbling double agents of all time, it took years for the CIA and the FBI to finally uncover Rick's treason. And now that he's been caught, the damage he's caused and the lives lost due to his crimes
3:55 Sarah Hagi? will cause a reckoning that will completely reshape US intelligence forever.
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4:54 Speaker 03 In New Orleans, truckers kept getting sideswiped the exact same way. When a man is found murdered under questionable circumstances related to these accidents, the rubber hits the road. Listen to "Over My Dead Body: Operation Sideswipe" wherever you get your podcasts.
5:17 Sarah Hagi? From Wondery, I'm Sarah Haggie. And I'm Sachi Cole. And this is Scamfluencers.
5:30 Sarah Hagi? Throughout his career at the CIA, Rick Ames was known as a lazy, unmotivated drunk. He should have washed out, but despite poor performance reviews, he just kept failing up. He landed bigger and better assignments, and with them, access to classified secrets about the Soviet Union. And when money got tight, he saw an opportunity to turn these secrets into cold, hard cash. For almost a decade, Rick sold government secrets to Russia's KGB in exchange for a comfortable, upper-middle-class life with his beloved wife. And by the time he was finally arrested, Rick had done more harm to national security than any other agent in CIA history.
6:13 Sarah Hagi? This is Rick Ames, the spy who told too much.
6:23 Sarah Hagi? It's the summer of 1957 at the CIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and 16-year-old Rick Ames is sitting in a drab office. He pushes his thick, black glasses up his nose as he sifts through documents. We actually have a picture from Rick's high school yearbook. Sachi, can you describe him?
6:43 Scaachi Koul? Oh, yeah, he's a nerd. He's very Buddy Holly. He's got thick glasses, his hair is slicked back. He's got very big ears. He's a nerd.
6:53 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, he's pretty classic. And while some American teenagers spend their summers working in retail, Rick's just started a summer job as a record analyst for the CIA. Rick was born in a small Wisconsin town to two teachers. His mom taught English, and his dad, Carlton, was a college professor specializing in the history of Europe and Asia. But Carlton wasn't particularly well-liked. His coworkers thought he was boring and viewed him as a nepo baby. Rick's grandfather was the president of the university. But everything changed five years earlier when Carlton was recruited by the CIA for his knowledge of Burmese affairs.
7:36 Sarah Hagi? Since then, the family has settled into a Virginia suburb not far from CIA headquarters. But Carlton isn't doing much better at his new job. He has a serious drinking problem, and he constantly gets negative reviews from his superiors. He even gets placed on a six-month probationary period. But somehow, he never loses his job. At this time, the CIA is only a decade old. It's being run like an old boys' club. Between the culture of loyalty and a lack of external oversight, it's not so surprising that the CIA shuffles mediocre workers between departments instead of just firing them.
8:20 Sarah Hagi? Rick has a lot in common with his dad. They both love poetry, drama, and world history. But Rick doesn't want to follow in his dad's footsteps professionally. He's in his high school's drama club and wants to pursue acting. Still, he can't turn down a cushy summer gig. Rick spends his last few summers of high school at the CIA before graduating in 1959. That August, he heads to the University of Chicago. He's technically a history major, but he's way more dedicated to the local theater scene. After spending more time on stage than in class, he flunks out of college in less than two years.
9:02 Sarah Hagi? Rick gets a job working as a technical director at a Chicago theater. But ultimately, he just isn't that talented. When his acting career stalls, he moves back to Virginia. In 1962, 21-year-old Rick carries on the family tradition and uses nepotism to get hired as a typist at the CIA. And though it isn't his dream job, he likes the prestige that comes with it. It has a lot of things he probably enjoyed about theater, praise, and drama. He talks about the job's appeal to The New York Times a few years later. Sachi, can you read some of it?
9:40 Scaachi Koul? Yeah. He said, "I felt proud and selected. They made a great effort to cultivate a sense of being in the elite. Kids responded to that. Certainly, I did. The ethics of espionage, of telling lies, cover stories, this didn't bother too many people. It didn't bother me. There was a sense of fun." This is so weird to have this level of detachment with the kind of work that you're doing when the work that you're doing is with the government and with, like, real people and, like, has a real human toll. He's just so cold about the work that he's in.
10:14 Sarah Hagi? Listen, I truly believe you cannot trust a failed actor who probably has a chip on their shoulder. Unfortunately, this new CIA gig is not the only way Rick is following in his father's footsteps. The same year Rick rejoins the CIA, he gets arrested for intoxication. Rick spends five years as a typist while he takes college courses on the side. He needs an actual degree if he wants to move up the CIA's ranks. In those five years, he gets arrested twice more for reckless driving and speeding, likely because of his heavy drinking. All to say, in his twenties, Rick is a bit of a mess.
10:57 Sarah Hagi? But somehow, he manages to graduate in 1967.
11:02 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, utterly unsurprising. Give him the keys. Make him the president. Who cares?
