A Life of Lies and Spies: Tales of a CIA Covert Ops Polygraph Interrogator by Alan B. Trabue

Author:Alan B. Trabue [Trabue, Alan B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781466871557
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2015-06-02T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Castro’s Buddy Beats the Box

It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.

—H. L. MENCKEN

I know that extreme nervousness displayed by a polygraph subject during an operational case can be a warning sign that connotes impending danger. I am accustomed to encountering nervousness; however, it is a difficult task to determine when the examinee’s behavior has crossed the line and become something out of the ordinary, something that would be considered to be extreme nervousness. Of course, if I become aware of it in the midst of a clandestine meeting, it may already be too late. I could already be in the crosshairs of the host country’s intelligence service and may have walked right into a trap they set.

The exact opposite of extreme nervousness can also be a warning sign. An examinee that approaches the polygraph process with an abundance of self-confidence can be a pleasure to test. If he is self-assured, confident, and free of the general nervous tension that I too often saw, polygraph testing can be a swift and straightforward process. On the other hand, an overly self-confident agent should also be a warning sign.

One week before Christmas in the mid-1970s, Cuban Ops (the Directorate of Operations office handling the Cuban target) contacted Polygraph Section with an urgent request to test one of their agents in a small city in Europe. The agent had been previously polygraphed with favorable results on two occasions. I knew that both examiners who had previously tested the agent had solid reputations as thorough, competent examiners. However, the test I was asked to conduct was requested for special reasons. The examination was of critical importance because the Agency thought it had caught the agent contacting the head of the DGI (Dirección General de Inteligencia), the Cuban Intelligence Service, in another city in Europe. The official decision on the identity of the individual was deemed “Inconclusive,” but Headquarters officers were almost positive it was our agent. There were also other aspects of the agent’s relationship with us, including the authenticity of his reporting, that officers at Headquarters deemed suspicious. For example, the agent had provided a diagram of a room where the Agency was considering to surreptitiously place a piece of electronic equipment. They thought the diagram was so good, perhaps even professionally drawn, that he must have had help.

The previous tests were arranged and administered when the agent left Cuba to attend conferences in foreign countries. On those occasions, he traveled with a group, but was able to break away for a sufficient amount of time to meet with a case officer. Just as he had managed before, the agent anticipated being able to sneak away from his group of fellow travelers for a few hours on December 22 while on his current business trip to several European countries.

Making travel arrangements on such short notice only one week before Christmas meant there was but a slim chance of booking a return flight from Europe to be home on December 25.

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