Other reasons to question Pollard’s intention was that he was willing to meet and broker sales of classified data with Pakistanis and Iranians. And that he was looking to profit from the sales, not merely altruistic behavior. He ultimately found common cause with an Israeli handler who ran his op.

The case also highlights just how badly prospective workers in the CIA and other DoD agencies were vetted (and probably still are - as the Snowden episode shows). There should have been enough red flags to keep him from any sensitive information, but he still managed to get his hands on all manner of classified info.

He should have been fired for lying about his background, but was instead transferred out of one group, and into another one.