11:06 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, obviously, Rick doesn't seem like the kind of guy who should be trusted to protect national security. He's sloppy and disorganized, even when he's sober. And when he applies to the CIA's career trainee program to become an operative rather than a desk clerk, they conclude he lacks the social skills needed to recruit new spies, an essential part of the job. Still, somehow, he gets in. Rick spends two years in the training program, and that's where he meets Nancy, a beautiful blond fellow trainee. She's everything Rick isn't: determined and industrious. They fall in love, and Rick's life as a CIA career man starts falling into place.
11:51 Sarah Hagi? In 1968, he graduates from the trainee program, and the following year, he and Nancy get married. By the end of the 1960s, Rick seems to have everything a 28-year-old could ask for: a secure job, a college degree, and the love of his life, even if he didn't work particularly hard for any of it. But as he settles into the CIA, he'll get a taste of a life of luxury, which kicks off his never-ending quest for more.
12:24 Sarah Hagi? It's December of 1974, six years into Rick's tenure as a CIA agent. At the office Christmas party in Washington DC, Jingle Bells plays as agents and their spouses sip cocktails and chat about their holiday plans. But Rick's not just sipping. As usual, he's the guy who's embarrassingly drunk at a work party. A security guard is casually making the rounds when he walks in on Rick in a compromising position. Not with his wife Nancy, but with another female CIA agent.
13:00 Scaachi Koul? Sarah, you know I think everybody should get a divorce. I do think in this case Nancy should also kill him.
13:07 Sarah Hagi? Well, she definitely has the skills. Rick and Nancy returned to DC two years ago after spending three years in Turkey, where Rick was posted as an operations officer. His job was to recruit Soviet informants. But during his time there, Rick apparently didn't recruit a single person. Maybe people didn't trust him. Maybe he was just lazy. Or maybe it's a combination of both. Either way, the CIA Boys Club culture is still in effect. So instead of being fired, Rick was brought back to Virginia to work a desk job. His coworkers all see that he's underperforming, but Rick apparently does not. Instead, he's becoming resentful.
13:51 Sarah Hagi? The way he sees it, he's underappreciated and underutilized.
13:58 Scaachi Koul? Anytime you work with a guy who says that he is underappreciated and underutilized, he is a supervillain. There are no men in any workplaces being underappreciated. Underutilized, maybe, but they are not being underappreciated.
14:11 Sarah Hagi? No, not at all, not remotely. I feel like it is the biggest red flag. But surprisingly, Rick is actually decent at his new desk job and gets good performance reviews for the first time in his life. But he still has a reputation for being messy. He's constantly drunk, his clothes are always disheveled, and his teeth are rotting. And now, he's been caught fooling around with a colleague at a work party. But in 1976, Rick gets another chance to prove himself. He's assigned to the CIA's Manhattan office, where, for the first time, he'll actually work as a spy. His job is to meet Russians working for the United Nations and pump them for information.
14:56 Sarah Hagi? To fit the part, the CIA gives Rick a new identity as a successful Manhattan businessman. He moves into a subsidized luxury apartment and is given a generous entertainment allowance. He treats himself to fancy dinners and nights out, all in the name of getting closer to his targets. But he fumbles a bag almost immediately. In his first year on the job, he leaves a briefcase full of classified documents on the subway. Still, during his time in New York, he receives the highest performance reviews of his entire career. Rick is on the rise. Meanwhile, Nancy's CIA career has stalled out.
15:40 Sarah Hagi? Things got complicated after she married Rick. Some people say the CIA forbade romantic relationships between colleagues, but Nancy was also frustrated after repeatedly hitting the glass ceiling. By the time they get to New York, she's left the CIA.
15:57 Scaachi Koul? I mean, you know what I'm gonna say. Women who get married tend to be less fulfilled at work. They make less money. They have a harder time getting career development. She should divorce him, and then she should kill him, and then she should eat his bones.
16:09 Sarah Hagi? Yes, I mean, it's no secret that being an ambitious woman is the most punishable crime of all time, right?
16:17 Scaachi Koul? Nothing worse than a woman who is trying.
16:21 Sarah Hagi? Well, it's the CIA's loss. Nancy finds a fancy new job in New York. She and Rick are living large, but their relationship is becoming increasingly strained. Rick is growing resentful that he has to keep turning down overseas assignments so Nancy can stay in New York. But this changes in 1981, when Rick is rewarded with a coveted international position in Mexico City. Rick is sick of turning down plum assignments, but Nancy is adamant about keeping her New York City life. So the two make a pact. She'll stay behind, and they'll try a long-distance marriage. Rick is setting out on his own in Mexico City.
17:05 Sarah Hagi? And there, away from his increasingly distant wife, he'll meet another woman who will change the course of his career and inspire him to chase even bigger, more expensive dreams.
17:21 Sarah Hagi? It's late 1982 in Mexico City. Maria Del Rosario Casas Dupuy, who goes by Rosario, is sipping a cocktail at a party for diplomats stationed in the city. Rosario is a cultural attache at the Colombian embassy. She's an extremely smart, charming, and worldly 29-year-old with a long, angular face, dark brown eyes, and big curly hair. She's from Colombia and has an impressive resume. She spent a year studying at Princeton, speaks five languages, and is working on a PhD in literature. But she's also got a big secret. Rosario was recently recruited by the CIA as a paid informant to get dirt on other diplomats
18:06 Sarah Hagi? without the Colombian government knowing anything about it. At the party, a CIA employee introduces Rosario to her new case officer, Rick Ames.
