The term "mole" has its roots in international espionage and refers most specifically to an agent who penetrates the intelligence service of an enemy power: "A spy who becomes part of and works from within the ranks of an enemy governmental staff or governmental agency." The best examples of "moles" cannot be identified because we never hear about them, but we do know about Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby, the Soviet agent who infiltrated the British intelligence agency and who defected to the U.S.S.R. in 1963. Even with reference to foreign intelligence activities, the term "undercover mole" would be redundant. A "mole" in this context is by definition "undercover." Someone who agrees to report to the police or prosecutors illegal activity in which he involves himself for the express purpose of nailing another party is an undercover informant. If a slang term were sought to convey this idea, that term would be "stoolie." The slightly pejorative nature of this word may be buttressed if the informant, himself guilty of a crime, agrees to cooperate with law-enforcement authorities in exchange for a lighter sentence or admission to a witness- protection program.
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