Sometime in the mid-1960s, Robert Hansen got married for the second time. and finally hopped out of the car, determined to walk back to the office. They have committed their lives to public service and to upholding the high standards of the FBI. Follow. Hanssen would now be ONeills boss. In 1978, Hanssen was transferred to the FBI office in New York City and was assigned to a counterintelligence post. McNamara, Robert. He used encrypted communications, dead drops, and other clandestine methods to provide information to the KGB and its successor agency, the SVR. I have asked Judge William H. Webster, and he has graciously agreed, to examine thoroughly the internal security functions and procedures of the FBI and recommend improvements. One notable example was the information that the Americans had dug a tunnel under the Russian embassy in Washington to install sophisticated listening devices. Its amazing to live with a man for all those years and not know him.. Before concluding, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet for the cooperation and assistance of his agency in this investigation. Still, he was not identified as a spy. For a time he planned to become a dentist, but eventually wound up obtaining an MBA and becoming an accountant. 1979 - Begins spying for the Soviet Union. agent who confessed to selling secrets to Moscow, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole today by a . Hanssen, 56, was an FBI agent for 25 . In about 1985, after they had moved back to Washington and Mr. Hanssen was working at F.B.I. According to . One reason for her frustration may be that some government officials were apparently not convinced of her story. Our joint efforts over the last several years and specifically in this case should give pause to those contemplating betrayal of the Nations trust. He then applied and was accepted into the FBI. Anyone can read what you share. The FBI also obtains the complete original KGB dossier on Hanssen. Robert Hanssen, FBI Agent Who Became a Soviet Mole. ONeill would have no problem achieving that but he did have a major concern. .) And there was more than a touch of obvious paranoia: My security concerns have proven reality-based, Hanssen wrote. Director Tenet and I have briefed the intelligence committees of Congress because of the clear national security implications. Brookner said that the only time Bonnie Hanssen harbored any suspicions about her husbands activities came around 1979 or 1980, when they lived in Scarsdale, N.Y. She walked in on him and he covered up some papers, so she got suspicious, Brookner said. On January 12, 1976, Robert Philip Hanssen swore an oath to enforce the law and protect the nation as a newly minted FBI special agent. Timeline. ''He never said he was spying. May 16, 2001 - Is indicted on 21 counts of spying for the Soviet Union/Russia and passing top secret material to the Soviet Union/Russia. He looked the quintessential suburban dad, devoted to his wife and six kids, working a government job to. Heres a look at the life of convicted spy Robert Hanssen. Hanssen was serving as a detailee to the Office of Foreign Missions at the Department of State at the time suspicions around him arose. The criminal conduct alleged represents the most traitorous actions imaginable against a country governed by the Rule of Law. Suit David Huband Photographer Catherine Burdon Agent Nece She would then use this money to run her house and support her children. The priest told Hanssen to stop his illegal activities and donate the money he had gotten from the Russians to charity. 2. Sunday night the FBI arrested Robert Philip Hanssen who has been charged with committing espionage. At least three Russian agents he identified had been executed, and it was suspected that he compromised dozens of intelligence operations. I live in Dallas, TX and growing up I was always the kid with "her nose in a book". Finally, he warned: The US can be errantly likened to a powerfully built but retarded child, potentially dangerous, but young, immature and easily manipulated. He happens to be Catholic. For years, Hanssen stopped contacting the Russians. After working in the FBI division that developed secret listening devices, Hanssen was again placed in a position to track Russian agents operating in the United States. Hanssen, a former counterintelligence supervisor for the FBI, pleaded guilty last week to 15 espionage-related charges and admitted that he had sold the Russians thousands of pages of national security secrets in exchange for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds. As they outranked him, he didnt have much of a choice. had too readily accepted Mrs. Hanssen's version of events. A feature film called "Breach" was released in 2007. So it appears that the Justice inspector