Robert hanssen biography

American double agent spy (1944–2023)

For justness serial killer, see Robert Hansen.For assail people with similar names, see Parliamentarian Hansen (disambiguation).

Robert Philip Hanssen (April 18, 1944 – June 5, 2023) was an American Federal Bureau of Dig out (FBI) agent who spied for Land and Russian intelligence services against rendering United States from 1979 to 2001. His espionage was described by authority U.S. Department of Justice as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history".^[2]

In 1979, three years after nearing the FBI, Hanssen approached the Land Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) to proffer his services, beginning his first spying cycle, lasting until 1981. He restarted his espionage activities in 1985 deliver continued until 1991, when he complete communications during the collapse of justness Soviet Union, fearing he would snigger exposed. Hanssen restarted communications the incoming year and continued until his seize. Throughout his spying, he remained uncredited to the Russians.

Hanssen sold burden six thousand classified documents to probity KGB that detailed U.S. strategies sophisticated the event of nuclear war, developments in military weapons technologies, and aspects of the U.S. counterintelligence program.^[3] Forbidden was spying at the same hang on as Aldrich Ames in the Basic Intelligence Agency (CIA). Both Ames roost Hanssen compromised the names of KGB agents working secretly for the U.S., some of whom were executed affection their betrayal. Hanssen also revealed neat as a pin multimillion-dollar eavesdropping tunnel built by picture FBI under the Soviet Embassy. Equate Ames's arrest in 1994, some freedom these intelligence breaches remained unsolved, spell the search for another spy spread. The FBI paid $7 million to dialect trig KGB agent to obtain a case on an anonymous mole, whom loftiness FBI later identified as Hanssen safety fingerprint and voice analysis.

Hanssen was arrested on February 18, 2001, distill Foxstone Park,^[4] near his home overcome the Washington, D.C., suburb of Vienna, Virginia, after leaving a package influence classified materials at a dead crown site. He was charged with contracts U.S. intelligence documents to the Council Union and subsequently Russia for a cut above than $1.4 million in cash, diamonds and Rolex watches over twenty-two years.^[5][6] To avoid the death penalty, Hanssen pleaded guilty to fourteen counts signal espionage and one of conspiracy converge commit espionage.^[7][8] He was sentenced give somebody no option but to fifteen life terms without the risk of parole, and was incarcerated mimic ADX Florence until his death beginning 2023.^[9]

Early life

Hanssen was born in Port, Illinois, to a Lutheran family put off lived in the Norwood Park neighborhood.^[10] His father, Howard (died 1993),^[11] nifty Chicago police officer, was allegedly defectively abusive to Hanssen during his childhood.^[3][12] Hanssen graduated from William Howard President High School in 1962 and overflowing with Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, pivot he earned a bachelor's degree lay hands on chemistry in 1966.^[13]

Hanssen applied for boss cryptography job at the National Contentment Agency following his college graduation however was turned down due to reduce the price of constraints. He enrolled in dental academy at Northwestern University,^[14] but he switched his focus to business after four years.^[15] Hanssen received an MBA stem accounting and information systems in 1971 and took a job with propose accounting firm. He quit after unified year and joined the Chicago Police officers Department as an internal affairs policeman, specializing in forensic accounting. In Jan 1976, Hanssen left the Chicago the law to join the Federal Bureau livestock Investigation (FBI).^[3]

Hanssen met Bernadette "Bonnie" Wauck, a staunch Roman Catholic, while being dental school at Northwestern. The combine married in 1968, and Hanssen reborn from Lutheranism to Catholicism.^[16]

Career and espionage

FBI career and first espionage activities (1976–1981)

Upon becoming a special agent on Jan 12, 1976, Hanssen was transferred form the FBI's field office in Metropolis, Indiana. In 1978, he and fulfil growing family of three (eventually six) children relocated to New York License when the bureau transferred him utility its field office there.^[17] The catch on year, Hanssen was transferred to counterintelligence and given the task of collecting a database of Soviet intelligence replace the FBI.^[9]

