A Spy Among U.S.?

By Brian Bennett, Timothy J. Burger

It's bad enough that the FBI may have found another spy in its midst. But the fact that the alleged mole may have been able to keep e-mailing filched documents undetected even as the bureau was auditing him has powerful onlookers vexed. The mess is coming to light as FBI director Robert Mueller continues to try to prove that the bureau's handling of intelligence has been fixed since he took the helm following the agency's pre-Sept. 11 missteps and the jailing of superspy Robert Hanssen. The arrest last month of FBI analyst Leandro Aragoncillo raises doubts about the effectiveness of reforms put in place after Hanssen sold secrets from FBI computers to Russia. Aragoncillo, who previously worked in the offices of Vice Presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney, is suspected of taking classified documents from the same FBI database as Hanssen and passing them to Philippine officials. The documents contained sensitive U.S. intel on Manila politicians, including President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who has faced persistent coup rumors.

The FBI analyst came under suspicion in March after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials tipped off Aragoncillo's superiors that he had tried to intervene on behalf of a man who was detained for overstaying his tourist visa. That man later became known to officials as Aragoncillo's alleged Filipino handler, former senior Philippine police official Michael Ray Aquino. According to arrest papers, a subsequent FBI audit of Aragoncillo's computer use found that he had searched for documents out of his area of responsibility. But a full investigation was not initiated until July. Perhaps most troubling, during the intervening four months--and under the nose of an active FBI audit--Aragoncillo allegedly sent Aquino at least four e-mails with secret documents from the same databases.

The FBI won't comment. But the case is a concern on Capitol Hill. "The timeline," says a spokesman for House Intelligence Committee chair Peter Hoekstra, "will be reviewed." --By Brian Bennett and Timothy J. Burger