18:18 Scaachi Koul? OK, quite the gruesome twosome. I'm into it. I feel like they're somehow gonna get in trouble together.
18:24 Sarah Hagi? You know, I think they both have a lot of integrity, so probably not, right?
18:27 Scaachi Koul? Hmm.
18:29 Sarah Hagi? At this point, Rick is 40 years old and still a bit of a mess. Since leaving New York, he slipped back into his old, lackluster ways. He's already had at least three affairs, and at the embassy, he's known as a drunken sad sack. Not long after getting to Mexico, he got into another drunk-driving accident, and he frequently has drunken arguments with other diplomats. His superior tells Rick he should get assessed for alcohol addiction when he gets back to the States. But Rick just constantly complains that his bosses don't respect him. Regardless of this high-key loser energy, Rosario is immediately smitten by Rick.
19:12 Sarah Hagi? The duo launch an illicit romance. I guess being bad at your job doesn't mean you're bad with women. And we actually have a picture of them from around this time. Sachi, please observe.
19:26 Scaachi Koul? All right, so he still looks like a nerd. He's just like a skinny white guy with, you know, glasses and a Sesame Street-ass mustache. She's the hottest woman in the world. She's shaped like a glass Coke bottle. I understand what he's getting out of it. I'm a little unclear on what it is in it for her.
19:45 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I mean, 29-year-olds. What can you say?
19:51 Scaachi Koul? What can you say?
19:52 Sarah Hagi? If it sounds like a conflict of interest for Rick to date Rosario, that's because it is. For obvious reasons, CIA case officers are prohibited from having relationships with their agents or with foreign nationals. At the very least, they should report their relationship to their superiors. But Rick seems to have no problem putting his personal desires over the needs of national security. Later, Rosario claims she didn't even know Rick was a CIA agent until after they started dating, which seems hard to believe, especially given that, according to CIA gossip, Rick and Rosario apparently hook up in the CIA safe house in Mexico City.
20:35 Scaachi Koul? This is like an episode from Get Smart that never made it to air because it didn't test well.
20:42 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, and the male lead is disgusting.
20:45 Scaachi Koul? I don't think you want to fuck Maxwell Smart either.
20:48 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, but he doesn't have rotten teeth.
20:50 Scaachi Koul? That's true.
20:52 Sarah Hagi? Before long, the pair are so in love that Rick is ready to settle down for real. So he proposes marriage. Rosario is ecstatic and says yes, even though she knows about Rick's wife. They figure that's a problem for later. But about a year into their romance, reality comes knocking. Rick's former boss calls him back to the Virginia headquarters for a new assignment. And Rosario is so in love that she gives up her diplomat job to follow him. Rosario is excited to start her life in the US with Rick. And Rick just wants Rosario to be happy and comfortable. He'll do anything to build his dream life with his new fiancee, no matter who he has
21:37 Sarah Hagi? to hurt in the process.
21:41 Sarah Hagi? It's late 1984 at CIA headquarters in Virginia. Rick sits in his office and aimlessly leaves through a document about the KGB. Rick, now 43, has been back in Virginia for a year. And things are going well for him. He's sharing an apartment with his fiancee, Rosario, and he's got yet another fancy job title despite his many missteps and lackluster performance in Mexico. A 1994 Los Angeles Times article about Rick sums it up better than we can. Sachi, can you read some of it?
22:15 Scaachi Koul? Yes. They write, "Despite his struggles with his career, Ames returned to Washington and was inexplicably promoted to the prestigious post of Head of Soviet Counterintelligence." They're just giving jobs away over there. They were just letting anybody do anything.
22:30 Sarah Hagi? They have like a bingo spinning thing and they just pull out a job. And it's like, okay, Rick, there you go.
22:37 Scaachi Koul? I want one.
22:39 Sarah Hagi? So Rick is now overseeing all American efforts against the Soviet Union. The promotion baffles some of his colleagues, but it seems like it's mostly designed to keep him out of trouble. He's back behind a desk, and while he has access to some of the CIA's most sensitive Soviet cases, he's no longer in the field carrying out operations or leaving classified information on public transit. Rick should be grateful for everything he has, but he just wants more. More respect, more money, more power. He's been at the CIA for 22 years and resents being locked away in an office. His frustration is a little detached from reality.
23:24 Sarah Hagi? While Rick thinks he deserves better, he was involved in two security breaches in the past year alone. His colleagues don't even think he deserves his current role. But the thing driving most of Rick's frustration right now is money. He's going through an expensive divorce from Nancy and struggling to pay for his new life with Rosario. Rick is unwilling to give up the lifestyle he thinks they both deserve, and he's already gone into debt furnishing their new home. Around this time, Rick gets a new assignment: to build relationships with KGB officers in the hopes of recruiting them to become double agents. But Rick's mounting financial issues and growing resentment towards the CIA creates
24:09 Sarah Hagi? the perfect storm. He cares more about making extra money than he does about the actual work. And as soon as he realizes how valuable his new access is, he starts scheming. Rick has never been motivated by the geopolitical implications of his job, but he's about to prove he can take initiative when it benefits him personally. Rick is about to sell out his country and put real lives at risk, all to make a quick buck.
