The discovery of Harold Martin revived the sport of criticizing the National Security Agency, which died down a bit since Edward Snowden’s security breach. The knee-jerk reaction is to hyper-critique the victim agency. But one way or another, it seems, they’re always caught. Martin is awaiting trial behind bars. Snowden’s enjoying “freedom” in Russia.
Motivations vary. For Martin, espionage may have been about some sort of psychological hoarding disorder. For Snowden, it was a matter of his vision of freedom and liberty. For some, it’s simply a matter of money, or ego, or both. No matter why they act, they’re caught—albeit sometimes too late. Why are they always caught? It could be those failures they were trying to overcome that bring them down. It could be bad luck. It could be the excellent work of other government agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Sometimes it’s a combination of all three.
SABOTEUR PROFILE
Brian Regan had been a troubled young man. Physically imposing, he was a poor reader. So he was a target for bullies and a challenge for teachers. The fact is, Regan had dyslexia, a challenge commonly associated with reading and spelling, but a characteristic of many powerful, successful people, as well.
Perhaps as a natural result of the scrutiny and derision he endured as a youth, Regan had a persistent sense of insecurity, of low self-esteem, of inferiority, which one might naturally counter by demonstrating superiority. Makes sense.
Regan enjoyed what most would consider a successful career in the United States Air Force. He held a classified position at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and he was up for transfer to Europe. But he didn’t want to go, and forced to decide between overseas transfer and retirement, Martin chose retirement, bringing an end to his 20-year career.
To complicate things, Regan was finding himself deeper and deeper in debt, and members of his extended family apparently found themselves in similar trouble. Altogether, Brian Regan was in a no-win situation. Financially unstable, he would be forced to transition to the civilian workforce. He had to be disgruntled, frustrated with the Air Force’, yet still with access to America’s secrets.
NEVER ANONYMOUS
We might feel pretty anonymous in this great big wide world. But we’re not that anonymous. Even back at the turn of the century, smart detectives could pretty quickly narrow the suspect pool with very limited information. For instance, just knowing that Regan lived in the Capital region and had a security clearance narrowed the pool significantly. Knowing Regan had a family narrowed the pool even further. Figuring out that the source of compromised documents was the Intelink system at the NRO went even further.
And dyslexia? Interviewing employees at the NRO, detectives were looking for a poor speller. Yeah, it’s that guy, Regan. He can’t spell cat.
A PERFECT STORM
An intelligent man with an inferiority complex drowning in debt and forced from his job where he had access to some of the nation’s most valuable secrets and had established patterns of coming and going that let him essentially fade into the background. What a perfect storm.
Fortunately, FBI Special Agent Steven Carr was on the case. Fortunately, Martin let slip tell-tale clues to his identity. In this case, a combination of money and ego were motivating factors, and money and ego are what brought Regan down.
You can read all about it in Yudhijit Bhattacharjee article “The Spy Who Couldn’t Spell: How the Biggest Heist in the History of US Espionage Was Foiled,” or in Bhattacharjee’s new book that’s on the shelves this morning, The Spy Who Couldn’t Spll: A Dyslexic Traitor, an Unbreakable Code, and the FBI’s Hunt for America’s Stolen Secrets.
