SALT
RESEARCH
October 18, 2008
What would happen with a walk-in like Taktaroff:
It’s not unusual for a walk-in to have already decided who specifically they want to approach in the Agency. They might follow that person, get to know their schedule and choose the best, most unobtrusive place to make the approach. It has happened quite a few times before that an officer has gotten out of their car and found a walk-in standing there waiting for them, or waiting at home on the front stoop.
The first thing an officer would do upon being approached by walk-in is to call her boss directly. If he’s not available she might call into the ops center but it is much more likely she’d call her immediate boss.
The officer would not make the call in front of the walk-in. She would want to make the call and have the conversation privately.
It is possible, and even likely, that she would ask the walk-in to meet her at some other location in five minutes. This might be a street corner or a business.
The first question the officer would ask her boss on the phone is “can I take him somewhere?” It is also very important that she check the situation with her boss and not proceed on her own because this walk-in might be part of something else going on within the agency. With so much secrecy and “need-to-know” it is imperative that she check in and get direction from her superior.
The Officer would also give her boss the walk-ins “bona fides” on the phone, i.e. who he says he is. These would be checked and confirmed against internal records so that they can confirm that he is who he says he is.
One of the first questions the Officer would ask herself when the walk-in approaches her is “is this a trap?”
Once the Boss has given the officer permission to bring in the walk-in, the most likely place she would be told to take the person is to a safe house. It could also be a hotel or office building but an unobtrusive house in a residential neighborhood would be most likely.
Safe Houses: They are located in residential neighborhoods. Places with a private entrance, set off from the road, with a long driveway, a fence or screened by trees are the best choice so that you can place guards outside without the little old lady down the street becoming suspicious about what is going on.
Safe Houses are decorated with the bare minimum. Usually they are not very nice, old and dumpy. The bear necessities are there. The refrigerator is always stocked. There are always cartons of cigarettes and booze available.
The Safe House they use would be one that only the Boss uses as part of Russian Operations. Each Division has their own Safe Houses so you wouldn’t, for example, have a Russian in a Safe House one week and a Chinese the next.
The Officer would not take the Walk-In directly from Point A (the location of the meet) to Point B (the safe house). She would do elaborate surveillance detection to make sure she isn’t being followed or walking into a trap.
Before taking the Walk-In into the Safe House the Officer needs an “all clear.” This is the signal she must have before proceeding. It could be a guy on a corner, or a light on a porch. It must be a positive signal. An absence of signal isn’t enough. For example, “come in if you don’t see anyone outside,” wouldn’t work.
Someone like Winter would have a huge amount of authority in this situation to run it the way he wants. He would be allowed to keep it as secret as he wants to and would have the latitude to get away with bloody murder. He would give the Walk-In a code name and only those he invites into the loop would know what is going on.
By the time the Officer brings the Walk-In to the Safe House there would be other people already there. Again the Boss could keep the number of people as small as possible. There would most likely be Several Security Officers, another Assistant, Someone to run the Technical Aspects of the Operation (taping the interview etc…) and someone who could act as a Gopher, able to call into Langley and look up information when necessary.
He may be or may not be polygraphed at this meeting, depending on the circumstances and whether or not they believe this is their one shot with him.
The big decision that would be made regarding the Walk-In is whether they are going to keep him or turn around and send him back to where he came from to collect more information? Is this their one shot? Is what he telling them all he knows or can he be used to get more intelligence?
This whole operations, with the Walk-In and with the Enemy, is a game of poker.
Who would be most likely to be involved in the pursuit of Salt when she runs?:
Winter would not want to lose control of the operation so would be likely to involve as few people as possible.
At some point Winter would have to alert the Deputy Director of Operations (DDO) about the situation. At this point people in the Agency would be going crazy. There would be enormous pressure to send out an alert to ‘use all national assets to pick Salt up.” This means involving the FBI, sending her picture to the local police and informing them she is armed and dangerous, contacting airlines to make sure she doesn’t get on a plane.