24:47 Speaker 04 Hi, I'm Kenya Paris.
24:49 Speaker 05 And I'm Malcolm Gladwell. We're back for season two of our Audible original podcast, The Unusual Suspects.
24:55 Speaker 04 We'll sit down with extraordinary guests from the worlds of art, film, literature, comedy, and wellness to hear from their unexpected stories of success.
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25:35 Speaker 06 Ghosts aren't real. At least, that's what journalist Tristan Redmond always believed. Sure, odd things happen in his childhood bedroom, but ultimately, he shrugged them off. Until he discovered that he wasn't alone, that everyone who lived there after him also had bizarre experiences they couldn't explain. And it gets even weirder. It just so happens that his wife's great-grandmother was murdered in the house next door. Is this ghost somehow connected to her murder? He decides to go where no son-in-law should, digging up a cold case and asking questions that nobody wants answered. Like, could his wife's great-grandfather have gotten away with the perfect crime? This is a podcast about family secrets, overwhelming coincidence, and the things that come back to haunt us.
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26:42 Sarah Hagi? It's April 1985 in Washington, DC. A slightly tipsy Rick is standing outside of the Russian Embassy, holding a plastic bag containing one item: an envelope. Rick's been with the CIA for more than two decades now. And through all the ups and downs, he's been loyal. But today, he's about to betray his longtime employers and his country. For about a year, Rick's been using a fake identity to meet regularly with a KGB officer trying to get intel about Russians infiltrating the US. But recently, he met a Soviet Embassy official named Sergey Chuvakin. Sergey is slim, with a square jaw
27:27 Sarah Hagi? and perfectly swept brown hair. To be clear, Sergey isn't a CIA ally. He's just a regular Russian diplomat. But Rick sees him as an opportunity to make some money. Tensions are running high between the US and the USSR right now. The CIA and the FBI are trying to recruit Soviet spies to work as double agents for Operation Courtship, the US's plan to infiltrate Russian operations in Washington. And this gives Rick an idea. Rick takes a deep breath and walks directly into the Russian Embassy. Once Sergey, his new contact, approaches, Rick silently hands over an envelope and
28:11 Sarah Hagi? leaves. Inside is a letter addressed to the highest-ranking KGB officer Rick knows of, and it names two of the Soviets-turned-FBI agents, which is a major breach. In one move, Rick has compromised any operations using these agents and put their lives at risk, because the KGB does not tolerate traitors. And to prove he's legit, Rick includes details about his job at the CIA and his actual name, which is basically unheard of in the world of spies for obvious reasons. And finally, he makes a request for $50,000.
28:54 Sarah Hagi? Is this the dumbest man in America? He's a worse spy than Inspector Gadget. Inspector Gadget had gadgets. Everybody knew it was Inspector Gadget, not a very good spy, but he had like a hat that became a helicopter. He takes nothing seriously. Rick is like, if Mr. Magoo was a drunk spy, I don't even know how to describe it. And he justifies this massive security breach by telling himself that these people are probably triple agents, Russians who are just pretending to be on America's side but who actually report information back to the KGB. So he doesn't feel too bad about whatever happens to them. He's more concerned with cashing in on this intel. And it works.
29:40 Sarah Hagi? A few weeks later, Rick meets Sergey again, and he hands Rick $50,000 in cash. Rick later claims he planned this as a one-time thing, that he'd just sell a few names to get himself and Rosario out of debt. But this first breach proved to him how easy it is to work as a double agent. And now, he wants more. Getting out of debt is nice, but a life of luxury is even better. He's already dreaming of fancy cars, nice clothes, and a mansion for him and Rosario. Scaachi, can you read what he says years later in an investigative interview with an Arizona state senator?
30:21 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, he says, "I'm still puzzled as to what took me to the next steps. The main factor, on balance, I think, was a realization after I had received the $50,000 was a sense of the enormity of what I had done. But certainly underlying it was the conviction that there was as much money as I could ever use."
30:40 Sarah Hagi? We've already talked before about how detached this guy is from what he's doing. He's like, "Oh, I don't know what made me do it. I don't know how I got there. I just realized that I had done it, and it was a huge crime. And also, it was super easy. Why wouldn't I have done it?" Yes, and in the same interview, Rick casually says that all of this stems from his overreaction to being in debt. But now that he's started working with the Russians, he's in way over his head. And soon, his actions will have deadly consequences for the spies he's selling out.
31:16 Sarah Hagi? It's June of 1985, and Rick is walking out of the CIA headquarters with several plastic bags. Though his hair is thinning and gray, Rick looks more or less the same as he did when he started at the CIA. But despite appearances, things have changed.
31:34 Sarah Hagi? It's been two months since Rick sold out two Soviet double agents in exchange for $50,000 in cash. It's worth noting that Rosario is apparently unaware of this. She says that Rick simply told her he got a windfall from an old investment. Rick finally paid off his debts, and so far, nothing bad has happened. So today, he's upping the ante by a lot. The bags he's carrying contain about six pounds of documents, all filled with top-secret CIA information, including the names of more than 10 Soviet double agents working for the CIA and FBI.
