He didnt see the PalmPilot, but there was a messenger bag and it was a jackpot: full of data disks, financial statements, a passport and a second cellphone. Did you see it?. I hate silence . Sometime in the mid-1960s, Robert Hansen got married for the second time. The FBI trusted him with some of the most sensitive secrets of the U.S. government, and instead of upholding that trust, he abused and betrayed it. 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. But while the FBI could have arrested Hanssen on the spot, they would have had him only on a conspiracy charge. Robert Philip Hansen thought he was smarter than the system. After being released, he met his second wife, Darla Henrichsen, and the pair got married in 1963. He compromised the security of his country and put the lives of colleagues in danger. The arrest of Robert Hanssen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges of counterespionage represents a major crisis for the US intelligence apparatus. Sun, Feb 12, 2023. . Home; Features; Services; About; Contact; Login; Get Free Demo After his first wife left him, Hansen was released from prison in late 1962. Hanssen, 56, was an FBI agent for 25 . 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. 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. The Hanssens are active members of Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic group. He and his wife relocated to Anchorage, Alaska in 1967. The FBI believed this was his signal site where the Russians would signal when they were ready to receive his intel. (They took Hanssens Ford and the plan to search his car was dropped for the time being.). robert hanssen childrenjennifer nicholson mark norfleet 27 februari, 2023 . I intend to act swiftly on his recommendations. 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. The Justice Department's inspector general has been examining the F.B.I. In one deadly instance in 1985, the FBI believed Hanssen exposed three KGB agents working for the Americans. She next asked ONeill to retrieve Hanssens keys so the FBI could copy them, but his boss kept his keys on him at all times. The pension was an important consideration for Hanssen in his plea negotiations, Brookner said. For years, Hanssen stopped contacting the Russians. They have committed their lives to public service and to upholding the high standards of the FBI. Still, he was not identified as a spy. 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. As part of that review, the inspector general asked Mrs. Hanssen to take a polygraph test, just days before the sentencing. December 2000 - The FBI begins surveillance of Hanssen. "I have opened the door for calumny against my totally innocent wife and children. Robert P. Bucciarelli, a priest affiliated with Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic organization the Hanssens had joined several years earlier. This story has been shared 149,018 times. In fact, her husband resumed his espionage career. Upon becoming a special agent on January 12, 1976, Hanssen was transferred to the FBI's Gary, Indiana, field office. The Robert Hanssen Story" was released in 2002. The purloined PalmPilot gave the FBI the final piece of the puzzle: Hanssens next meeting with the Russians was scheduled for the following weekend. He later wrote to his KGB handler, speaking about the severity with which U.S. laws punishes his alleged actions, and acknowledging I know far better than most what minefields are laid and the risks.. Joining the FBI in the height of the Cold War, Robert Hanssen dreamed of the exciting life of a spy. 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. Timeline. 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. But money is. In hindsight, serial killers often have traits in common and show signs of their adult inclinations as children. Marriage: Bernadette Bonnie (Wauck) Hanssen (August 10, 1968-present), Children: Lisa, Greg, Mark, John Jack, Sue and Jane, Education: Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, A.B. So Alleman instead asked ONeill to drive Hanssen to a meeting at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in an FBI vehicle that way, she could have someone search Hanssens car while he was out of the office. Follow. The data-some 6000 pages of highly classified documents-revealed . One day, she said, she found her husband scurrying to cover up some papers in the basement of their home in Scarsdale, N.Y. 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 Friends of Hanssen later came forward and told journalists that Hanssen had exhibited eccentric behavior, which included an obsession with pornography. Another government official confirmed that Mrs. Hanssen was given a polygraph test and said she had passed it. Christian owned a bakery and would make his son work for long hours as a kid. Opus Dei and Hanssen: Masters of Paradox . I imagined I could smell gunpowder on his breath, ONeill writes. Darla was an extremely religious woman, and she felt that faith could be his way out. 2. 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. After work each day, ONeill would secretly meet with his actual boss, Special Agent Kate Alleman, recalling everything Hanssen said and did which, as it turned out, would be nothing pleasant. Robert was described as a loner and a quiet person, and he had a strained relationship as well with his strict and dominating father. 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. During his sessions with investigators, Hanssen claimed his motivation had always been financial. Breaking her five-month silence, the wife of FBI spy Robert Philip Hanssen said Thursday that she deeply regrets the damage her husband has caused the United States and believes it is appropriate that he spend the rest of his life in prison. If he gave the money from the Soviets to charity, and promised not to spy again, he would have the priest's blessing not to report the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. headquarters in a senior counterintelligence post, he told his wife that he had paid off the debt, she told the Justice Department. He had opportunity. (CNN) -- While he acted the patriot and family man, FBI agent Robert Hanssen was selling his country's most classified . 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. Christopher Burgess / Feb 18, 2021. When these two KGB officials returned to Moscow, they were tried and convicted on espionage charges and executed. Assistant Eric O'Neill (right) tells in his new book how he helped. 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. Hansen even followed in his fathers footsteps and opened up his own bakery. 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. Posted in . Id answer neither. Were you in my office? Hanssen leaned over my desk, his face inches from mine. The investigation of Hanssen was conducted by the FBI in partnership with the CIA, the Department of State, and, of course, the Justice Department. 