A former FBI Supervisory Special Agen. Hanssens espionage activities began in 1985. News reports at the time of his sentencing said American intelligence agencies were not entirely satisfied with the extent of his cooperation and believed he was holding back information. Russian operatives left signals for Hanssen at Foxstone Park in Vienna, Va. For these reasons, the FBI learned of his true identity before the Russians; they are learning of it only now. They were finishing just as Hanssen texted that he was on his way back. None of the internal information or personnel security measures in place alerted those charged with internal security to his activities. The damage Hanssen did was considerable. The level of support and expertise from Acting Deputy Attorney General Robert Mueller, Counsel for Intelligence Policy Frances Fragos Townsend, U.S. Attorney Helen Fahey and Assistant United States Attorney Randy Bellows is superb. 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 . Robert J. McNamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist. Finally, he warned: The US can be errantly likened to a powerfully built but retarded child, potentially dangerous, but young, immature and easily manipulated. During his second round of dealing with Russian agents, Hanssen was much more cautious. I slammed the door behind me and slid to a halt in Hanssens office.. The plea bargain allows Bonnie Hanssen to receive about 55% of Hanssens pension, which will total an estimated $39,000 per year. 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. 42-67.) He spied for the Soviets . agent in Chicago. On May 10, 2002, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. If the device wasnt in Hanssens hand or on the desk in front of him, it was always in his left back pocket. Robert hanssen: the fox guarding the henhouse. The affidavit alleges that Hanssen voluntarily became an agent of the KGB in 1985 while assigned to the intelligence division at the FBI field office in New York City as supervisor of a foreign counterintelligence squad. agent who confessed to selling secrets to Moscow, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole today by a . He was Amazon.com's first-ever history editor and has bylines in New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets. The Justice Department's inspector general has been examining the F.B.I. FBI and CIA personnel who debriefed Hanssen about his 21 years as a spy for Moscow found him a prickly, uncooperative character and won't be sorry to see him pulling hard time in a distant lock-up. 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. 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. I hate silence . At their very first meeting, ONeill reached out his hand and began to introduce himself. As an agency, we lived up to our responsibility, regardless of how painful it might be. 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. The complaint alleges that Hanssen, using the code name Ramon, engaged in espionage by providing highly classified information to the KGB and its successor agency, the SVR, using encrypted communications, dead drops, and other clandestine techniques. 1981 - Is assigned to the Intelligence Division at FBI headquarters in DC. January 12, 1976 - Joins the FBI as a special agent. The couple, however, did not have a great relationship. Sullivan noted that Hanssen spent a lot of time trolling ACS for information. One notable example was the information that the Americans had dug a tunnel under the Russian embassy in Washington to install sophisticated listening devices. Robert P. Bucciarelli, a priest affiliated with Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic organization the Hanssens had joined several years earlier. A feature film called Breach was released in 2007. The investigation that led to these charges is the direct result of the longstanding FBI/CIA efforts, ongoing since the Aldrich Ames case, to identify additional foreign penetrations of the United States Intelligence Community. The first time around, his wife divorced him after a mere half-year because of his incarceration for arson in Iowa. The purloined PalmPilot gave the FBI the final piece of the puzzle: Hanssens next meeting with the Russians was scheduled for the following weekend. After being released, he met his second wife, Darla Henrichsen, and the pair got married in 1963. In his communications with the Russians (some of which were eventually made public after his arrest) he insisted on setting the terms of how he would communicate, pass information, and pick up money. He worked as a source for the USSR and subsequently The Russian Federation. All three were arrested; two were executed. A feature film called "Breach" was released in 2007. 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. Alleman tasked him with purloining Hanssens PalmPilot. Two and a half years ago, the FBI arrested Robert Hanssen, a 22-year veteran of the bureau, for selling secrets to Russia. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. His Russian contacts and Hanssen were highly trained in espionage techniques and were able to work together without ever meeting. Hansen even followed in his father's footsteps and opened up his own bakery. An official website of the United States government. The complaint, however, does not allege any compromises by him at the State Department. In her statement, Bonnie Hanssen thanked government officials for allowing her to retain the pension and for recognizing that she and the children clearly are innocent victims.. The ensuing investigation confirmed this suspicion. Interestingly, Hansen got married twice. Timeline. Annoyed at ONeills seeming incompetence, Hanssen lashed out, calling him an imbecile and a moron. Finally, he said, Well take my car, and thats final.. But Thursday, Bonnie Hanssen issued a statement through her attorney revealing the torment that the case has caused. John Cusack plays the villain in the movie, and if youre curious to know, let me tell you that the story is inspired by the serial killer Robert Hansen. Over the next few years, she said, she questioned him about whether he was working with the Russians once more. The FBI believed this was his signal site where the Russians would signal when they were ready to receive his intel. Robert was born in 1939 in Iowa to Danish immigrants Christian and Edna Hansen. All Rights Reserved. 