Fool's Mate: A True Story of Espionage at the National Security Agency

A detailed look into the FBI investigation

Fool's Mate is written by John Whiteside III.The Case: Whiteside was over foreign counterintelligence and espionage in a couple of counties in Pennsylvania and got the lead investigator for this case. A very important defector, Mitrokhin, who belongs to the Brits and cannot be named in court has identified "Dan" aka Robert Lipka as having been involved selling information to the Russians. The espionage occurred between 1965-67, and the investigation begins in1993. So a source that cannot be named or shown in court has named a NSA employee who allegedly spied for the Russians nearly 30 years ago without one specific document he sold identified against a very cagey and intelligent subject.Dead drops, special KGB camera, illegals, the ex-wife with knowledge are all included, as expected.Style: He writes it in the third person, which keeps the story focused away from the author's thoughts and properly upon the story. His style is straight forward and easy to read with the standard subject, verb, object; much as one writes a report with not much speculation or reflection.Error: The author states that Mitrokhin worked for the Committee for Information, and "It was subsequently absorbed into the KGB in 1954. In his new position as a KGB officer, working under Stalin's rule, he and his colleges kept watch on the activities of any Soviets who posed a threat, real or perceived, to Stalin and his rule" (92). Stalin died March 5, 1953, so Mitrokhin could not have worked under him in the KGB.Mitrokhin is stated to be a "recruitment-in-place" (100) but MI-6 has already "exfiltrated" him from USSR into Britain. How could Mitrokhin still be working as a KGB agent if he has left the country and joined the other side, which the KGB would obviously know since they did not give him authorization to leave?Curious: Whiteside credits Mitrokhin's motive as predominately being ideology for leaving the USSR. Having had been in direct conversation with him, he would know this. Yet I have seen Mitrokhin's motive listed as resentment against the USSR over their poor medical treatment.The book is definitely a good read and the errors could be clarified by the author. They do not distract from a good story here from the perspective of an investigator. I fully recommend this book.

This was a quick read, but still a waste of time. Given that the spy at the center of the story, Robert Lipka, had been inactive for decades and apparently leading a law-abiding life when the investigation began in the early 90s, there's simply no underlying drama to the story. The author's pedestrian writing style magnifies this problem: I kept plugging along hoping for some plot twist or revelation to enliven the story, but it never happened. The investigators were never able to determine what NSA documents were actually transferred to the Soviets, so that possible angle of interest didn't pan out. Readers are left with the plodding story of the pursuit of a decades-old spy case of unknown significance. The question that kept nagging at me is whether the ends justified the long and undoubtedly expensive investigation into a very cold spy case. The closest we get to a moment of drama in the book is when the feds prepare to arrest Lipka. The head of the investigation (the author) watches one of Lipka's son's carefree departure for school and ponders how his innocent life, and those of his brother and mother, are about to be destroyed by the arrest and prosecution of their father. Meanwhile Lipka's first wife, who was a clear accessory to his crimes, gets a pass for undisclosed but seemingly completely arbitrary reasons. Yet another irony is the low-tech means by which Lipka committed his document theft years earlier: stuffing documents that he had ready access to under his shirt, confident that his person would never be searched as he exited the supposedly super-secure NSA. More of a farce than a thriller, I would strongly advise taking a pass on this book.

This is John Whiteside's second book, and it may be a little tedious for some. However, I never realized how many agents are needed to find, gather data and prosecute a person who has been identified as a traitor by the old KGB.I was fascinated by the story and the methods use to put Robert Lipka in jail. Both books rate my highest rating. This is a great way to learn how dedicated agents keep us safe. Thank you John Whiteside.

Great story - couldn't put it down. Well written with just the right amount of detail. I can recommend this book.

A well-written and compelling read of yet another traitor to the United States. Though not as exciting a case as Aldrich Ames, Phillip Hansen or John Anthony Walker, it is still a necessary tale to be told. Why? Because I believe it is imperative to know who sold us down the river. Read how this manipulative, conniving former soldier gave classified documents to a hostile superpower for his own personal gain and fortune. See how the government went to pursue and apprehended him. And read how he got what he deserved THIRTY YEARS after the fact. Use this book as another volume in your espionage library. I strongly recommend this work to you.

Being in the USASA around the same time as the events surrounding this story, I was expecting to hear more details of the specific info that the spy had compromised. After all, that info has long ago been declassified. Too much tip-toeing around the specific classified material compromised. For example, what did the spy specifically compromise that resulted in casualties in Viet-Nam?However, the book was well written and I finished it in about 10 days. I would recommend it to others interested in espionage cases.

A very interesting story, reads like a novel. But one can sense the editor's hand everywhere. Some very simple facts get to be very elaborated in episodic details. On the other hand, there is missing information, maybe trivial, but one that could have contributed to a more satisfying read. Aside from that it is frightening to discover how penetrated was the USA by the KGB. I can only think that it will take some time before the US allows us to know how much they penetrated them.

Last week a very special person recommanded me this book. I've started to read it right after I got it and guess what, I can't stop reading it. I'm still in and I will be totally honest - the book is way better than I tought. Thanks so much for the recommandation :)