As the FBI was in the lookout for a turncoat for long, they first suspected a CIA officer but later zeroed in on Hanssen, probably due to a leak from a Russian defector. After one teenage victim was able to escape, authorities were able to learn her abductor's identity. By February 2001, about 300 personnel were working the investigation and monitoring Hanssen. Kelley instead reported the incident to the FBI. [37], During the same period, Hanssen searched the FBI's internal computer case record to see if he was being investigated. The prolonged abuse that he endured not only made his childhood challenging, but also chased him throughout his life. In short, the trusted insider betrayed his trust without detection. Hansen would force some of these women into the small plane that he owned and fly them to a remote location in the Alaskan wilderness. appreciated. 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. (2020, August 28). Later he would convert to Catholicism from Lutheranism. The attorney estimated that Hanssen contributed $10,000 to $20,000 to Mother Teresa in small installments over the years, although the FBI has not been able to verify the payments. He established contact with the SVR (the successor to the Soviet-era KGB) during the autumn of 1999. His espionage of more than two decades had earned him cash of over 1.4 million USD and diamonds. To the residents of the quiet suburb of Vienna, Virginia, Robert Hanssen was the perfect neighbor. Robert Philip Hanssen is a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, who became infamous as a notorious double agent of the intelligence services of Soviet Union and later Russia. He visited an office of the Russian government's trading company and offered to spy. 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. Gallagher also told Hanssen that then-Director Louis Freeh had approved a two-year extension on his service and a promotion to the Senior Executive Service. Under Mr. Hanssen's plea bargain, she. It would seem as though Hansen's children want their privacy respected, and who could blame them? The first marriage lasted only for six months; his wife divorced him while he was serving a 3-year sentence for arson in Iowa. For these reasons, the FBI learned of his true identity before the Russians; they are learning of it only now. Children: Lisa, Greg, Mark, John "Jack," Sue and Jane Education: Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, A.B. No one knew Hansen was abducting some of these women and killing them for sport. The information he is alleged to have provided compromised numerous human sources, technical operations, counterintelligence techniques, sources and methods, and investigations, including the Felix Bloch investigation. On February 18, 2001, Hanssen was arrested and charged with committing espionage on behalf of Russia and the former Soviet Union. Ames was arrested in 1994. With two children already out of school, the pension money will help Bonnie Hanssen support two children who are in college and two more still in high school, Brookner said. Hanssen's story was featured in episode 4, under the name of "Perfect Traitor", of Smithsonian Channel's series Spy Wars, aired end of 2019 and narrated by Damian Lewis.[78]. The complaint, however, does not allege any compromises by him at the State Department. For unknown reasons[dubious discuss], the Soviets did not act against Polyakov until he was betrayed a second time by CIA mole Aldrich Ames in 1985. He wrote to them anonymously. Hanssen also revealed a multimillion-dollar eavesdropping tunnel built by the FBI under the Soviet Embassy. Polyakov was carefully watched by the Russians from that point on, and was eventually arrested as a spy and executed in 1988. Bonnie Hanssens first public statements on the case reveal both her anxiety over her husbands actions and her sense of relief over the fact that she and her six children will retain an estimated $39,000 a year from his government pension. Therefore, after he was given a 461-year sentence for his crimes, she chose to divorce him. [21] In the letter, he gave the names of three KGB agents secretly working for the FBI: Boris Yuzhin, Valery Martynov, and Sergei Motorin. His exposure explained many of the asset losses U.S. intelligence suffered during the 1980s, including the arrest and execution of Martynov and Motorin. [58] Going by the alias "Ramon" or "Ramon Garcia",[59] Hanssen exchanged intelligence and payments through an old-fashioned dead drop system in which he and his KGB handlers left packages in public, unobtrusive places. McNamara, Robert. 1979 - Begins spying for the Soviet Union. January 12, 2001 - Hanssen is reassigned from counterintelligence to an obscure office at FBI headquarters. On July 6, 2001, he was tried in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on fifteen counts for his espionage. in Chemistry, 1966; Attended Northwestern University Dental School, 1966-1968; Northwestern University, M.B.A. in Accounting and Information Systems, 1971. He then enrolled at the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, to study dentistry but after three years shifted to business studies. He received $5,00,000 and jewellery for this work. [77] David Wise wrote Spy: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America. She is also challenging some of her husbands credit card bills. His twenty two years of espionage against the US began in 1979. [38], The existence of two Russian moles working in the U.S. security and intelligence establishment simultaneouslyAmes at the CIA and Hanssen at the FBIcomplicated counterintelligence efforts during the 1990s. A feature film called Breach was released in 2007. He was arrested while in the process of using a dead drop to clandestinely provide numerous classified documents to his Russian handler. He became an agent in 1976, and spent two years working in the Indianapolis, Indiana, field office. WASHINGTON - Convicted FBI spy Robert Hanssen, who's set to be sentenced to life in prison tomorrow, asked his best friend to drug and have sex with . 