Former CIA man tells of Norway connection

Retired Bank of Baltimore Chairman Edwin causes a stir, revealing that he had worked for the CIA

Sarah Bostock
The Foreigner

In a recently published biography, Hale Storm, Edwin Hale revealed his tenure at “The Firm” was during the 1990s and early 2000s.

Hale has installed video surveillance on his 186-acre farm and sleeps with a sawn-off shotgun by his bed and always within reach.

In a Q&A in Baltimore Magazine, 68-year-old Hale reports that he was recruited in 1992 by Alvin Bernard “Buzzy” Krongard. Krongard was Executive Director of the CIA from 2001 to 2004 and a former chairman of Alex. Brown and Sons, a Baltimore investment bank.

After being recruited, Hale says he helped run a fake company created under a legitimate corporation the Agency created. The fake company included shipping and trucking companies, which Hale ran whilst leading the bank.

Hale travelled extensively to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Israel, Poland, Denmark, and Norway. This was in order to provide cover to operatives supposedly working for the company. In turn, these operatives were given business cards by the company when traveling the globe.

He told publication Baltimore that the Agency would either send him a CV, or the handlers and people operatives would travel to him so he could issue them with credentials: HaleTrans, Baltimore Blast.

“I would hand them shirts, hats, cards, and they were sent on their way. They were not [my] employees. They were, in fact, paid by the Agency. That’s how their compensation was, so it didn’t get too complicated. I would just give them identities that these people were employed by me, as opposed to somebody who was a ‘military attaché’ or a ‘cultural attaché’ to an embassy over in Libya.”

Hale would only know the agents’ names and destinations during any operations, often communicating with a handler from the Agency.

The former CIA employee also said that he worked under “nonofficial cover.” This meant that his identity would not be associated with the United States Government.

Hale’s role was key during the 1990s, when the CIA was conducting early investigations on Osama bin Laden.

He added that he no longer worked for “The Firm” after September 11, 2001. The Agency was no longer in need of his services, but he kept contact with two of the agents he worked with.

The biography, called Hale Storm, written by Baltimore journalist Kevin Cowherd, was commissioned as a means of Hale explaining the absence in his children’s lives. The book has sold around 600 copies so far.

Hale Storm may have helped improve the bonds between Hale and his two daughters, but the published book has received negative feedback. “I am disappointed and upset that Ed would violate his agreement and understanding with the Agency,” said Krongard in a phone interview.

Hale has said that he expects Krongard will “get over it.”

A CIA spokeswoman declined to comment on Hale’s statements or any assistance he may have provided the Agency.
An expanded version of the interview can be found in the Wall Street Journal.

This article was originally published on The Foreigner. To subscribe to The Foreigner, visit theforeigner.no.

It also appeared in the Feb. 13, 2015, issue of the Norwegian American Weekly.