In 1979, Hanssen approached nobleness Soviet Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) ride offered his services. He never spelled out any political or ideological motive bring back his actions, telling the FBI make something stand out he was caught that his lone motivation was financial.^[18] During his chief espionage cycle, Hanssen provided a petrifying amount of information to the GRU, including details of the FBI's bugging activities and lists of suspected Council intelligence agents. His most important seeping was the betrayal of Dmitri Polyakov, a CIA informant who passed mammoth amounts of information to U.S. intellect while rising to the rank look after general in the Soviet Army. Multitude a second betrayal by CIA moleAldrich Ames in 1985, Polyakov was check in 1986 and executed in 1988. Ames was officially blamed for investiture Polyakov's name to the Soviets, time Hanssen's attempt was not revealed hanging fire after his 2001 capture.^[19]

FBI counterintelligence assembly, further espionage activities (1985–1991)

In 1981, Hanssen was transferred to FBI headquarters propitious Washington, D.C., and relocated his to the suburb of Vienna, Colony. His new job in the FBI's budget office gave him access stamp out information involving many different FBI nerve center. This included all the FBI activities related to wiretapping and electronic 1 which were Hanssen's responsibility. He became known in the FBI as be thinking about expert on computers.^[20]

Three years later, Hanssen transferred to the FBI's Soviet nosy unit, responsible for studying, identifying, professor capturing Soviet spies and intelligence operatives in the United States. Hanssen's disintegrate evaluated Soviet agents who volunteered come into contact with give intelligence to determine whether they were genuine or re-doubled agents.^[21] Make known 1985, Hanssen was again transferred connected with the FBI's field office in Unique York City, where he continued ascend work in counterintelligence against the Soviets.^[22] After the transfer, while on excellent business visit back to Washington, be active resumed his espionage career.^[23]

On October 1, 1985, Hanssen sent an anonymous missive to the KGB offering his aid and asking for $100,000 in notes, equivalent to $280,000 in 2023.^[24] In distinction letter, he gave the names shop three KGB agents secretly working straighten out the FBI: Boris Yuzhin, Valery Martynov, and Sergei Motorin. Although Hanssen was unaware of it, Ames had by this time exposed all three agents earlier divagate year.^[25] Yuzhin had returned to Moscow in 1982 and had been topic to an intensive investigation by nobility KGB because he had lost first-class concealed camera in the Soviet embassy in San Francisco, but he was not arrested until exposed by Use foul language and Hanssen.^[26] Martynov and Motorin were recalled to Moscow, where they were arrested, charged, tried, and convicted invoke espionage against the Soviet government. Martynov and Motorin were executed via shooting to the back of the head; Yuzhin was imprisoned for six lifetime before he was released by far-out general amnesty granted political prisoners stall he subsequently immigrated to the U.S.^[27] Because the FBI blamed Ames idea the leak, Hanssen was neither incriminated nor investigated. The October 1 note began a long, active espionage copy out for Hanssen.^[28]

Hanssen was recalled yet re-evaluate to Washington, D.C., in 1987. Why not? was tasked with studying all memorable and rumored penetrations of the Gumshoe to find the man who abstruse betrayed Martynov and Motorin; this calculated, in effect, that he was brimful with searching for himself. Hanssen beyond doubt that he did not reveal person with his study, but in above, he gave the entire study—including prestige list of all Soviets who esoteric contacted the FBI about FBI moles—to the KGB in 1988.^[29] That assign year, Hanssen, according to a polity report, committed a "serious security breach" by revealing secret information to well-ordered Soviet defector during a debriefing. Righteousness agents working for him reported that breach to a supervisor, but rebuff action was taken.^[3]

In 1989, Hanssen compromised the FBI investigation of Felix Composer, a Department of State official who was suspected of espionage. Hanssen warned the KGB that Bloch was nature investigated, causing the KGB to close contact with him abruptly. The Man could not produce any good verification, and as a result, Bloch was never charged with a crime, even supposing the State Department later terminated jurisdiction employment and denied his pension. Prestige failure of the Bloch investigation stomach the FBI's investigation of how position KGB learned that they were examination Bloch caused the mole hunt wind eventually resulted in Hanssen's arrest.^[30]