32:16 Sarah Hagi? And to be very clear, this was completely unprompted. The KGB didn't ask Rick to bring them more information, but Rick's grown increasingly frustrated with his work at the CIA. After decades of service, he's still making less than $70,000 per year. So he tells himself, he deserves whatever the Russians are willing to give him. To keep the cash flowing, he's selling off a mountain of information that could jeopardize US operations and get people killed. Some later speculate that Rick panicked, realizing that any Soviet intelligence officers secretly working for the United States might discover his betrayal.
32:58 Sarah Hagi? So, to cover his tracks, he betrays all of them, knowing that the Russian government would kill them all. Rick cares more about covering his ass and lining his pockets than protecting the lives of CIA operatives.
33:13 Scaachi Koul? This guy is like evil Mr. Magoo. He is not asked to bring any of this, he's like, "But I'm going to because I'm just gruntled at work." And then, his plan is like, "Oh, they'll just kill each other."
33:25 Sarah Hagi? And then I won't be held accountable for anything. It's so dumb and so monstrous. He really is just not thinking about the global implications in a real way. And once again, Rick simply walks into the Russian Embassy and hands his package to Sergey. In response, the KGB tells him they've set aside $2 million that they'll pay out in installments for his continued cooperation. That's worth about $6 million today. For the next few months, Rick keeps leaking CIA secrets and the Russian government keeps paying him, usually between $20,000 and $50,000 at a time.
34:08 Sarah Hagi? But back at Langley, things are unraveling. Remember those two double agents Rick initially sold out for $50,000? Well, they were legitimately on the CIA's side. Rick was wrong about them being triple agents. And now, because of Rick, they've both been ordered back to Russia, where they will be executed.
34:32 Sarah Hagi? It's not clear when Rick learns that his betrayal has deadly consequences, but when the information does get back to him, he doesn't feel guilty at all. He's been blinded by power and money, and the fallout is far from over. Slowly, other people from the six-pound stack of documents Rick sold also start to disappear. At this point, it's clear to the CIA that they have a mole. As they start investigating, Rick panics. After only a few months of working with the Soviets, it seems like it's all about to come crashing down. And soon, a new double agent will give the CIA its first lead.
35:16 Sarah Hagi? It's August 1985, four months into Rick's double life. He's sitting in his office sweating because the CIA just announced that a KGB officer named Yurchenko has defected. He's the highest-ranking Soviet officer to ever become a double agent. This is a huge deal. The CIA is usually too scared of harsh retaliation from the Soviet Union to pursue KGB officers. But Rick isn't celebrating because Yurchenko says he knows all about the CIA's mole. Rick's never worked with him directly, but Yurchenko was high up at the KGB, so he probably knows all about Rick's double-crossing.
36:00 Sarah Hagi? Rick feels sick until Yurchenko starts talking. He reveals details about the mole, and it's not Rick. In an incredible stroke of luck, there happens to be another mole in the CIA's Soviet Division, a man who sold CIA secrets to the KGB after being fired a few years earlier. The CIA is satisfied they've found the source of their leak, and everyone moves on.
36:29 Sarah Hagi? Okay, so this is a great time for him to stop doing this, right? Because he could conceivably get away with everything? Yeah. But I bet he doesn't. Something tells me he won't. Why would the dumbest spy alive learn any single thing? Rick is just relieved, and he has even more to celebrate. Because after two years, his divorce from Nancy is finalized. It's unclear why it took so long, but Rick is more than ready to move on. He and Rosario get married 10 days later. And all the while, Rosario allegedly still doesn't know about Rick's secret second job. Everything is falling into place. And as his office mourns their fallen Russian colleagues and celebrates the capture of
37:14 Sarah Hagi? the mole, Rick goes right back to selling CIA secrets. Apparently, he doesn't have much remorse for the fact that he caused those deaths. In an interview with The New York Times years later, he says he mainly regrets giving away all the names at once because the KGB killed them all in quick succession, making it obvious a mole was to blame.
37:38 Scaachi Koul? Okay, so Rick isn't even bothering with his word salad anymore to excuse what he's done. He doesn't regret it. He only regrets being caught. Incredible.
37:49 Sarah Hagi? Yes. And around this time, Rick gets a swanky new placement in Rome. His colleagues are furious because Rick just placed in the bottom quarter of his class in an annual assessment. So some see this move as an unearned promotion. We don't know why the CIA chose Rick for the job, but either way, he and Rosario are thrilled about their new adventure in Italy. They enroll in Italian classes and start dreaming up their Roman holiday. Rick's excited to be in Europe, for the glamour of it all, but also because it'll be easier for him to work directly with the KGB. In the US, all of the CIA's meetings were monitored closely by the FBI.
38:34 Sarah Hagi? Rick had to report every interaction he had with the sources and every time he visited an embassy, which of course, he lied about. But away from the FBI's watchful eye, Rick can now work more freely as a mole.
38:48 Scaachi Koul? Oh, well, thank God. I mean, he was under such restrictions before when he was bringing people bags of names.