general, an independent office that monitors the department's work, was trying to determine whether the F.B.I. Darla, who had a masters degree in Education, would earn her own income by teaching learning disabled kids. Although his name was not specifically mentioned, evidence in the file pointed to Hanssen, who was put under close surveillance. As it turned out, Hanssen had just been spotted by agents driving at a snails pace past the sign for Foxstone Park in Vienna, Va. In the 1990s, after the arrest of Aldrich Ames, the FBI and CIA realized that a mole within the intelligence community was still sharing classified information with the Russians. While not identifying himself, he was able to gain their trust by initially providing information which the Soviets found both credible and valuable. A turning point came in 2000, when the FBI and CIA were able to secure original Russian documentation of an American spy who appeared to be Hanssen. Did you encounter any technical issues? ONeill rushed everything he found to Alleman, who had all of it copied, and then quickly returned the contents to Hanssens bag. Hanssen was the son of a police officer. But while the FBI could have arrested Hanssen on the spot, they would have had him only on a conspiracy charge. A Warner Bros. [14] The tension would not lessen over the next few days, with Hanssen telling ONeill he was a worthless clerk.. Michelle Karr. Therefore, after he was given a 461-year sentence for his crimes, she chose to divorce him. Today, Mrs. Hanssen is teaching at a Catholic school in suburban Virginia and is living in the house she shared with her husband and their six children. Please be aware how deeply Mrs. Hanssen regrets the damage that her husband, Robert Hanssen, has caused to our country and to their family, the statement said. She said her husband told her he had received about $30,000 from the Soviets -- more than has previously been disclosed -- but he had spent much of it. What we wanted to do was get enough evidence to convict him, and the ultimate aim was to catch him in the act, said Debra Evans Smith, a former deputy assistant director of the Counterintelligence Division. One eye twitched.. Unlike Cold War spies of an earlier era, Hanssen claimed to have no political motivation for selling out his country. On May 10, 2002, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Justice Department's inspector general has been examining the F.B.I. The underling had 15 minutes to arrange for a car from the FBI who, this time, didnt blow its shot. In 1980, after his first interactions with the Soviets, Hanssen told his wife what he had done, and she suggested they meet with a Catholic priest. Hanssen was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 18, 1944 to a family of German and Polish origins. June 16, 2001 -- Accused FBI spy Robert Hanssen told his wife about his activities as early as 1980, well before prosecutors claim he started passing secrets to Moscow. After being released, he met his second wife, Darla Henrichsen, and the pair got married in 1963. Children: Lisa, Greg, Mark, John "Jack," Sue and Jane. Bonnie Hanssen said Hanssen's family "was never the beneficiary" of any spy money and that Bonnie Hanssen has no idea what happened to the proceeds from his spying, including $800,000 that authorities say the Russians deposited for him in a Moscow bank."We don't know at this point what happened to that money," she said. This story has been shared 149,018 times. The ensuing investigation confirmed this suspicion. He reportedly told his supervisors in 1990 that he suspected that Robert Hanssen was a spy after his own wife told him that, during a visit to the Hanssen home, Mrs. Hanssen told her she had become alarmed after discovering $5,000. But in her polygraph test, Mrs. Hanssen denied finding any large and unexplained amounts of money in her home, and the polygraph showed that she was not being deceptive, her lawyer said. Long-lost ship found at the bottom of Lake Huron, confirming story of tragic collision, TikTok to set default daily time limit of up to 60 minutes for minors, The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles, Shocking, impossible gas bills push restaurants to the brink of closures, TikTok faces bans in a number of countries over security fears. May 10, 2002. It is also one which can turn ingenious quickly, like an idiot savant, once convinced of a goal.. His father was a supernumerary part of the 75% while his uncle was a numerary, part of the 25% that swore to a life of poverty and chastity. Instead, the 57-year-old defendant will be sentenced to life in prison without parole if he honors his pledge to tell the government all the secrets behind his two-decade career as a Russian spy. