MarcRuskin

Working on the darkside, I often was exposed to the people whose greed made them act in ways we would think of as crazy. Such as the nuclear engineer who offered to sell me -- believing I was a spy for a hostile nation -- the blueprints for making a dirty bomb. For use here. And he was American....

I was in a car with a subject, he was driving - generally a big mistake for a UC - but this was in the early days, and I learned as I went along - and he said to me "How do I know you're not an FBI agent?" I was posing as an Argentine public official receiving bribes in exchange for contracts (a white collar case). My response was that If anyone should be worried about the law it was me, not him, as in my country they'd lock me up and throw away the key if I got caught. For some reason, the logic seemed to satisfy him, and the moment passed....

FBI Agents have, or used to have, a great sense of humor. In the films, like Die Hard, they're all black suits and grim faces: "We're taking over now." That never happens. We'd kid around with the locals, cops and trooper, and work together all the time.

They can afford the best lawyers.

Meeting with one of the heroin organization players at a hotel by LaGuardia Airport, for a buy, I asked him casually how good it was. Meaning, what % purity. He misunderstood, and answered "I don't use this stuff, I sell it." I almost fell off the corner of the bed I was sitting on. The point: If a real drug dealer can say that he does not use the merchandise, then certainly I can. So, if any dealer would want to test me: "I don't use this poison, this is about money. Lots of money." Completely credible. If a subject were to ask me to commit some kind of criminal act so as to prove myself, the response - in line with being a real criminal - would be "What, are you kidding? Forget about it, I'll take my business elsewhere." Looking like I was willing to walk away from a deal always enhanced my credibility.