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. Robert Philip Hanssen is an American former Federal Bureau of Investigation double agent who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States from 1979 to 2001. He quit after one year and joined the Chicago Police Department as an internal affairs investigator, specializing in forensic accounting. We particularly appreciate the unhesitating leadership and support of Attorney General Ashcroft from the moment he took office. Apparently, even though Hansen was naturally a left-handed person, he was always forced to use his right hand, making his speech problems worse. The FBI waited two more days to see if any of Hanssen's SVR handlers would show up at Foxstone Park. "I have opened the door for calumny against my totally innocent wife and children. He then applied and was accepted into the FBI. Our joint efforts over the last several years and specifically in this case should give pause to those contemplating betrayal of the Nations trust. The investigation is covered in O'Neill's memoir Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose America's First Cyber Spy, published by Penguin Random House in the spring of 2019. He met his second wife, Darla, shortly after his parole. The Russians then filed an official protest with the State Department, believing Hanssen to be a triple agent. 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. Sullivan noted that Hanssen spent a lot of time trolling ACS for information. In 1999 he established contact with the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, which was preceded by the KGB before Soviets collapse. [41] The idea that an FBI agent was the second mole was not considered early enough. According to her, Hanssen never slept with her. It would seem as though Hansen's children want their privacy respected, and who could blame them? House Belonging To Former Spy Robert Hanssen Won't Sell. Imagine finding out that your husband is a ruthless serial rapist and murderer. On May 10, 2002, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. By 1998, using FBI criminal profiling techniques, the pursuers suspected an innocent man: Brian Kelley, a CIA operative involved in the Bloch investigation. Instead, he ultimately became the most damaging spy in. He emerged as one of the most damaging spies to have infiltrated the FBI resulting in probably the worst intelligence disaster in the history of the US. He restarted his espionage activities in 1985 and continued until 1991, when he ended communications during the collapse of the Soviet Union, fearing he would be exposed. [71], The Hanssen spy case is told in Ronald Kessler's book The Secrets of the FBI in chapter 15, "Catching Hanssen," chapter 16, "Breach", and chapter 17, "Unexplained Cash", based in part on interviews with Michael Rochford, who directed the FBI team that eventually caught Hanssen after initially wrongly assuming a CIA officer was the master spy. The criminal conduct alleged represents the most traitorous actions imaginable against a country governed by the Rule of Law. He will report directly to the Attorney General and me and we will share his report with the National Security Council and Congress. July 6, 2001 - Pleads guilty to 15 counts of espionage and conspiracy in exchange for the government not seeking the death penalty. [46][47][48], The FBI surveilled Hanssen and soon discovered he was again in contact with the Russians. Because of his sexual deviancy and espionage conviction, the organization's reputation was badly hurt. He was Amazon.com's first-ever history editor and has bylines in New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets. Judge Webster and anyone he selects to assist him will have complete access and whatever resources are necessary to complete this task. Yet some investigators believed anger about how his father treated him as a child triggered a need to rebel against authority. children: Greg Hanssen, Jane Hanssen, John Hanssen, Lisa Hanssen, Mark Hanssen, Sue Hanssen Born Country: United States Spies American Men City: Chicago, Illinois Notable Alumni: Knox College (Illinois) U.S. State: Illinois More Facts Recommended Lists: American People Kellogg School Of Management Male Spies American Spies Aries Men 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. Realizing the importance of the material, the United States paid $7 million for it. The 2007 documentary Superspy: The Man Who Betrayed the West describes the hunt to trap Hanssen. We dont know at this point what happened to that money, she said. He was the single most devastating mole in US history, and compromised more CIA assets than anyone in history, until Robert Hanssen that is. Without the current unprecedented level of trust and cooperation between the CIA and FBI, making this case would not have been possible. FBI career and first espionage activities (19761981), FBI counterintelligence unit, further espionage activities (19851991), Later FBI career, continued espionage activities (19922001), Lynch, Christopher, The C.I. [67], At Hanssen's suggestion, and without his wife's knowledge, a friend named Jack Hoschouer, a retired Army officer, would sometimes watch the Hanssens having sex through a bedroom window. Hanssen restarted communications the next year and continued until his arrest. May 10, 2002 - Is sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. At present he is serving his fifteen successive life terms at a federal supermax prison, the ADX Florence. The couple went on to have two children. In this article, Hansens dynamic with his own family is discussed to give you a better insight into the life of the now-deceased murderer. For years, Hanssen stopped contacting the Russians. The fact that the KGB became aware of the probe triggered the FBI to look for the leak. In this assignment, however, Hanssen did continue to have access to sensitive FBI information as he remained assigned to the FBIs National Security Division and routinely dealt with sensitive and classified matters. A digital investigation found that an attempted hacking had occurred using a password cracking program installed by Hanssen, which caused a security alert and lockup. He married his second wife, Darla Henrichsen, within a few months of being released, in 1963. [17][18], In 1981, Hanssen was transferred to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., and he relocated to the suburb of Vienna, Virginia. The Soviets, suspicious of being lured into a trap, demanded to meet him. He was indiscreet enough to type his name into FBI search engines. This included all the FBI activities related to wiretapping and electronic surveillance, which were Hanssen's responsibility. Galey claims that although she offered to have sex with him, Hanssen declined, saying he was trying to convert her to Catholicism. (Photo courtesy of FBI/Newsmakers). They created a list of all agents known to have access to cases that were compromised. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. 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. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/robert-hanssen-4587832. After leaving a friend at an airport on February 18, 2001, Hanssen drove to Virginia's Foxstone Park. Thereafter he enrolled in Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois and in 1966 completed his bachelor degree with Chemistry as major. Waguespack listened to the tape again and recognized the voice as belonging to Hanssen. He worked as an Investigative Specialist with the Special Surveillance Group and played a major role in the arrest, conviction, and imprisonment of FBI agent Robert Hanssen for spying on behalf of the Soviet Union and Russia. Literally, Hanssens colleagues and coworkers at the FBI conducted this investigation and did so quietly, securely and without hesitation. In fact, when his father passed away, Hansen inherited 17 guns from him as well. The couple went on to have two children. "Once he got caught, the only thing he cared about was trying to provide for his wife and his children," who visit him regularly in prison, Brookner said. [7][8] He was sentenced to 15 life terms without the possibility of parole. [68] He also explicitly described the sexual details of his marriage on Internet chat rooms, giving information sufficient for those who knew them to recognize the couple. At the Heights, McPherson told the family that they would not have to worry. He also independently disclosed the identity of two KGB officials who, first compromised by Aldrich Ames, had been recruited by the U.S. Government to serve as agents in place at the Soviet Embassy in Washington. They attended Mass weekly and were very active in Opus Dei. Robert Hansen was actually married twice. Hanssen refused. Martynov and Motorin were condemned to death and executed via a gunshot to the back of the head. 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. Investigators learned that Hanssen was set to make a dead drop on February 18, 2001. He became known in the FBI as an expert on computers.[19]. Robert Christian Boes Hansen was born in Estherville, Iowa, at Coleman Hospital on February 15, 1939, the elder of two children to an American mother and a Danish father. [62] Hanssen took the risk of recommending to his handlers that they try to recruit his closest friend, a colonel in the United States Army. On January 12 that year he was posted in FBIs field office in Gary, Indiana, and in 1978 he was again transferred to its field office in New York. In the end, officials believed his claim that he was merely demonstrating flaws in the FBI's security system. Hanssen subsequently was assigned to a variety of national security posts that legitimately provided him access to classified information relating to the former Soviet Union and Russia. Robert Hansen's Parents. Hanssen is a Special Agent of the FBI with a long career in counterintelligence. He went to the Russian embassy in person and physically approached a GRU officer in the parking garage. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. On February 18, 2001, Hanssen was arrested at a park in northern Virginia after he had placed a package at a dead drop location. [70] Hanssen gave her money, jewels, and a used Mercedes-Benz but ended contact with her before his arrest when she began abusing drugs and doing sex work. Hansen would frequent the strip clubs in the area. 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. In 1979 he contacted the Soviet military intelligence, GRU, to offer his espionage. [65], A priest at Oakcrest said Hanssen had regularly attended a 6:30a.m. daily Mass for over a decade. A TV movie called Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story was released in 2002. [33], Hanssen continued to take risks in 1993 when he hacked into the computer of a fellow FBI agent, Ray Mislock, printed out a classified document from Mislock's computer and took the document to Mislock, saying, "You didn't believe me that the system was insecure." He married Bernadette Wauck in 1968 and, influenced by his devout Catholic wife, he converted to Catholicism. For a while he was in contact with Priscilla Sue Galey, a stripper in Washington, who received cash, jewelry and other benefits from Hanssen. He was born on April 18, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois, to Howard and Vivian Hanssen. His espionage was described by the Department of Justice as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history." Hanssen is currently serving 15 consecutive life sentences without parole at ADX Florence, a federal supermax prison near Florence, Colorado. In 1978, he and his growing family of three children (and eventually six) relocated to New York City when the FBI transferred him to its field office there. The FBI also obtains the complete original KGB dossier on Hanssen. Biography of Vladimir Putin: From KGB Agent to Russian President, Biography of Mata Hari, Infamous World War I Spy, Haym Salomon, Spy and Financier of the American Revolution, Biography of Virginia Hall, WWII's Most Wanted Spy, Biography of Fred Hampton, Black Panther Party Leader, Biography of Robert Kennedy, US Attorney General, Presidential Candidate, John Dillinger's Life as Public Enemy Number 1, Biography of Nikita Khrushchev, Cold War Era Soviet Leader. Hanssen was finally discovered when a former KGB agent contacted American intelligence agents. His new job in the FBI's budget office gave him access to information involving many different FBI operations. This would already be enough to charge him with murder. Hanssen, carrying a package of documents, identified himself by his Soviet code name, "Ramon Garcia", and described himself as a "disaffected FBI agent" who was offering his services as a spy. Two fingerprints collected from a trash bag in the file were analyzed and proved to be Hanssen's. ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/robert-hanssen-4587832. 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. The Russian had obtained Hanssen's KGB file. 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