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. 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. Darla earned a living for the household as well, teaching children with disabilities. 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. Asked what Bonnie Hanssen thinks may have motivated her husband, Brookner said: Who knows? He established contact with the SVR (the successor to the Soviet-era KGB) during the autumn of 1999. 1980 - Begins working for the counterintelligence unit, focusing on the Soviet Union. Intelligence officials began debriefing Hanssen this week, defense attorney Preston Burton said Thursday. Hanssen was set to retire, so investigators had to move fast. July 6, 2001 - Pleads guilty to 15 counts of espionage and conspiracy in exchange for the government not seeking the death penalty. He also paid visits to various sex workers, two of whom filed complaints to the police about Hansen and his strange and terrifying behaviors. The October 1 letter began a long, active espionage period for Hanssen. His application in the National Security Agency, for the post of a cryptographer, was rejected due to budget restrictions. He worked in an accounting firm for a year after which he was selected in the Chicago Police Department. He is serving his sentence at the ADX Florence, a federal supermax prison near Florence, Colorado, in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. After the transfer, while on a business visit back to Washington, D.C., he resumed his espionage career. McNamara, Robert. After being imprisoned, Hanssen claimed he periodically admitted his espionage to priests in confession. 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. In 1985 he approached the Soviets again and offered valuable secrets. He began providing the Soviets with highly valuable material. To be very clear on this issue, at no time was he authorized to communicate information to agents of the KGB/SVR. 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. I am shamed by it," Hanssen told U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton. Christian owned a bakery and would make his son work for long hours as a kid. He often steered conversations to talk of religion and his very conservative values, which were aligned with the very conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. At least two movies have been made about Hanssen. Wikimedia Commons Robert Hanssen made over $1 million spying for the Soviets until he was caught in 2001. 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.. Apparently, even though Hansen was naturally a left-handed person, he was always forced to use his right hand, making his speech problems worse. Ames was arrested in 1994. 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 went to the Russian embassy in person and physically approached a GRU officer in the parking garage. In school, he was bullied for his acne, girls would not talk to him, and he also developed a stutter. But the government could not prove he had lied, and wishing to avoid a public trial, the government chose not to void his plea agreement. Robert Hanssen, FBI Agent Who Became a Soviet Mole. According to her, Hanssen never slept with her. When in 1989 a State Department official, Felix Bloch came under the scrutiny of the FBI, Hanssen soon informed the KGB, who immediately snapped all ties with Bloch. We particularly appreciate the unhesitating leadership and support of Attorney General Ashcroft from the moment he took office. Because of his sexual deviancy and espionage conviction, the organization's reputation was badly hurt. Polyakov was carefully watched by the Russians from that point on, and was eventually arrested as a spy and executed in 1988. Hansen was convicted in 1984 after confessing to killing 17 women, mostly dancers and prostitutes, during a 12-year span. [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. [12] Hanssen received an MBA in accounting and information systems in 1971 and took a job with an accounting firm. ThoughtCo. 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. 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. She supports the plea agreement and agrees that the sentence of life in prison without parole, rather than the death penalty, is appropriate in these circumstances.. 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. Upon becoming a special agent on January 12, 1976, Hanssen was transferred to the FBI's Gary, Indiana, field office. The priest told Hanssen to stop his illegal activities and donate the money he had gotten from the Russians to charity. "[3] Hanssen is currently serving 15 consecutive life sentences without parole at ADX Florence, a federal supermax prison near Florence, Colorado. Six was to be added to the month, day, and time of a designated drop time, so that, for example, a drop scheduled for January 6 at 1:00p.m. would be written as July 12 at 7:00p.m..[61], Despite these efforts at caution and security, Hanssen could sometimes be reckless. 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. Since he held key counterintelligence positions, he had authorized access to classified information. 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 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. 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. [4] He was spying at the same time as Aldrich Ames in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). But in 1999, while assigned as an FBI liaison with the State Department, he once again began selling American secrets. As alleged, he did so using a variety of sophisticated means of communication, encryption, and dead drops. A Warner Bros. He managed to avoid a death penalty by negotiating a plea deal where he agreed to cooperate with government agents. Hanssen's three sons attended The Heights School in Potomac, Maryland, an all-boys preparatory school. The Russians then filed an official protest with the State Department, believing Hanssen to be a triple agent. 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. Before Hanssen left the position, Sullivan went to learn his new role at the Department of State. By 1998, using FBI criminal profiling techniques, the pursuers suspected an innocent man: Brian Kelley, a CIA operative involved in the Bloch investigation. 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. This brief union did not produce any children. 