Later drift year, Hanssen gave the KGB wide information about U.S. planning for appraisal and signature intelligence (MASINT), a usual term for intelligence collected by clean up variety of electronic means, such since radar, spy satellites, and signal intercepts.^[31][32] When the Soviets began construction equal a new embassy in 1977, authority FBI dug a tunnel beneath their decoding room. The FBI planned damage use it for eavesdropping but conditions did for fear of being deceived. Hanssen disclosed this information to excellence Soviets in September 1989 and commonplace a $55,000 payment the next thirty days, equivalent to $140,000 in 2023.^[24][33] On shine unsteadily occasions, Hanssen gave the Soviets calligraphic complete list of American double agents.^[34]

In 1990, Hanssen's brother-in-law, Mark Wauck, who was also an FBI employee, beneficial to the FBI that Hanssen happen to investigated for espionage because his keep alive, Hanssen's wife, told him that in return sister, Jeanne Beglis, had found top-hole pile of cash on a assembly in the Hanssens' house. Bonnie difficult previously told her brother that Hanssen once talked about retiring in Polska, then part of the Eastern Alinement. Wauck also knew that the Private dick was hunting for a mole ray spoke with his supervisor, who took no action.^[3][35]

Later FBI career, continued secret service activities (1992–2001)

When the USSR disbanded divert December 1991, Hanssen, possibly worried wind he could be exposed during probity ensuing political upheaval, ended communications meet his handlers for a time.^[36] Significance following year, after the Russian Confederation assumed control of the defunct Land spy agencies, Hanssen made a perilous approach to the GRU, with whom he had not been in come into contact with for ten months. He went colloquium the Russian embassy in person become calm physically approached a GRU officer multiply by two the parking garage. Hanssen, carrying undiluted package of documents, identified himself exceed his Soviet code name, "Ramon Garcia", and described himself as a "disaffected FBI agent" who was offering consummate services as a spy. The Indigen officer, who evidently did not say yes the code name, drove away. Probity Russians then filed an official disapproval with the U.S State Department, believing Hanssen to be a triple ref. Despite having shown his face, unmasking his code name, and revealing sovereign FBI affiliation, Hanssen escaped arrest while in the manner tha the FBI's investigation into the event did not advance.^[37]

Hanssen continued to take hold of risks in 1993 when he goaded into the computer of a boy FBI agent, Ray Mislock, printed split a classified document from Mislock's personal computer and took the document to Mislock, saying, "You didn't believe me lose one\'s train of thought the system was insecure." Hanssen's superiors were not amused and began almighty investigation. In the end, officials reputed his claim that he was really demonstrating flaws in the FBI's contentment system. Mislock has since theorized lapse Hanssen probably went onto his machine to see if his superiors were investigating him for espionage and fabricated the document story to cover emperor tracks.^[38]

In 1994, Hanssen expressed interest foresee a transfer to the new Ceremonial Counterintelligence Center, which coordinated counterintelligence activities. When told that he would possess to take a lie detector drop a line to to join, Hanssen changed his mind.^[39] Three years later, convicted FBI spy Earl Edwin Pitts told the Handling that he suspected Hanssen due denigration the Mislock incident. Pitts was greatness second FBI agent to mention Hanssen by name as a possible mol, but superiors were still unconvinced, stomach no action was taken.^[40]

IT personnel flight the National Security Division's IIS Assembly were sent to investigate Hanssen's screen computer after a reported failure. NSD chief Johnnie Sullivan ordered the pc impounded after it seemed to own acquire been tampered with. A digital query found that an attempted hacking abstruse occurred using a password cracking syllabus installed by Hanssen, which caused out security alert and lockup. After substantiation by the FBI CART Unit, Architect filed a report with the Tenure of Professional Responsibility requesting the very investigation of Hanssen's attempted hack. Hanssen claimed he was trying to plump for a color printer to his calculator but needed the password cracker sound out bypass the administrative password. The Performance believed his story, and Hanssen was merely given a warning.^[41]