38:55 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, you know, I think Rick deserves to let his hair down and just freely be a mole and, you know, have peace, right? And to their credit, the CIA and FBI both noticed that Rick isn't submitting as many reports about his KGB meetings as he's supposed to. They ask him to be more thorough, but their concerns seem to fall through the cracks, possibly because of poor communication between the CIA and the FBI around this time. So, nothing changes. Rick continues selling off CIA secrets from across the Atlantic, but back at CIA headquarters, alarm bells are about to start ringing. People are starting to realize they have another mole on their hands.
39:39 Sarah Hagi? And this time, all signs will point straight to Rick.
39:46 Sarah Hagi? It's the summer of 1989. Rick's been living in Rome for three years now, and he and Rosario are living their dream life. Rosario had a baby last year who they named Paul. But even though he's a father now, Rick's still selling secrets to the KGB. By now, the Soviets have paid Rick around $1.8 million in total. And they've told him they have another $900,000 set aside for any future secrets he wants to share. Oh, they have? How generous. I know, I love how this is like a business deal where it's like, "Give it to us in bulk, and we'll pay you this much. Piecemeal, it's this." Yeah, like, it's like a Costco deal for state secrets.
40:31 Sarah Hagi? I didn't know it was this easy. You could just call up and be like, "I have stuff to give you." Yeah, it all seems pretty simple, and things feel as stable as it can when you're a double agent. So Rick's been splashing out. He buys a flashy red Jaguar. He got a bag and fixed his teeth, at least the top row. And he started wearing $600 genuine leather Italian loafers. He's living the high life he's always dreamed of. The only thing Rick has to worry about is hiding all the money he's pulling in. He's splitting it between multiple American bank accounts, including some in Rosario's name, in addition to one in Italy, and three accounts in Switzerland. As they later tell it,
41:15 Sarah Hagi? Rosario somehow still has no clue there's anything fishy going on. Rick allegedly kept telling her the money was from investments, but because these investments are kind of shady, she shouldn't tell anyone about them. But he does encourage her to spend the money freely, so she doesn't seem to worry too much about where it comes from. When anyone asks how they're wealthy, they just say that Rosario's family is rich. Since they're all back in Colombia, no one's able to fact-check. I do think you could probably do a little fact-checking.
41:48 Scaachi Koul? I know it's the late 80s and nobody has Facebook yet, but I think you could maybe do a little recon.
41:55 Sarah Hagi? I bet some people were suspicious.
41:57 Scaachi Koul? Yeah.
41:58 Sarah Hagi? But later that year, Rick and Rosario are brought back to reality. His post in Rome is ending and the CIA is calling him home. They start packing to go back to the US later that month. But what Rick doesn't know is that back at CIA headquarters, his coworkers have realized something is wrong because more Soviet double agents keep dying. While the CIA isn't on to him just yet, they figured out there's another mole or maybe a technical breach of some kind. Within two years of Rick's first betrayal, 10 people have been sentenced to death by the KGB. Still, Rick doesn't have the guilty conscience you might expect. He seems to think these people died
42:43 Sarah Hagi? as a result of being in a dangerous line of work and not because of his actions. Rick doesn't know it yet, but both the CIA and FBI have opened up parallel investigations to find the second mole. And this time, they won't stop until they find him. Once Rick is back at home, his colleagues will be able to see firsthand that he's living beyond his means. And they'll start asking questions he can't answer.
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44:58 Sarah Hagi? It's late 1989, and Diana Worthen is driving down a tree-lined suburban street in North Arlington, Virginia. She's a longtime CIA officer with cropped blond hair and a broad smile. Diana is here to visit her old friends Rick and Rosario, who've just returned from their long stint in Italy. She was stationed in Mexico City at the same time as Rick, and she's been a good friend of the couple ever since. Today, she's helping Rosario pick drapes for her new house. From the outside, Rick and Rosario seem like a pretty normal, upper-middle-class family. Here's a picture of them and their son Paul from around this time. Sachi, can you describe it? So he kind of looks like Walt Disney now.
45:43 Sarah Hagi? He's got some big aviator glasses. She looks great. She's wearing lots of jewelry and big sunglasses, and they look very moneyed and happy and normal and non-spy-like. Yeah, they seem so normal, which, as I know from the Americans, is how you get away with being dastardly double agents. But as Diana pulls into the driveway, she's confused by what she sees. Before Rick and Rosario left for Italy, they lived in a modest one-bedroom apartment. But their new home is a literal mansion in a bougie neighborhood with a $50,000 car out front. Diana spots contractors bringing in appliances for a massive kitchen renovation.
46:27 Sarah Hagi? And when she knocks on the door, a maid answers. It all feels weird to Diana, especially when Rosario mentioned that they paid over half a million dollars in cash for the house. Diana knows firsthand that the CIA doesn't pay that well. So after the visit, she shares her suspicions with a few of her colleagues, a small team of women at the CIA who've been working hard to find the mole. They begin tracking Rick's car and even looking through his trash for any possible clues. But it all comes together when they get access to Rick's finances. As one of the women reviews his bank statements, she discovers a lot of unexplained cash going in and out of Rick's accounts. And most damning of all,
47:11 Sarah Hagi? when they compare his bank statements to his work calendar, they find that Rick made three big deposits immediately after meeting with his KGB sources back in 1985, the first time he sold CIA secrets. The truth hits Diana hard. Her friend sold out his colleagues, causing multiple deaths, all so he could renovate a house and buy a Jaguar. She doesn't hesitate. Rick made his choice, and now she's ready to make hers. It's time to turn him in.