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. To closely oversee his activities, the FBI relocated him in its headquarters in January 2001. At present he is serving his fifteen successive life terms at a federal supermax prison, the ADX Florence. However, even though Hansen would go to church with his wife, nothing really changed. 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 . Press Release - Veteran FBI Agent Arrested and Charged with Espionage, FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. Department of Justice. [66] Opus Dei member C. John McCloskey said he also occasionally attended the daily noontime Mass at the Catholic Information Center in downtown Washington. Hanssen's section evaluated Soviet agents who volunteered to give intelligence to determine whether they were genuine or re-doubled agents. He then followed his usual routine, taking a package consisting of a sealed garbage bag of classified material and taping it to the bottom side of a wooden footbridge over a creek. , . Mark Wauck, an FBI employee and brother-in-law of Hanssen, prompted his superior in 1990 to investigate Hanssen after a heap of cash was found in Hanssens house, but no action was taken. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Hanssen became much more wary. Hanssen made the donation to a charity affiliated with Mother Teresa, and cut off contact with the Soviets for the next few years. appreciated. After around five years he joined the FBI in January 1976. 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. She went with Hanssen on visits to Hong Kong and the FBI training facility in Quantico, Virginia. The FBI entrusted him with some of the most sensitive secrets of the United States Government and instead of being humbled by this honor, Hanssen has allegedly abused and betrayed that trust. The FBI's codename for the suspected spy was "Graysuit". For these reasons, the FBI learned of his true identity before the Russians; they are learning of it only now. 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. After divorcing Robert, Darla was faced with a choice. After her children endured relentless bullying at school, she decided that her best path led out of Alaska (via The Cinemaholic). During the early 1990s, KGB veterans began to approach western intelligence agencies and provide information. When Robert Hansen was arrested in 1983, it would soon be revealed that this mild-mannered Alaskan baker was responsible for the deaths of as many as 17 young women in the Last Frontier. 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". The crimes alleged are an affront not only to his fellow FBI employees but to the American people, not to mention the pain and suffering he has brought upon his family. 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. 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. [22] Yuzhin had returned to Moscow in 1982 and had been subject to an intensive investigation by the KGB there due to having lost a concealed camera in the Soviet consulate in San Francisco, but he was not arrested until being exposed by Ames and Hanssen. Hanssen gave them the name of a Russian general, Dimitri Polyakov, who had been providing information to the Americans. Though she named Hansen as the man who held her captive and sexually assaulted her, it wasn't until a more thorough investigation was completed that Hansen was formally charged with crimes. After a stint of three years he was shifted to the Soviet Analytical Unit that delved in probing, recognising and catching Soviet agents in the US. Though the Russians made an official protest, he managed to get away with it as FBIs probe in this matter did not make any progress. An official website of the United States government. 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. in Chemistry, 1966; Attended Northwestern University Dental School, 1966-1968;. In May 2002, Hanssen was sentenced to life in prison. 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. Ames was officially blamed for giving Polyakov's name to the Soviets, while Hanssen's attempt was not revealed until after his 2001 capture. [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. Pitts was the second FBI agent to mention Hanssen by name as a possible mole, but superiors were still unconvinced, and no action was taken. This wedded bliss was short-lived, however. His case is considered one of America's greatest intelligence failures, as Hanssen operated as a mole within the bureau's counterintelligence division, the highly sensitive part of the FBI tasked with tracking foreign spies. In 1962 he completed his graduation from William Howard Taft High School. 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. A proficient hunter and tracker since childhood, Hansen chased down his victims in the Alaskan wilderness with a Ruger Mini-14 and a knife. 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. They gave him a new job supervising FBI computer security. He passed on data related to surveillance activities of FBI and provided the GRU with data of suspected Soviet intelligence spies. [49][50][51], During his final days with the FBI, Hanssen began to suspect something was wrong. With the mole finally identified, locations, dates, and cases were matched with Hanssen's activities during the period. 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. The complaint, however, does not allege any compromises by him at the State Department. His bride left him after six months when Hansen was put in prison for setting fire to the local school district's bus barns. 2. She would use her money to run the household and support the couple's children, while Hansen would spend the money he made at the bakery on "his own needs," according to what she would later tell Sergeant Flothe, who played a pivotal role in his capture. 1972 - Joins the Chicago Police Department. Polyakov was carefully watched by the Russians from that point on, and was eventually arrested as a spy and executed in 1988. A TV movie called Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story was released in 2002. He continued with his counter-intelligence work after being shifted to the New York field office in 1985. And took a job with an accounting firm of FBI and provided the GRU data. Preparatory school a 12-year span official site of the U.S. Department of Justice a two-year on... In exchange for the next few years million spying for the suspected spy was Graysuit. After her children endured relentless bullying at school, he was caught in 2001 in prison for setting to. 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