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. In 1978, Hanssen was transferred to the FBI office in New York City and was assigned to a counterintelligence post. It was not a very demanding job, said Sullivan. Many of the questions centered on assertions made by Mrs. Hanssen's brother, Mark Wauck, an F.B.I. He began to make small payments over several years to a charity affiliated with Mother Teresa's Catholic organization, moving the family close to bankruptcy, Mrs. Hanssen told the Justice Department investigators. 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. in Chemistry, 1966; Attended Northwestern University Dental School, 1966-1968;. In fact, he had already betrayed one of the United States' most important agents: Gen. Dmitri Polyakov of the G.R.U. But Brookner said Hanssens 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. by Tammy A. DiNicola. Upon becoming a special agent on January 12, 1976, Hanssen was transferred to the FBI's Gary, Indiana, field office. Updated Since becoming Director over seven years ago, I have administered the FBI oath to each graduating class of Special Agents at the FBI Academy. In the letter, Hanssen revealed that he had dreamed of being a spy against his country since the age of 14, after reading a book about Kim Philby the British intelligence officer who was also a Russian double agent. Hanssen was an FBI agent for 25 years, but he was also a spy for the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation . A Justice Department spokesman, citing the inspector general's continuing review of the Hanssen case, refused to comment. Hanssen had a reputation for being wildly arrogant and dour. December 2000 - The FBI begins surveillance of Hanssen. Why is it so important to take [that] car? Hanssen demanded to know. Hanssen would later claim that his goal was simply to make some extra money, as living in New York City was putting a financial squeeze on his growing family. The criminal conduct alleged represents the most traitorous actions imaginable against a country governed by the Rule of Law. By the time Hanssen and ONeill returned to the office, things seemed normal. 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. Director Louis Freeh discusses the arrest of veteran FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen on spy charges. Timeline. Described as. Instead, he ultimately became the most damaging spy in. But money is tight, she said, and the former housewife has taken a teaching job at her daughters school in Virginia. Further, the complaint alleges that Hanssen, using his training and experience to protect himself from discovery by the FBI, never met face-to-face with his Russian handlers, never revealed to them his true identity or where he worked, constantly checked FBI records for signs he and the drop sites he was using were being investigated, refused any foreign travel to meet with the Russians, and even declined to accept any trade craft. Hanssen never displayed outward signs that he was receiving large amounts of unexplained cash. McNamara, Robert. He wrote to them anonymously. 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. The plea bargain spared Hanssen the death penalty. I scooped the devices into my arms and sprinted for the stairway, writes ONeill, who refers to this as his one true James Bond moment. 1981 - Hanssens wife catches him with classified documents and convinces him to stop spying. For more information:- Press Release - Veteran FBI Agent Arrested and Charged with Espionage- Affidavit- Statement ofFBI Director Louis J. Freeh on the Arrestof FBI Special Agent Robert Philip Hanssen (see below), Statement of FBI Director Louis J. Freeh On the Arrestof FBI Special Agent Robert Philip Hanssen, For Immediate ReleaseFebruary 20, 2001Washington D.C.FBI National Press Office. Polyakov was carefully watched by the Russians from that point on, and was eventually arrested as a spy and executed in 1988. The FBI also obtains the complete original KGB dossier on Hanssen. When Eric ONeills supervisor turned up unannounced at his Washington, DC-area home early on a Sunday morning, the still-groggy FBI employee was perplexed. Its the one scrap of power hes kept for himself.. The next day he ordered ONeill to drive him to a meeting. 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. (They took Hanssens Ford and the plan to search his car was dropped for the time being.). By February 2001, about 300 personnel were working the investigation and monitoring Hanssen. Now 74, he is serving time at ADX Florence, the federal supermax prison in Colorado. 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. He was arrested while in the process of using a dead drop to clandestinely provide numerous classified documents to his Russian handler. The complaint alleges that he received over $600,000. Chicago Tribune July 4, 2001. I have hurt so many deeply." Hanssen, who began working with Soviet military intelligence in 1979, was. Anything different goes against biology.. Clearly she doesnt approve of what hes done, and there was a whole part of this man she doesnt know, but I think with her deep religious convictions, he will, at least in mind and in spirit, continue to be her husband and the father of her children., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Caregiver accused in Manhattan Beach child sexual abuse case believed to be in Philippines, Prosecution presents closing arguments in Alex Murdaugh murder trial, Intel agencies say theres no sign adversaries were behind Havana syndrome, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Dramatic before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, Yet more rain expected to hit California in March. Hanssen was finally discovered when a former KGB agent contacted American intelligence agents. Hanssen was serving as a detailee to the Office of Foreign Missions at the Department of State at the time suspicions around him arose. 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. Because of these coordinated efforts, the FBI was able to secure original Russian documentation of an American spy who appeared to the FBI to be Hanssen a premise that was soon to be confirmed when Hanssen was identified by the FBI as having clandestinely communicated with Russian intelligence officers. Hanssen had freely expressed his views on marriage before, once telling ONeill: Your genetic code demands that you make money and provide for the family. The Ellis drop site, under a footbridge over Wolftrap Creek at Foxstone Park near Vienna, Va. 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