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

by John W. Whiteside III

"Fool's Mate" tells the true stories of two traitors working different sides of the Cold War. One is an arrogant, lonely U.S. Army soldier serving in the highly secretive National Security Agency. The other is an ambitious KGB officer with access to the U.S.S.R.'s most sensitive documents. Both betray their countries, but their fates and motivations are very different. At the height of the Cold War in September 1965, disgruntled U.S. soldier Robert Stephan Lipka walked boldly into the U.S.S.R. embassy in Washington, DC. Inside, he negotiated the sale of highly sensitive National Security Agency documents. The price he demanded for his treason? A mere four hundred dollars. The Soviets could not believe their luck. For the next two years, Lipka delivered a steady stream of important information on U.S. security, before attempting to get out of the spy game as his military enlistment period expired. The KGB, however, continued their interest in Lipka for several years, eventually dispatching deep-cover Soviet illegals to make re-contact. As Lipka exited the scene, KGB officer Vasili Mitrokhin planted the seeds of his own treason, which bore unexpected fruit decades later. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the imminent collapse of the Soviet Union, Mitrokhin fled to the West, offering a treasure trove of archived KGB files in return for protection. Hidden within those documents was incriminating evidence against Lipka, who was then living a quiet life in the Amish suburbs of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. After a lengthy surveillance and sting operation, Lipka was convicted in 1997. Thirty-two years after first committing treason, he was finally brought to justice-his conviction ending the longest-running open espionage case in U.S. history. With Lipka's adamant refusal to cooperate with authorities, it remains unclear just how much American blood he traded for small sums of cash. "Fool's Mate" reconstructs the Lipka investigation through the eyes of author John Whiteside, the FBI Special Agent who led the case from start to finish, telling a story as relevant today as it was in 1965. With the arrest of ten Russian illegals in 2010 and the 2013 release of classified National Security Agency documents by Edward Snowden, "Fool's Mate" reminds us just how vulnerable national security is to both foreign intelligence services and men like Lipka, willing to sell out their country from within.

281 pages, Paperback

First published February 5, 2014

Reviews

[Fisher_FA · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book that follows an investigation into one of the worst traitors in American history. Written by one of the investigators, this book gave great insights.

[Donald J Hartung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read

Interesting read that gave a view of a spy who cared less about his country and only cared about himself

[Lucy Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

He's an expert and knows the story. Excellent book.

[Steve Heil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was well written and kept my interest. I am usually more interested in actual tradecraft rather than investigation and trial, but this was a quick and easy read. Large type and lots of white space makes this 260-page book feel more like a 130-page book.
I would have given this book 4 stars intead of three, but I had a problem with the author referencing the agent "Fedora" in his book as an authentic agent for the FBI.
Specifically, on page 231, the author writes:
"...a long-time FBI recruitment-in-place code-named "Fedora" told the FBI that....".
On page 232, the author writes;
"(the) other KGB source, "Fedora", had worked in the same city...(and)...therefore, "Fedora's" information was likely more recent."
When this book was published, the author would have known that Fedora was actually a double-agent for the KGB and was feeding mis-information to the United States intelligence services and also the United Nations. Fedora's false information even reached the Nixon whitehouse. Fedora was finally outed when he tried to vouch for KGB plant Yuir Nosenko.
Why would the author quote information from Fedora as fact if he knew Fedora was a KGB plant spreading false information?
If the author indeed did not know that Fedora was a bad actor, that is even worse.
Either way, I was left wondering if he was trying to cover for the FBI in the Fedora situation, and/or what else may have been omitted/embellished in the book.
Four stars for being an interesting, if short, read. But minus one star for not telling the truth about Fedora.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an extremely interesting, well-researched book. The author, an expert on this case, was able to communicate his story to the readers in a way that was easy to follow and comprehend. While he did not oversimplify the book, he did not write it in FBI language that a civilian would not be able to understand without the help of an Internet search for definitions.
This book held my attention and proved to be a quick read, I finished it in 1-1/2 days.
If you enjoy the TV show, "The Americans", I recommend that you read Fool's Mate .

[Peter L · Rating 3 out of 5]

American Convicted of Selling NSA Information to Soviets

31 years after selling NSA information to Soviets a Russian defector provides clues to a NSA spy. This book starts at that time & details the investigation which led a conviction. Okay story but frustrating as what exactly spy stole & sold not told.

[Jacque · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible story. A must read.