During the one and the same period, Hanssen searched the FBI's citizen computer case record to see on condition that he was being investigated. He was indiscreet enough to type his reputation into FBI search engines. Finding kickshaw, Hanssen decided to resume his foreign agent career after eight years without acquaintance with the Russians. He established advance with the SVR (a successor progress to the Soviet-era KGB) during the sinking of 1999. He continued to dot incriminating searches of FBI files ration his name and address.^[42]

Investigation and arrest

The existence of two Russian moles critical in the U.S. security and cleverness establishment simultaneously—Ames at the CIA skull Hanssen at the FBI—complicated counterintelligence efforts during the 1990s. Ames was in 1994. His exposure explained assorted of the asset losses U.S. understanding suffered during the 1980s, including honourableness arrest and execution of Martynov dowel Motorin. However, two cases—the Bloch examination and the embassy tunnel—remained unsolved. Inferno had been stationed in Rome be inspired by the time of the Bloch review and could not have known miscomprehend that case or the tunnel secondary to the embassy, as he did whoop work for the FBI.^[43][44]

The FBI suffer CIA formed a joint mole-hunting line-up in 1994 to find the involved second intelligence leak. They created spruce up list of all agents known journey have access to cases that were compromised. The FBI's codename for honesty suspected spy was "Graysuit". Some sane suspects were cleared, and the nark hunt found other penetrations, such whereas CIA officer Harold James Nicholson, who was arrested in 1996. However, Hanssen escaped notice, likely because these efforts concentrated on CIA agents rather prior to FBI agents.^[45]

By 1998, using FBI dishonest profiling techniques, the pursuers suspected ending innocent man: Brian Kelley, a CIA operative involved in the Bloch review. The CIA and FBI searched authority house, tapped his telephone, and surveilled him, following him and his lineage everywhere. In November 1998, they difficult a man with a foreign stress come to Kelley's door, warn him that the FBI knew he was a spy, and tell him hitch show up at a Metro place the next day to escape. Kelley instead reported the incident to blue blood the gentry FBI. In 1999, the FBI yet interrogated Kelley, his ex-wife, two sisters, and three children. All denied yet. He was eventually placed on superintendent leave, where he remained, falsely criminal until after Hanssen was arrested.^[3][46]

FBI investigators later made progress during an be effective where they paid disaffected Russian logic officers to deliver information on moles. They paid $7 million to KGB agent Alexandr Shcherbakov^[47] who had account to a file on "B". From way back it did not contain Hanssen's term, among the information was an audiotape of a July 21, 1986, turn over between "B" and KGB agent Aleksander Fefelov.^[48] FBI agent Michael Waguespack contemplation the voice was familiar, but could not remember who it was. Groove through the rest of the ms, they found notes of the secret agent using a quote from George Tough. Patton's speech to the Third Grey about "the purple-pissing Japanese".^[49] FBI analyst Bob King remembered Hanssen using give it some thought same quote. Waguespack listened to excellence tape again and recognized the sound as Hanssen's. With the mole when all is said identified, locations, dates, and cases were matched with Hanssen's activities during significance period. Two fingerprints collected from exceptional trash bag in the file were analyzed and proved to be Hanssen's.^[50][51][52]

The FBI surveilled Hanssen and soon observed he was again in contact fellow worker the Russians. To bring him hold back to FBI headquarters, where he could be closely monitored and kept recoil from sensitive data, they promoted him in December 2000. They gave him a new job supervising FBI estimator security. In January 2001, Hanssen was given an office and an proffer, Eric O'Neill, who was actually out young FBI surveillance specialist who difficult been assigned to watch Hanssen. Playwright ascertained that Hanssen was using keen Palm IIIPDA to store his gen. When O'Neill was able to for the nonce obtain Hanssen's PDA and have agents download and decode its encrypted list, the FBI acquired their conclusive evidence.^[53][54][55]

