Just days after the meeting, the FBI announced the arrest of John Walker, Jr. on espionage charges. That arrested spooked Ames who feared that he could be compromised by any number of Soviet double-agents. On June 13, 1985 he met with Chuvakhin and gave him the name of every double-agent that he felt was in a position to expose him. He also provided a mound of CIA intelligence reports. As a result, the KGB rounded up dozens of agents, returning them to Moscow for questioning, interrogation, imprisonment and often execution.
The CIA took note that many of its double-agents were disappearing and that some of their communications intelligence apparatus was no longer gathering information (including an elaborate bugging system within the tunnels running underground through Moscow). Initially, the agency believed that the activity was a result of the defected of former CIA employee Edward Lee Howard, a recent defector. Eventually they realized, however, that the information now possessed by the Soviets was outside of the scope of Howard's limited knowledge.
Although alarmed, the CIA took a cautious approach to searching for a mole, still smarting from the mess stemming from James Jesus Angleton's previous mole hunt. As such, the security breach was looked upon a chance mistakes by several agents, and not the work of an internal mole.
IIn order to distance himself from the activities swirling around him, Ames requested a transfer to the office in Rome, Italy. While assigned there, he and his wife began spending lavishly on clothing and accessories. Ames also purchased a Jaguar.
