In fact, he had already betrayed one of the United States' most important agents: Gen. Dmitri Polyakov of the G.R.U. In 1976, Robert Hanssen began his career as an FBI agent, but by 1985, he was working for the former Soviet Union, slipping the Russians classified secrets in exchange for more than $1.4 million . He married Bernadette Wauck in 1968 and, influenced by his devout Catholic wife, he converted to Catholicism. 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. As O'Neill explained to the audience and often mentions in his book, Hanssen was ahead of his time. 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. On 18 February 2001, Robert Hanssen was arrested and charged with committing espionage on behalf of the intelligence services of the former Soviet Union and its successors. Hanssen's guilty plea involved 15 counts of espionage and conspiracy. 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. As they took him into custody, Hanssen turned to one and said, What took you so long?. agent in Chicago. "Robert Hanssen, FBI Agent Who Became a Soviet Mole." 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. 's New York field office. Mrs. Hanssen acknowledged in the interview that in about 1980, she discovered that her husband was having unauthorized dealings with the Russians, but said she never knew the extent of his actions. To be very clear on this issue, at no time was he authorized to communicate information to agents of the KGB/SVR. A former FBI Supervisory Special Agen. Hanssen appeared to be a devoted anti-communist. 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.. In short, the trusted insider betrayed his trust without detection. The family hopes Mr. Hanssen will be sent to the federal prison in Allenwood, Pa., which would be close enough for Mrs. Hanssen to continue to visit regularly. 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. 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. At some point in 1979, Hanssen made a decision to sell American secrets to the Soviets. Couldnt this have waited till Monday? he asked. 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. After his first wife left him, Hansen was released from prison in late 1962. The purloined PalmPilot gave the FBI the final piece of the puzzle: Hanssens next meeting with the Russians was scheduled for the following weekend. ONeill, 46, left the FBI in May 2001. I told him I thought it was insane.''. Hanssen wanted to be posted to Allenwood in hopes that he might be visited frequently by his wife Bonnie and their six children. 1979 - Begins spying for the Soviet Union. Now she says she has chosen to speak out at last because she wants to answer one question she has heard dozens of times: How could Robert P. Hanssen's wife of 34 years not have known he was a spy? He was Amazon.com's first-ever history editor and has bylines in New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets. At their very first meeting, ONeill reached out his hand and began to introduce himself. Friends of Hanssen later came forward and told journalists that Hanssen had exhibited eccentric behavior, which included an obsession with pornography. Sun, Feb 12, 2023. . 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. In order to put the double-crosser away forever, ONeill would need to put his life on the line again. The test lasted several hours. On February 18, 2001, Hanssen was arrested and charged with committing espionage on behalf of Russia and the former Soviet Union. Upon becoming a special agent on January 12, 1976, Hanssen was transferred to the FBI's Gary, Indiana, field office. Hanssen, in full blowhard mode, got back in the car and the two took the slow route as he lectured ONeill. Each time, her lawyer said Mrs. Hanssen told investigators during the polygraph test, he would deny it and act as if he was hurt that she did not trust him. The underling had 15 minutes to arrange for a car from the FBI who, this time, didnt blow its shot. A self-taught computer expert, Hansen often encrypted his stolen files on wafer-thin disks. 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. In school, he was bullied for his acne, girls would not talk to him, and he also developed a stutter. Today hes a national-security strategist for the cyber-security company Carbon Black and runs his own investigative and security-services firm. 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. A Warner Bros. After a few years working as an accountant, he decided to enter law enforcement. Thanks for contacting us. by Tammy A. DiNicola. After graduating from a public high school, Hanssen attended Knox College in Illinois, studying chemistry and Russian. 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. Since he held key counterintelligence positions, he had authorized access to classified information. The Ellis drop site, under a footbridge over Wolftrap Creek at Foxstone Park near Vienna, Va. U.S. Attorney Randy Bellows, right, is depicted in an artists sketch as he addresses the court during the sentencing of convicted spy Robert Hanssen, center, seen with his attorney Plato Cacheris, left, at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia. 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. Sunday night the FBI arrested Robert Philip Hanssen who has been charged with committing espionage. For many years, the CIA and FBI have been aggressively engaged in a sustained analytical effort to identify foreign penetrations of the Intelligence Community. His growing family would need space, and Hanssen's vision of himself required that he provide for them while Bonnie managed the home and raised their children. He has never answered that question for anyone. His target would be Robert Hanssen, a 25-year FBI veteran that the bureau suspected might be the most treacherous and damaging double agent in US history. 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. 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. "I have opened the door for calumny against my totally innocent wife and children. 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. Hanssen had a reputation for being wildly arrogant and dour. They never lived the high life; they never even went out to dinner, she said. 2023 Cable News Network. 