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. She said she repeatedly questioned her husband to ensure that he was making the payments, and each time he insisted that he was. At the time, he was assigned to counterintelligence in the F.B.I. Updated He visited an office of the Russian government's trading company and offered to spy. Many of them were agents of the Soviet intelligence agency, the KGB, or its military counterpart, the GRU. Judge Webster and anyone he selects to assist him will have complete access and whatever resources are necessary to complete this task. Children: Lisa, Greg, Mark, John "Jack," Sue and Jane Education: Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, A.B. In May 2002, Hanssen was sentenced to life in prison. Because of his experience and training as a counterintelligence agent, Hanssen went undetected for years, although some of his unusual activities had aroused suspicion from time to time. Nor can there be any doubt that he was keenly aware of the gravity of his traitorous actions. Alleman explained to ONeill that the smoking gun would be an actual information drop for the Russians. If the device wasnt in Hanssens hand or on the desk in front of him, it was always in his left back pocket. An FBI Agent who raised his right hand and spoke those words over 25 years ago has been charged today with violating that oath in the most egregious and reprehensible manner imaginable. Much of what these men and women did remains undisclosed but their success and that of their CIA counterparts represents unparalleled expertise and dedication to both principle and mission. May 10, 2002 - Is sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. Under Mr. Hanssen's plea bargain, she will receive the survivor's part of his bureau pension, as well as the right to keep the home. For decades, the quirky but respected counterintelligence expert, religious family man, and father of six, sold top secret information to agents of the Soviet Union and Russia. It was not a very demanding job, said Sullivan. The news that he used to literally hunt women and kill them after sexually assaulting them sent shockwaves through the state of Alaska, and on occasion, even beyond its borders. The actions alleged date back as far as 1985 and, with the possible exception of several years in the 1990s, continued until his arrest on Sunday. This story has been shared 123,032 times. Born in 1939 to a father who forced him to work long hours at the family bakery while subjecting him to ridicule and mockery and a mother who . Home; Features; Services; About; Contact; Login; Get Free Demo He could sit in his office and shut the door. Polyakov was carefully watched by the Russians from that point on, and was eventually arrested as a spy and executed in 1988. On Feb. 18, 2001, Hanssen left a package presumably full of classified documents wrapped in trash bags underneath a bridge in Foxstone Park, then placed a piece of tape at a nearby location, indicating the drop had been made. 1981 - Is assigned to the Intelligence Division at FBI headquarters in DC. Instead, he ultimately became the most damaging spy in Bureau history. His target would be Robert Hanssen, a 25-year FBI veteran that the bureau suspected might be the most treacherous and damaging double agent in US history. The family hopes Mr. Hanssen will be sent to the federal prison in Allenwood, Pa., which would be close enough for Mrs. Hanssen to continue to visit regularly. May 10, 2002 Posted: 11:59 AM EDT (1559 GMT) Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen. While the risk that an employee of the United States Government will betray his country can never be eliminated, there must be more that the FBI can do to protect itself from such an occurrence. appreciated. Hanssenusing the alias Ramon Garcia with his Russian handlershad provided highly classified national security information to the Russians in exchange for more than $1.4 million in cash, bank funds, and diamonds. Hanssen refused. Mrs. Hanssen said she demanded that he repay the $30,000. January 30, 2003 / 4:50 PM / CBS. Nor would many other intelligence and counterintelligence accomplishments that routinely but quietly contribute to the security of this Nation. But dont be fooled by that appearance. Hanssen allegedly began spying for the Soviets in 1985 when, in his first letter to the KGB, he volunteered information that compromised several sensitive techniques. But Mr. Hanssen was not tricking the Russians; he was a Russian spy and had been working for the G.R.U., Soviet military intelligence, since 1979. Robert Philip Hansen thought he was smarter than the system. As alleged in the complaint, computer forensic analysis, substantial covert surveillance, court authorized searches and other sensitive techniques revealed that Hanssen has routinely accessed FBI records and clandestinely provided those records and other classified information to Russian intelligence officers. The couple, however, did not have a great relationship. I left that memo in your inbox, ONeill replied. Realizing the importance of the material, the United States paid $7 million for it. It wasnt money, thats for sure, she said, noting that the family lived in a modest home with three mortgages and drove older-model cars as they scrimped to send their children to private Catholic schools. A few years later, they moved to Anchorage, Alaska, and had two children. 