How to Catch a Russian Spy : The True Story of an American Civilian Turned Double Agent

For three nerve-wracking years, long before America would become embroiled in controversy over whether Russia had influenced the 2016 presidential election, Naveed Jamali joined with the FBI in an effort to draw out Russian spies. Posing to the Russians as gullible and greedy, Jamali traded thumb drives of sensitive technical data for envelopes of cash, selling out America across noisy restaurant tables and in quiet parking lots. Or so the Russians believed. In fact, their go-to source was a "learn by doing" covert double agent. The Cold War wasn't really over. It had just gone high-tech. Incredibly, Jamali had no previous counterespionage experience, yet he convinced both the FBI and the Russians that they could trust him. Everything he knew about undercover work he'd picked up from TV cop shows and movies like Ronin, Spy Game, and the James Bond series. With charm, cunning, and bold naiveté, Jamali, working with his FBI handlers, exposed espionage activities at the Russian Mission to the United Nations and earned a solid U.S. win amid growing hostilities between Moscow and Washington. Now adding an epilogue that offers insight into recent Russian spying in the U.S., Jamali shows how America's most formidable espionage opponent continues working from the same playbook, often with spectacular results.