Winter would have very good, legitimate, excuses for not wanting to call on natural resources to pick Salt up. He would want to protect his Walk-In. For this reason he doesn’t want to draw the enemy’s attention by creating any sort of dramatic change. If the Enemy realizes something is going on they may be able to work it out and track the situation back to the Walk-In. He would want to keep the situation as far off the radar as possible.
Security Officers: It is possible that Winter would rely on the Security Officers already involved. Operations Officers are not armed in the U.S. but the Security Officers would be. The Security Officers could also go get their long guns and be fully armed. During 9/11 the long guns did come out and they were fully deployed wearing security uniforms.
Counterintelligence Officers: Winter might also involve Counterintelligence officers in the hunt for Salt. Russian Operations and Counterintelligence has a long relationship together so Winter would have people he could bring in from there.
Counterintelligence Officers are extremely intimidating people who don’t mix with others. Even an Operations Officer would find their presence intimidating. They are highly competent mole hunters willing to do all the dirty tricks to catch the moles. Winter would logically go to counter-intelligence to do his dirty work.
Counterintelligence might also already be present at the Safe House to handle Taktaroff.
If Ericka had already been identified as a mole then it’s possible that she would be brought into a room with both Operations Officers and Counterintelligence Officers under the pretence of talking about some counterintelligence issue and not knowing she was actually the suspect. If the room then turned on her and accused her of being the suspect it would be a “big time serious” situation to be in. If Counterintelligence is involved then Salt would feel that she has no options. Once they take over you are screwed and you know you are going to lose even if you are innocent.
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF A DEFECTOR WALKED IN:
Research Subject #1
October 15, 2008
What would happen if a defector shows up at the front gate:
There are no interrogation rooms. Someone who shows up like Taktaroff would never be allowed inside. The big fear is that the person would see faces of people who work inside and that would compromise them.
They would be taken to a safe house in the area and questioned there. In other places around the world they often have what’s called a ‘walk-in room’ to just this sort of situation.
Subject #1 mentioned the story of the Soviet defector Yurchenko who was taken to the Farm where a special prison was eventually built for him. He was kept there and questioned for three years. He finally returned to Russia.
There is another story involving Aldridge Ames. He was sent to the airport to pick up an arriving defector. In the car he realized that the information the defector had and was going to spill was that Ames was a traitor. Ames managed the situation by convincing the guy that he shouldn’t tell anyone.
Being fingered as a traitor:
She had a friend this happened to. He was brought back to the country under false pretenses. He was stopped in his hotel coming down an elevator, whisked away by security and interrogated.
She was also accused at one point of betraying secrets. It’s frustrating to try to prove you are innocent. The feeling involve shock, disbelief that you are being accused and then a feeling that you can obviously talk your way out of the situation.
Personality of Directorate of Operations officers:
They are highly manipulative by training but they also tend to have natural gifts in this area. They are game players who mess with minds. You don’t know when you are being played even by friends and colleagues.
The world of the Directorate of Operations is a Hall of Mirrors. In a movie you usually end up knowing what’s true and how the story ends. In real life you never know. In real life there is no closure and that’s what’s hard.
Research Subject #2
October 15, 2008
What would happen if a defector shows up at the front gate:
A defector would not be allowed in the building. They wouldn’t want them to see any case officer inside. They would be taken to a safe house for questioning.
Even defectors who have proven are generally not let into the building. On a very rare occasion someone who has been thoroughly proven might be let in to give a presentation.
What would happen if a defector fingered an officer as a traitor:
The tendency would be to not necessarily believe a defector at first. There would be a stronger tendency to believe the officer.
If the defector provided good proof then counterintelligence and security would be called in and they would start a process of questioning and polygraphing.
The head of security is a former FBI agent. The FBI would be called in at some point.
Once the others come in they will try to crucify you. They will bug your house, bug your car and go through your garbage. You are no longer safe in your home or your car.