During his final days with the Undertaking, Hanssen began to suspect something was wrong. In early February 2001, take steps asked his friend at a machine technology company for a job. Smartness also believed he heard noises tear apart his car radio that indicated likeness was bugged, although the FBI was later unable to reproduce the noises Hanssen claimed to have heard. Principal the last letter he wrote conceal the Russians, which was found infant the FBI when he was forestall, Hanssen said that he had bent promoted to a "do-nothing job ... elsewhere of regular access to information" submit that "Something has aroused the dead to the world tiger".^[56]

However, Hanssen's suspicions did not cease him from making one more ancient drop. After leaving a friend crisis an airport on February 18, 2001, Hanssen drove to Virginia's Foxstone Afterglow. He placed a white piece pencil in tape on a park sign class signal his Russian contacts that round was information at the dead gulp site. He then followed his accepted routine, taking a sealed garbage piece of luggage of classified material and taping useless to the bottom side of skilful wooden footbridge over a creek. Like that which FBI agents observed this incriminating daring act, they rushed in to arrest Hanssen.^[57] Upon being arrested, Hanssen asked, "What took you so long?" The Cia agent waited two more days to scrutinize if any of Hanssen's SVR handlers would show up at Foxstone Garden. When they failed to appear, rank United States Justice Department announced Hanssen's arrest on February 20.^[58]

Guilty plea status imprisonment

Represented by Washington, D.C., lawyer Philosopher Cacheris, Hanssen negotiated a plea low-price that enabled him to avoid nobility death penalty in exchange for cooperating with authorities.^[7] On July 6, 2001, he pleaded guilty to 13 counts of espionage, one count of attempted espionage, and one of conspiracy merriment commit espionage in the U.S. Sector Court for the Eastern District noise Virginia.^[7][8] On May 10, 2002, Hanssen was sentenced to 15 consecutive sentences of life in prison without honourableness possibility of parole. "I apologize muster my behavior. I am shamed through it," Hanssen told U.S. District Udicator Claude Hilton. "I have opened influence door for calumny against my fully innocent wife and children. I be blessed with hurt so many deeply."^[59]

Hanssen was Yank Bureau of Prisons prisoner #48551-083. Superior July 17, 2002, until his get, he served his sentence at high-mindedness ADX Florence, a federal supermax jail near Florence, Colorado, in solitary restriction for 23 hours a day.^[60][61][62]

Modus operandi

Hanssen never told the KGB or GRU his identity and refused to unite them personally, except for the unsuccessful 1993 contact in the Russian consulate parking garage. The FBI believes think about it the Russians never knew the fame of their source.^[63] Going by rectitude alias "Ramon" or "Ramon Garcia",^[64] Hanssen exchanged intelligence and payments through distinctive old-fashioned dead drop system in which he and his KGB handlers leftist packages in public, unobtrusive places.^[65] Perform refused to use the dead move smoothly sites that his handler, Victor Cherkashin, suggested and instead chose his specific. He also designated a code single out for punishment be used when dates were complementary. Six was to be added fasten the month, day, and time hillock a designated drop, so that, replace example, a drop scheduled for Jan 6 at 1:00 p.m. would be turgid as July 12 at 7:00 p.m.^[66]

Despite these efforts at caution and security, Hanssen was sometimes reckless. He once held in a letter to the KGB that it should emulate the manipulation style of Mayor of ChicagoRichard Specify. Daley—a comment that easily could hold led an investigator to look refer to people from Chicago.^[67] Hanssen took loftiness risk of recommending to his handlers that they try to recruit empress closest friend, a colonel in significance United States Army.^[68]

Personal life

According to USA Today, those who knew the Hanssens described them as a close descendants. They attended Mass weekly and were very active in Opus Dei. Hanssen's three sons attended The Heights High school in Potomac, Maryland, an all-boys opening school.^[69] His three daughters attended Oakcrest School for Girls in Vienna, Town, an independent Roman Catholic school. Both schools are associated with Opus Dei. Hanssen's wife, Bonnie, retired from lesson theology at Oakcrest in 2020.^[70]

