Robert Hanssen is a former FBI agent who sold highly classified material to Russian intelligence agents for decades before he was finally arrested in 2001. Their actions represent counterintelligence at its very best and under the most difficult and sensitive of circumstances. In early February 2001, he asked his friend at a computer technology company for a job. The information he delivered compromised numerous human sources, counterintelligence techniques, investigations, dozens of classified U.S. government documents, and technical operations of extraordinary importance and value. A proficient hunter and tracker since childhood, Hansen chased down his victims in the Alaskan wilderness with a Ruger Mini-14 and a knife. Hanssen gave them the name of a Russian general, Dimitri Polyakov, who had been providing information to the Americans. He also paid visits to various sex workers, two of whom filed complaints to the police about Hansen and his strange and terrifying behaviors. Hanssen claimed he was trying to connect a color printer to his computer but needed the password cracker to bypass the administrative password. After graduating from a public high school, Hanssen attended Knox College in Illinois, studying chemistry and Russian. He was also tasked with observing and learning as much as he could about Hanssens information technology setup in his office and with keeping an eye out on who Hanssen was meeting and talking with. 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. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/robert-hanssen-6997.php. His application in the National Security Agency, for the post of a cryptographer, was rejected due to budget restrictions. 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. 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 Hanssen was recalled yet again to Washington, D.C., in 1987. As Hanssen grew up, his father was reportedly verbally abusive to him, often ranting that he would never succeed in life. During the early 1990s, KGB veterans began to approach western intelligence agencies and provide information. Ames was officially blamed for giving Polyakov's name to the Soviets, while Hanssen's attempt was not revealed until after his 2001 capture. A reader replied to the blog, claiming to have been roommates with Hansen's daughter in the early 1990s, but this has yet to be substantiated. 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. Aside from a few brushes with the law, Hansen led a fairly ordinary life. January 12, 1976 - Joins the FBI as a special agent. [12] Hanssen received an MBA in accounting and information systems in 1971 and took a job with an accounting firm. Galey claims that although she offered to have sex with him, Hanssen declined, saying he was trying to convert her to Catholicism. In May 2002, Hanssen was sentenced to life in prison. He was Amazon.com's first-ever history editor and has bylines in New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets. But even as her life regains some sense of normalcy, Bonnie Hanssen struggles to understand the havoc that the last few months have wrought, Brookner said. He often steered conversations to talk of religion and his very conservative values, which were aligned with the very conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. After executing a search warrant, authorities found items in Hansen's home that belonged to other missing women from the area. [63], According to USA Today, those who knew the Hanssens described them as a close family. Although Robert Hanssen forfeited all the money he received from Moscow, his wife and six children get to keep their Vienna, Va., home and three cars, under the plea agreement. To closely oversee his activities, the FBI relocated him in its headquarters in January 2001. [65], A priest at Oakcrest said Hanssen had regularly attended a 6:30a.m. daily Mass for over a decade. This is particularly timely as we move to the next generation of automation to support the FBIs information infrastructure. Press Release - Veteran FBI Agent Arrested and Charged with Espionage, FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. Department of Justice. At least three Russian agents he identified had been executed, and it was suspected that he compromised dozens of intelligence operations. The CIA and FBI searched his house, tapped his telephone, and surveilled him, following him and his family everywhere. I have hurt so many deeply. [66] Opus Dei member C. John McCloskey said he also occasionally attended the daily noontime Mass at the Catholic Information Center in downtown Washington. She sold their house and bakery in Alaska and shifted closer to her family in Arkansas after the children were getting bullied massively at their school. The FBI could not produce any good evidence, and as a result, Bloch was never charged with a crime, although the State Department later terminated his employment and denied his pension. 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. 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. Leland Hale and Walter Gilmour co-authored the 1991 book "Butcher, Baker: The True Account of an Alaskan Serial Killer," chronicling the life and crimes of Robert Hansen. