The Aldrich Ames affair

The Aldrich Ames affair involved CIA officer Aldrich Ames, who secretly communicated with and sold classified information to the Soviet Union and later Russia from the mid-1980s to 1994. His espionage compromised numerous intelligence operations, led to the exposure and deaths of undercover agents, and significantly damaged U.S. intelligence. Ames's betrayal was motivated by financial gain and personal issues, and his actions remain one of the most damaging espionage scandals in U.S. history. He was arrested in 1994, convicted of espionage, and is serving life imprisonment.