47:46 Sarah Hagi? We're back to that cold February morning in 1994, and Rosario is in handcuffs on her front porch. It's been over four years since Diana's visit to the Ames's house. The investigation into Rick and Rosario was slow for a bunch of reasons, including the fact that the CIA has been...busy. They're dealing with the fallout from the Iran-Contra affair, a massive scandal that revealed the US was secretly providing Iran with weapons. It was so messy that some of the agents investigating Rick were indicted for their own crimes.
48:22 Sarah Hagi? This is what I love about when cops have to investigate other cops, is that they can't because there is so much corruption within government services that things like this happen. Yeah, and in fact, the CIA cops are so corrupt that the FBI has to step in to deal with the Ames's. Rosario is being brought in on suspicion that she aided and abetted her husband's crimes. But over the coming months, she keeps repeating the same story. She didn't know anything about his involvement with the KGB until a year and a half ago, when she happened to find a suspicious note about the embassy in his wallet. She couldn't make sense of it, and when she pressed him, he finally admitted he was working with the Russians.
49:05 Sarah Hagi? She says that, since then, she's been plagued with a moral dilemma. She wanted to report him, but she feared for her family's safety. But that's not what the CIA thinks, because wiretapped conversations from the last five months seem to show Rosario helping Rick. She was caught on tape anxiously offering Rick advice about his crimes. So investigators are suspicious, and some even think she helped him hide his KGB money.
49:36 Sarah Hagi? Here's one snippet of a phone call between the two. Could you read Rosario's lines? Rosario. Well, yeah, you're putting the bulk of the stuff in that suitcase, right? Rick. Sometimes, yeah, but I'm going to use the carry-on. Rosario. You are going to have to be a little... A little more imaginative about how you always have this envelope with this big hunk. I mean, really. To be clear, Rosario probably means "big hunk of cash." Doesn't sound good for her. And two months later, when they have their day in court, the couple finally drops their pretenses. Rick and Rosario both plead guilty to conspiring to commit espionage and tax fraud. Rick is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole,
50:21 Sarah Hagi? and Rosario gets just over five years. After a decade of selling CIA secrets and inadvertently ending at least 10 lives, Rick Ames is finally behind bars with Rosario following suit. The CIA might regret giving Rick so many chances, but now that the truth is out, they're determined to make sure no one like him ever walks through their doors again.
50:50 Sarah Hagi? As of 2025, there isn't much of an update on the Ames family. At 84 years old, Rick is still in prison. Rosario was quietly released in 1998 after serving four years. She's 72 today, but her whereabouts are unknown. After Rick's arrest, the CIA concluded that he, quote, "caused more damage to the national security of the United States than any spy in the history of the CIA." And all these years later, Rick has apparently still never shown any remorse for betraying his country and causing the deaths of his coworkers. His only regret seems to be the fact that he got caught.
51:35 Sarah Hagi? All of this happened when the CIA was still a relatively young agency finding its footing. Rick's betrayal made it clear they needed stronger internal safeguards to make sure something like this never happened again. To this day, Rick remains the highest ranking CIA officer ever exposed as a double agent. After Rick's arrest, the CIA launched a massive internal investigation. And what they found was startling. Almost no oversight and poor communication between the CIA and FBI. Rick wasn't exactly subtle, and yet he slipped through the cracks, turning his betrayal into yet another scandal for the CIA.
52:15 Sarah Hagi? In the end, the CIA did get an agent who fit into their boys' club. They just didn't expect him to be working for another country.
52:28 Sarah Hagi? Sachi, what can you even say? There are so many layers to this. I don't even know where to start. I guess you could start with the stupidity. It's so dumb. Like, the scam was just that he was gonna give up everything he had for, frankly, not a lot of money. He was selling enormous state secrets for like 20 grand. It's just not enough. I guess it's like, it's so familiar, you know, as an independent contractor to know how much you're worth, where you're like, I can either make it so that they keep wanting to work with me and give them a good price, or I can stand up for myself and ask for what I'm worth, you know? Yeah, you know, it's good to ask. A closed mouth does not get fed, and that is the lesson of Rick. You know, the thing about Rick that really makes this like a universal story
53:13 Sarah Hagi? is the level of entitlement he had to be something. Kind of like, I don't want to be in the CIA, Dad, I want to act. Goes off, becomes an actor, ends up in the CIA, poor him. Filled upwards in such a way that even his colleagues were like, this makes no sense. Like, we know this place is a boys' club, but why him? And he still had this really indignant view of things where this guy was like, no, I am the most important man in the world, and I deserve more. He just wanted so much and also didn't go hard enough for how important he thought he was, in a way. Yeah, he had a really profound level of delusion, matched with a total inability to do anything, and sheer
53:59 Sarah Hagi? Dumb luck. Like, he really figured it out. And he probably could have gotten away with it 10 times over, but he was just so sloppy and stupid. From what I can tell, there was no actual plan. Even with his money, to my knowledge, he didn't try to launder the money in any way, like, make it seem like it was coming from different sources. He went so hard, so fast upon coming back to the US, that I'm like, how could you, on the one hand, be so reckless and, like, in a sense, brave to sell secrets and still be so bad at it? Clearly, he doesn't give a shit about any of it. But I do agree that his only regret should be that he did such a bad job.