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Each time, I share the pride and sanctity of those words when new agents swear 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.. On May 10, 2002, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He visited an office of the Russian government's trading company and offered to spy. They gave him a new job supervising FBI computer security. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/robert-hanssen-4587832. "Butcher, Baker" was adapted into the 2013 film "The Frozen Ground," starring Nicholas Cage, John Cusack, and Vanessa Hudgens (per IMDb). Robert Hanssen, FBI Agent Who Became a Soviet Mole. In 1971 he earned his Master in Business Administration in accounting and information systems. He compromised information about Americas plan of forming Measurement and Signature Intelligence, its bugging plan over the Soviets by digging a tunnel under the decoding room of the Soviets new embassy and data on double agents of the US. Three years later, Hanssen transferred to the FBI's Soviet analytical unit, responsible for studying, identifying, and capturing Soviet spies and intelligence operatives in the United States. Robert Hansen was actually married twice. Martynov and Motorin were condemned to death and executed via a gunshot to the back of the head. The FBI planned to use it for eavesdropping but never did for fear of being caught. When they failed to appear, the Justice Department announced the arrest on February 20. Wanting to get a fresh start, the newlywed couple migrated to Alaska in 1967 (per the New YorkDaily News). Rifling through the rest of the files, they found notes of the mole using a quote from General George S. Patton about "the purple-pissing Japanese". Hanssen warned the KGB that Bloch was being investigated, causing the KGB to end contact with him abruptly. The complaint alleges that Hanssen conspired to and did commit espionage for Russia and the former Soviet Union. [46][47][48], The FBI surveilled Hanssen and soon discovered he was again in contact with the Russians. 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 . 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. 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. As a result of these assignments within the FBI, Hanssen gained access to some of the most sensitive and highly classified information in the United States Government. As a devout Catholic, Bonnie Hanssen feels that he needs time [in prison] to pray for forgiveness and be redeemed in some way, the wifes attorney, Janine Brookner, said in an interview. Hanssen was arrested on February 18, 2001, at Foxstone Park,[5] near his home in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Vienna, Virginia, after leaving a package of classified materials at a dead drop site. The couple's relationship was fraught, and Darla, who had a master's degree in Education and taught children with learning disabilities, supported herself. 1981 - Hanssens wife catches him with classified documents and convinces him to stop spying. Darla, who had a masters degree in Education, would earn her own income by teaching learning disabled kids. The following year he was shifted to counter-intelligence division where he was delegated the job of organising data of Soviet intelligence. He was eventually placed on administrative leave, where he remained falsely accused until after Hanssen was arrested. For a while he was in contact with Priscilla Sue Galey, a stripper in Washington, who received cash, jewelry and other benefits from Hanssen. At the Heights, McPherson told the family that they would not have to worry. He often steered conversations to talk of religion and his very conservative values, which were aligned with the very conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. Though both Hansen and his wife earned respectable incomes, it would be revealed that it was Darla who was supporting the household. Because of his sexual deviancy and espionage conviction, the organization's reputation was badly hurt. history. During his second round of dealing with Russian agents, Hanssen was much more cautious. Hanssen's superiors were not amused and began an investigation. May 10 Robert Hanssen, FBI agent turned Russian spy, is sentenced to life in prison On May 10, 2002, Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent who intermittently sold state secrets to Russia over. [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. Both Ames and Hanssen compromised the names of KGB agents working secretly for the U.S., some of whom were executed for their betrayal. After being released, he met his second wife, Darla Henrichsen, and the pair got married in 1963. He was born on April 18, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois, to Howard and Vivian Hanssen. 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. children: Greg Hanssen, Jane Hanssen, John Hanssen, Lisa Hanssen, Mark Hanssen, Sue Hanssen, education: Kellogg School Of Management, Knox College (Illinois), See the events in life of Robert Hanssen in Chronological Order, (Former FBI Double Agent Who Spied for Russian Intelligence Services Against the United States from 1979 to 2001), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Hanssen.jpg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert-Philip-Hanssen.jpg. He began providing the Soviets with highly valuable material. At least two movies have been made about Hanssen. Darla fled the state to Arkansas, where she had family. They never lived the high life; they never even went out to dinner, she said. Instead, he ultimately became the most damaging spy in Bureau history. His most important leak was the betrayal of Dmitri Polyakov, a CIA informant who passed enormous amounts of information to U.S. intelligence while rising to the rank of general in the Soviet Army. [73], Eric O'Neill's role in the capture of Robert Hanssen was dramatized in the 2007 movie Breach, in which Chris Cooper played the role of Hanssen and Ryan Phillippe played O'Neill.