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. All Rights Reserved. Were you in my office? Hanssen leaned over my desk, his face inches from mine. Director Tenet and I have briefed the intelligence committees of Congress because of the clear national security implications. FBI agents outside Robert Hanssen's home in Virginia, Feb. 20, 2001. In fact, when his father passed away, Hansen inherited 17 guns from him as well. 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. Abcarian: Mask mandates? Therefore, after he was given a 461-year sentence for his crimes, she chose to divorce him. The priest told Hanssen to stop his illegal activities and donate the money he had gotten from the Russians to charity. On this day in history (February 18), one of the most famous and damaging insiders within the FBI, Robert Philip Hanssen was arrested. 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. In his new book, Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose Americas First Cyber Spy (Crown), ONeill tells his story of risking his life in 2001 to bring down the operative. Nor would many other intelligence and counterintelligence accomplishments that routinely but quietly contribute to the security of this Nation. He lobbied his Russian masters to buy him a newer PalmPilot, with wireless Internet capabilities, which would allow the rapid transmission of encrypted messages. ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Apologizing before a U.S. federal judge, former FBI agent Robert Hanssen was sentenced Friday to . They have committed their lives to public service and to upholding the high standards of the FBI. 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. .) And there was more than a touch of obvious paranoia: My security concerns have proven reality-based, Hanssen wrote. 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 live in Dallas, TX and growing up I was always the kid with "her nose in a book". The Hanssen case was regarded as a low point for the FBI, especially as Hanssen had been so trusted and had committed such betrayals for so many years. None of the internal information or personnel security measures in place alerted those charged with internal security to his activities. In 1978, Hanssen was transferred to the FBI office in New York City and was assigned to a counterintelligence post. But while agents moved and searched Hanssens car, he unexpectedly cut the meeting short, stalking out and leaving ONeill no time to notify Alleman. 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 difficult, but its better than seeing him put to death.. The wildest part? For years, Hanssen stopped contacting the Russians. 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. Darla, who had a masters degree in Education, would earn her own income by teaching learning disabled kids. After being released, he met his second wife, Darla Henrichsen, and the pair got married in 1963. Just then the door buzzed, indicating Hanssens return. Robert Hanssen is accused of spying for the Soviet Union and is awaiting trial. Robert was born in 1939 in Iowa to Danish immigrants Christian and Edna Hansen. Ms. Brookner, who arranged the interview, insisted that Mrs. Hanssen not be questioned about revelations concerning her husband's sexual obsessions. The complaint alleges that Hanssen conspired to and did commit espionage for Russia and the former Soviet Union. One day, she said, she found her husband scurrying to cover up some papers in the basement of their home in Scarsdale, N.Y. 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. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Warmer storms could cause problems, Jaguars, narcos, illegal loggers: One mans battle to save a jungle and Maya ruins, Dr. Simi is a TikTok star. Many of the questions centered on assertions made by Mrs. Hanssen's brother, Mark Wauck, an F.B.I. One eye twitched.. 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. Hes also a sign of Mexicos healthcare crisis, Black residents of Jackson, Miss., blast plans by white-dominated Legislature for more state control, Spain approves menstrual leave, teen abortion and trans laws. They bought a modest, three-bedroom home in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., north of New York City. 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. 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. By the time O'Neill slipped into the car on that fateful Sunday morning in 2001, an FBI operation was already underway to . 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. The parents of six children, Bob and Bonnie "were the picture of a perfect family. ''Most of the people who think ill of me don't know me. He wears a revolver in an ankle holster and keeps an automatic [weapon] in his desk., In response, Alleman took a sip of her coffee to hide her smile., Fine, ONeill said. When the news media reported that alleged spy Robert Hanssen was a member of Opus Dei back in 2001, many wondered how Hanssen could provide sensitive information to communists, when Opus Dei has always seemed to be so vehemently opposed to communism. 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. ONeill needed to stall, but without arousing further suspicion. four in a bed contestant dies. The double agent was arrested (above right) in 2001 by the FBI after leaving intel for them under a bridge in the park. He and his wife relocated to Anchorage, Alaska in 1967. McNamara, Robert. Pressed to explain what he was doing, she said, he acknowledged that he was dealing with the Russians. But, she said, she was determined to hold her husband to the deal. He became an agent in 1976, and spent two years working in the Indianapolis, Indiana, field office. They were finishing just as Hanssen texted that he was on his way back. 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. A feature film called "Breach" was released in 2007. Children: Lisa, Greg, Mark, John "Jack," Sue and Jane. agent sentenced to life in prison on Friday after he pleaded guilty to spying for Moscow off and on for more than 20 years. Robert Philip Hanssen, a 27 year veteran of the FBI, was a double agent. 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. 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. Blood rushed to my face. She is also challenging some of her husbands credit card bills. 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