A Cold War era KGB officer, Golitsin defected to the CIA in 1964. He claimed that a Soviet agent with the codename: Sasha had infiltrated the highest ranks of the CIA and was leaking valuable information to the Russians. Golitsin's testimony was, however, at odds with that of previous defector Yuri Nosenko, who claimed that Sasha was nothing more than a notational agent. Golitsin was backed by CIA head of counter intelligence James Jesus Angleton but because his statement was never confirmed, the matter was never officially resolved.