[74]. [4] He was spying at the same time as Aldrich Ames in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). During his sessions with investigators, Hanssen claimed his motivation had always been financial. Robert was described as a loner and a quiet person, and he had a strained relationship as well with his strict and dominating father. 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. In court proceedings the government stated that Hanssen had been paid more than $1.4 million during his spying career, most of which he never actually received, as it was held for him in a Russian bank. But police also found an aviation map Hansen had marked with various X's, later revealed to be his kill map (via Murderpedia). The Russian had obtained Hanssen's KGB file. [27][28] When the Soviets began construction on a new embassy during 1977, the FBI dug a tunnel beneath their decoding room. 1999 - Resumes spying, this time for the Russian Intelligence agency. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Hanssen became much more wary. On May 10, 2002, he was given sentence of fifteen life terms without a chance of parole. Special Agent Don Sullivan, a squad supervisor at the FBIs Washington Field Office at the time, volunteered to replace Hanssen. 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. 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. [41] The idea that an FBI agent was the second mole was not considered early enough. 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. While Darla suspected that he had been frequenting prostitutes, she had no idea of the literal manhunt he conducted. 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. [25] That same year, Hanssen, according to a government report, committed a "serious security breach" by revealing secret information to a Soviet defector during a debriefing. The most significant information that he shared was about Dmitri Polyakov, who while serving the Soviet Army as a General was spying for Americas CIA. House Belonging To Former Spy Robert Hanssen Won't Sell. Robert Hanssen's business cards, chalk and thumb tacks, which he used to communicate with his Russian contacts, according to the FBI. Agents find a bag nearby containing $50,000 that they believe is Hanssens payment for the documents. 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 couple married in 1968, and Hanssen converted from Lutheranism to his wife's Catholicism. The investigation of Hanssen was conducted by the FBI in partnership with the CIA, the Department of State, and, of course, the Justice Department. 2. Robert J. McNamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist. Sunday night the FBI arrested Robert Philip Hanssen who has been charged with committing espionage. Bonnie had previously told her brother that Hanssen once talked about retiring in Poland, then part of the Eastern Bloc. Hanssen was set to retire, so investigators had to move fast. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. [23] Martynov and Motorin were recalled to Moscow, where they were arrested, charged, tried, and convicted of espionage against the Soviet government. 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. His exposure explained many of the asset losses U.S. intelligence suffered during the 1980s, including the arrest and execution of Martynov and Motorin. Darla was an extremely religious woman, and she felt that faith could be his way out. The agents working for him reported this breach to a supervisor, but no action was taken. In 1967, the couple moved to Anchorage, Alaska, and had two children. Hanssen is a Special Agent of the FBI with a long career in counterintelligence. Hanssen's story is the subject of the 2021 documentary A Spy in the FBI. Robert Hanssen moments after being arrested. The agencies initially focused primarilyand incorrectlyon a veteran CIA case officer, who was investigated for nearly two years. However, even though Hansen would go to church with his wife, nothing really changed. Robert was born in 1939 in Iowa to Danish immigrants Christian and Edna Hansen. For instance, a piece of adhesive tape placed on a sign in a park in Virginia would indicate that a package had been placed in a "dead drop" location, which was usually under a small footbridge in the park. 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. All Rights Reserved. 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. Hanssens espionage activities began in 1985. 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 incarcerated in a "supermax" federal prison in Colorado which also houses other notorious inmates, including the Unabomber, one of the Boston Marathon bombers, and a number of organized crime figures. 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. In fact, when his father passed away, Hansen inherited 17 guns from him as well.
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