The Nation: The Spy Who Came into the Heat

Until recent weeks, James Angleton was a paradigm of his arcane trade. Cultivated in taste, shrewd in intellect, and above all discreet in his work for the CIA, Angleton, 57, was in the twilight of a distinguished career.

Then, suddenly, he became a casualty of the constant tension that a covert agency must live with in an open society. As the New York Times was about to blow his cover, Angleton blew his cool. In a telephone conversation with Seymour Hersh, he let slip that the CIA had a "source" in Moscow who was...

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