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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. Director Jenny Chung Writer Jenny Chung Stars Bob Aguilar Jim Babel Jeff Barber He was Amazon.com's first-ever history editor and has bylines in New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets. 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. Sullivan noted that Hanssen spent a lot of time trolling ACS for information. But, she said, she was determined to hold her husband to the deal. 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 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. Its amazing to live with a man for all those years and not know him.. The tension would not lessen over the next few days, with Hanssen telling ONeill he was a worthless clerk.. Instead, he ultimately became the most damaging spy in. Hanssen wanted to be posted to Allenwood in hopes that he might be visited frequently by his wife Bonnie and their six children. At least three Russian agents he identified had been executed, and it was suspected that he compromised dozens of intelligence operations. As difficult as this moment is for the FBI and for the country, I am immensely proud of the men and women who conducted this investigation. He pleaded guilty to 13 counts of espionage plus two related counts and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. A moment later, a dark shadow crossed his door. General Polyakov had been spying for the United States since the early 1960's, but soon after Mr. Hanssen told the Russians of this, General Polyakov was forced to retire and was later executed. She is also challenging some of her husbands credit card bills. At some point in 1979, Hanssen made a decision to sell American secrets to the Soviets. Only David Wise could tell the astonishing, full story, and he does so, in masterly style, in Spy. Although his name was not specifically mentioned, evidence in the file pointed to Hanssen, who was put under close surveillance. He spied for the Soviets . In return, he received large sums of money and other remuneration. Lesley Stahl has learned that Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent who betrayed his country, also betrayed his church and his wife. Caught off guard, he grabbed his guns but not his PalmPilot. His assistant, Eric ONeill, was tasked with keeping investigators apprised of Hanssens movements. He was, after all, a trained counterintelligence specialist. Instead, he ultimately became the most damaging spy in Bureau history. He worked as a source for the USSR and subsequently The Russian Federation. He could sit in his office and shut the door. Why are we still having these debates? Should I get him to confess?. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Hanssen became much more wary. 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. 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. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/robert-hanssen-4587832. Mrs. Hanssen said she demanded that her husband go with her to see their Roman Catholic priest to confess. In fact, he had already betrayed one of the United States' most important agents: Gen. Dmitri Polyakov of the G.R.U. The underling had 15 minutes to arrange for a car from the FBI who, this time, didnt blow its shot. Today hes a national-security strategist for the cyber-security company Carbon Black and runs his own investigative and security-services firm. They bought a modest, three-bedroom home in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., north of New York City. A Spy in Plain Sight: The Inside Story of the FBI and Robert Hanssen, America's Most Damaging Russian Spy, Lis Wiehl (Pegasus, 2022), 336 pages. The answer shocked ONeill, then 26. She would then use this money to run her house and support her children. Michelle Karr. The parents of six children, Bob and Bonnie "were the picture of a perfect family. This story has been shared 106,031 times. 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 an agency, we lived up to our responsibility, regardless of how painful it might be. Hanssen was tracked from the time he left his house in Fairfax County, Virginia, to the time he got home at night, and it was confirmed that he was still an active spy. Therefore, after he was given a 461-year sentence for his crimes, she chose to divorce him. 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. Director Tenet and I have briefed the intelligence committees of Congress because of the clear national security implications. Robert Hanssen, a church-going family man and FBI agent for 25 years, was actually working as a Soviet spy for well over 20 years. 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. In the early 1980s, Hanssen was transferred to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. To his colleagues in the bureau he seemed to be a model agent. Written by on 27 febrero, 2023. In 1978, Hanssen was transferred to the FBI office in New York City and was assigned to a counterintelligence post. "She and the children clearly are innocent victims." Advertisement Robert Hanssen, 57, a former FBI counterintelligence agent, pleaded guilty last week to 15 counts of spying for Moscow. Guilty plea would mean life term, money for family By Naftali Bendavid . Before her May 7 polygraph test began, Justice Department investigators read Mrs. Hanssen her Miranda rights, her Washington lawyer, Janine Brookner, said. Hanssen checked the sign three times that night. July 6, 2001 - Pleads guilty to 15 counts of espionage and conspiracy in exchange for the government not seeking the death penalty. After being released, he met his second wife, Darla Henrichsen, and the pair got married in 1963. 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. 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. 2000 - The FBI identifies Hanssen from a fingerprint and from a tape recording supplied by a disgruntled Russian intelligence operative. On the drive back, ONeill tried to play it cool even though he was riddled with fear that Hanssens car would not be at the office when they returned. But in 1999, while assigned as an FBI liaison with the State Department, he once again began selling American secrets. You know hes armed and Im not. Agents find a bag nearby containing $50,000 that they believe is Hanssens payment for the documents. Russian operatives left signals for Hanssen at Foxstone Park in Vienna, Va. 's New York field office. A self-taught computer expert, Hansen often encrypted his stolen files on wafer-thin disks. 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. And would make his son work for long hours as a spy Henrichsen, and the plan to search car. To 15 counts of espionage in July 2001 and was assigned to a counterintelligence.. 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