54:41 Sarah Hagi? I mean, I think he probably should have some regrets a few times over, but chief amongst them was the lack of organization. And the fact that he probably could have done this scam better and bigger and braver and gotten away with it. But he didn't, because he was lazy. I do think there's an element of this where he could have justified his actions by being like, I work for the CIA. People are getting killed because of me, no matter what. May as well make a buck off it. Why even, like, defect? Go abroad, like, you know, come on, dude. The thing about Rick, I guess, is that he he so clearly believed in nothing except himself. Like, he didn't believe in country. He didn't believe in government. He didn't believe in infrastructure. He didn't believe in the secrets. He didn't believe in the Soviets either.
55:24 Sarah Hagi? He didn't believe in anything other than his own ability to get rich and be feted. And that is, I think, one of the worst kinds of scammers that we have, Sarah, are like, straight white men who believe in themselves so much. And they have no other value system. What do you think his wife knew? And when do you think she figured it out? You know, it seems like he just didn't give a shit at all. That, like, why would he be so good at hiding it from his wife? Who clearly does align with him in some way, where the most important thing to her was Rick and his money and changing her life to be with him. That I wouldn't be surprised if she had known the whole time or maybe, like, a year into it. But she's not a dumbass, you know?
56:08 Sarah Hagi? She was smart enough to be working as a cultural attache at the age of 29 as a woman. She's no dummy, you know? I think she knew pretty early on, and I don't know how much it bothered her. It was clearly-
56:22 Speaker 02 Easy enough that it was out in the open that they could talk about it.
56:25 Sarah Hagi? The conspiracy-brained part of myself believes there was probably more to this story than we will ever know. Because think about how embarrassing, how deeply embarrassing it is for the CIA and the FBI.
56:39 Speaker 02 I guess the moral of the story is that you shouldn't be a spy, and you shouldn't keep secrets, and you should tell everybody everything all the time.
56:44 Sarah Hagi? Moral of the story: do not be an agent. Do not become a spy. Don't get involved in this world. There are ways you can be deceptive and lie to people and be well-known and celebrated. And you know what it's called? Reality TV. It's called The Traitors. It's called Survivor. It's called Big Brother. It's just gossip.
57:03 Speaker 02 Everything's gossip.
57:04 Sarah Hagi? It is all just gossip. I agree.
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57:22 Sarah Hagi? This is Rick Ames, the spy who told too much. I'm Sarah Haggy.
57:27 Speaker 02 And I'm Sachi Cole. If you have a tip for us on a story that you think we should cover, please email us at [email protected] . We use many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were The Spy and the Jaguar by David Wise for Vanity Fair, Why I Spied by Tim Weiner, Sell Out: Aldrich Ames and the Corruption of the CIA by James Adams, Killer Spy: The Inside Story of the FBI's Pursuit and Capture of Aldrich Ames, America's Deadliest Spy by Peter Moss, Betrayal: The Story of Aldrich Ames, an American Spy by Tim Weiner, David Johnson, and Neil A. Lewis, Nightmover: How Aldrich Ames Sold the CIA to the KGB for $4.6 Million by David Wise, and The Terrible Secret of Rosario Ames by Sally Quinn for The Washington Post.
58:13 Sarah Hagi? Gabrielle Drole wrote this episode. Additional writing by us, Sachi Cole, and Sarah Haggy. Olivia Bryley is our story editor. Fact-checking by Kalina Newman. Sound design by James Morgan. Additional audio assistance provided by Augustine Lim. Our music supervisor is Scott Velazquez for Fries on Sync. Our managing producer is Desi Blaylock. Janine Cornelo and Stephanie Jens are our development producers. Our associate producer is Charlotte Miller. Our senior producers are Sarah Enney and Ginny Bloom. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer-Beckman and Marshall Louie for Wondery.
58:58 Speaker 03 A trucker merges onto the I-10 in New Orleans. He checks his mirrors. The lane is clear. And then, boom. Impact. A pickup truck, seemingly out of nowhere, scrapes down the side of his 18-wheeler. Multiple passengers inside. One man flees the scene. And the driver of the pickup? He doesn't seem all that upset. It didn't feel like a regular accident, because it wasn't. Across the city, truckers are getting sideswiped, all on the same stretch of the same freeway. And behind many of the cases is one person. A Hollywood stunt woman turned personal injury lawyer named Vanessa Moda. This podcast is a story about fake accidents that lead to real consequences and a scheme that ends in betrayal and murder.
59:43 Speaker 03 Listen to Over My Dead Body: Operation Sideswipe wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
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