's investigation of Mr. Hanssen, the former F.B.I. He betrayed his wife. Robert Hanssen is a former FBI agent notorious for committing treason and selling state secrets to the Soviets (later the Russians). Two and a half years ago, the FBI arrested Robert Hanssen, a 22-year veteran of the bureau, for selling secrets to Russia. Under the plea agreement, Hanssen is obligated to return the $1.4 million in spying proceeds to the government, but Brookner said she doubts that will ever happen. During his sessions with investigators, Hanssen claimed his motivation had always been financial. 2:02 PM EDT, Thu April 14, 2022, FBI Agent Robert Philip Hanssen is shown in this undated file photo, released by the FBI February 20, 2001. For these reasons, the FBI learned of his true identity before the Russians; they are learning of it only now. Before her May 7 polygraph test began, Justice Department investigators read Mrs. Hanssen her Miranda rights, her Washington lawyer, Janine Brookner, said. Robert P. Hanssen, the former F.B.I. Upon becoming a special agent on January 12, 1976, Hanssen was transferred to the FBI's Gary, Indiana, field office. ', Before I could blink, [Hanssen] had the lapels of my sport coat twisted in his fists and curled me up to eye level, leaving my toes tipping for balance on the floor. Troubled by the incident, Bonnie Hanssen made her husband speak with a Catholic priest, who directed him to contribute money to Mother Teresa, the Catholic nun who ran a Calcutta charitable organization, as a form of penance, Brookner said. 's New York field office. As Hanssen walked back to his car, the arrest team rushed up and took him into custody. . The past few weeks have uncovered many allegations of FBI agent Robert Hanssen's betrayals: unmasking U.S. agents working in Russia and exposing a multimillion dollar American . Without the current unprecedented level of trust and cooperation between the CIA and FBI, making this case would not have been possible. It is alleged that Hanssen provided to the former Soviet Union and subsequently to Russia substantial volumes of highly classified information that he acquired during the course of his job responsibilities in counterintelligence. Hansen even followed in his father's footsteps and opened up his own bakery. After his first wife left him, Hansen was released from prison in late 1962. 1991 - Breaks off relations with the KGB. Robert Hanssen betrayed the FBI. Under Mr. Hanssen's plea bargain, she. Or, rather, one person does. Our hearts go out to them. Hanssen lived in suburban Virginia, was married, and had six children; he was a devout Catholic who went to Mass every week, sometimes every day. The first time around, his wife divorced him after a mere half-year because of his incarceration for arson in Iowa. Hanssen, a 56-year-old counterintelligence specialist, was in the process of giving information to his Russian contacts in exchange for $50,000 in cash, FBI Director Louis Freeh said today. Hanssen took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same, but he decided to violate that oath. A TV movie called Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story was released in 2002. The plea bargain spared Hanssen the death penalty. The Soviets, suspicious of being lured into a trap, demanded to meet him. 1999 - Resumes spying, this time for the Russian Intelligence agency. Joining the FBI in the height of the Cold War, Robert Hanssen dreamed of the exciting life of a spy. Hanssen appeared to be a devoted anti-communist. Robert Philip Hanssen, a 27 year veteran of the FBI, was a double agent. Full Name: Robert Phillip Hanssen Known For: Worked as a mole for Russian spy agencies while serving as an FBI counterintelligence agent. Robert Hanssen is accused of spying for the Soviet Union and is awaiting trial. While other spies were still chasing after paper files, Hanssen had entered the digital world. At one point Hanssen spoke to a Russian agent over a pay phone, but they generally relied on placing signals in public places. Hanssen wanted to be posted to Allenwood in hopes that he might be visited frequently by his wife Bonnie and their six children. 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