Newsweek

CIA Turncoats Should Be Lured Back With No Jail Time

The radical approach to turncoats has split the intelligence community. "Don't think I didn't know that people would choke on this," says David Charney, a CIA-connected psychiatrist.
PER_Spytalk_01
PER_Spytalk_01

Not much time seems to pass without learning of yet another turncoat in the CIA or other intelligence agencies. In February, feds charged Monica Witt, a former Air Force counterintelligence sergeant and later defense contractor, with passing extremely sensitive secrets to Iran. Over the past two years, two former CIA operatives were arrested independently on charges of spying for China. 

Just more spy vs. spy stuff, fodder for books and movies? No. Those last two reportedly contributed to what was described as a "catastrophic" wave of arrests and executions of 18 to 20 CIA assets in China. Witt, who defected to Iran in 2013, allegedly provided her handlers with the names and sources of U.S. agents involved in clandestine activities. 

Witt, who was charged with passing secrets to Iran, is a rare female turncoatFBI

As long as there are spy services, of course, there will be defectors. The

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Newsweek

Newsweek12 min read
The Inconceivable Search For Sperm
SINGLE WOMEN AND LGBTQ+ COUPLES are increasingly pursuing pregnancy via known donors—people they find on the internet, in Facebook groups and through dating-like apps. In her own quest to become a solo mother by choice, investigative journalist Valer
Newsweek3 min read
Newsweek US
GLOBAL EDITOR IN CHIEF _ Nancy Cooper VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL _ Laura Davis DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS _ Melissa Jewsbury OPINION EDITOR _ Batya Ungar-Sargon GLOBAL PUBLISHING EDITOR _ Chris Roberts SENIOR EDITOR-AT-LARGE _ Josh Hammer EDITORIAL Managi
Newsweek5 min read
‘Deadly Risk’ of Fat-Loss Drugs
“MIRACLE” FAT-MELTING DRUG OZEMPIC HAS been linked in a study to a series of rare but potentially fatal psychiatric episodes, scientists have warned. The injectable prescription drug was developed to manage blood sugar levels in patients with Type 2

Related Books & Audiobooks