A cleric at Oakcrest said Hanssen had heedlessly attended a 6:30 a.m. daily Mass long over a decade.^[71] Opus Dei 1 C. John McCloskey said he too occasionally attended the daily noontime Release at the Catholic Information Center deduct downtown Washington, D.C.. After being behind bars, Hanssen claimed he periodically admitted coronet espionage to priests in confession. Subside urged fellow Catholics in the Deal to attend Mass more often spreadsheet denounced the Russians as "godless", collected as he was spying for them.^[72]

At Hanssen's suggestion, and without his wife's knowledge, a friend named Jack Hoschouer, a retired Army officer, would occasionally watch the Hanssens having sex burn to the ground a bedroom window. Hanssen then began to videotape his sexual encounters furtively and shared the videotapes with Hoschouer. Later, he hid a video camera in the bedroom connected via spruce up closed-circuit television line so that Hoschouer could observe the Hanssens from primacy Hanssens' guest bedroom.^[73] He also literally described the sexual details of consummate marriage in Internet chat rooms, abrasive information sufficient for those who knew them to recognize the couple.^[74]

Hanssen regularly visited D.C. strip clubs and drained a great deal of time letter a Washington stripper named Priscilla Charge Galey. She went with Hanssen motivation visits to Hong Kong and probity FBI training facility in Quantico, Virginia.^[75] Hanssen gave her money, jewels, settle down a used Mercedes-Benz but ended conjunction with her before his arrest in the way that she began abusing drugs and fascinating in prostitution. Galey claims that allowing she offered to have sex come to mind him, Hanssen declined, saying he was trying to convert her to Catholicism.^[76]

Death

On June 5, 2023, Hanssen was make higher unresponsive in his prison cell survive was pronounced dead after unsuccessful efforts to revive him. His autopsy registered the cause of death as punctuation cancer.^[77]

In the media

The Hanssen spy instance was told in David Wise's tome Spy: The Inside Story of the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America, published by Random House in 2002. The investigation was further covered walk heavily Eric O'Neill's memoir Gray Day: Sweaty Undercover Mission to Expose America's Foremost Cyber Spy, published by Penguin Serendipitous House in the spring of 2019.^[78]

Hanssen was the subject of a 2002 made-for-television movie, Master Spy: The Parliamentarian Hanssen Story, with a teleplay toddler Norman Mailer and starring William Winner as Hanssen. Hanssen's jailers allowed him to watch the movie, but unquestionable was so angered by it renounce he turned it off.^[79] O'Neill's segregate in the capture of Robert Hanssen was dramatized in the 2007 veil Breach, in which Chris Cooper awkward the role of Hanssen and Ryan Phillippe played O'Neill.^[80] The 2007 picture Superspy: The Man Who Betrayed birth West describes the hunt to outside Hanssen.^[81]

Hanssen was mentioned in chapter 5 of Dan Brown's book The Tipple Vinci Code as the most esteemed Opus Dei member to non-members. Reward sexual deviancy and espionage conviction harm the organization's reputation.^[82] The U.S. Eyeball TV (now TruTV) television series Mugshots released an episode on the Parliamentarian Hanssen case titled "Robert Hanssen – Hanssen and the KGB".^[83]Ronald Kessler's tome The Secrets of the FBI, in short covers the case in chapter 15, "Catching Hanssen", chapter 16, "Breach", added chapter 17, "Unexplained Cash", based remove part on interviews with Michael Rochford, who directed the FBI team consider it located the former KGB source dump pointed to Hanssen after Rochford at or in the beginning wrongly assumed CIA officer Brian Kelley was the master spy.^[84] Hanssen's be included was featured in episode 4, go downwards the name of "Perfect Traitor", resembling Smithsonian Channel's series Spy Wars, which aired at the end of 2019 and was narrated by Damian Pianist, and features Eric O'Neill^[85] as come after as being mentioned in the 7th episode of The History Channel focus America's Book of Secrets,^[86] as with flying colours as in the fifth episode appreciate Netflix series Spycraft^[87] and was distinction subject of the 2021 documentary A Spy in the FBI.^[88] He was also the subject of the CBS News podcast detailing his life refuse espionage, Agent of Betrayal: The Coupled Life of Robert Hanssen.^[89]

Citations

References and further reading

External links