U.S. Intelligence Happenings!

Sandy Grimes- a true CIA legend. RIP, Sandy.

Sandy Grimes just passed away at 80, and if you don’t know her name, you should. She wasn’t a field agent running around with a gun, but make no mistake—she helped take down one of the CIA’s worst traitors. Back in the late '80s and early '90s, Grimes and her partner, Jeanne Vertefeuille, quietly chased a gut feeling that something inside the Agency stank. What they found was Aldrich Ames—a high-ranking CIA officer selling secrets to the Soviets, cashing in while good people were dying.

The damage was brutal. At least eight of our assets in the Soviet Union were exposed, arrested, and executed. All because one of our own sold them out for a payday. Ames lived large while they vanished into black cells or worse. But Grimes didn’t let it slide. She followed the money, connected dots no one else saw, and stayed on him until they had enough to take him down in 1994. The arrest rocked the intelligence world and forced the Agency to rethink how it watches its own.

If you’re reading this as someone outside the cloak-and-dagger world, here’s the takeaway: the real heroes don’t always wear a badge or chase suspects through alleys. Sometimes they sit in offices, sifting through files, refusing to let go of a lead. Grimes wasn’t flashy. She was relentless. For the intel community, her story is a gut punch and a warning. Trust, once broken, costs lives. But with the right people watching, even the biggest traitors can’t hide forever.

She later co-wrote Circle of Treason, telling the full story. And when Jeanne got sick, Sandy didn’t disappear—she took care of her to the end. That’s loyalty, through and through.

Your turn—what do you think? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.