Furthermore, she supported her husband when he was first incarcerated for theft, and then for abducting and sexually abusing a housewife and a prostitute (although the rape charge concerning the latter was dropped when he pleaded guilty.) In return, he received large sums of money and other remuneration. Updated Fourth, there is the case of Robert Philip Hanssen, a top-level FBI agent responsible for counterintelligence in the US, who spied for the Russians from 1979 until his arrest in February 2001. I live in Dallas, TX and growing up I was always the kid with "her nose in a book". May 31, 2001 - Pleads not guilty to all charges. [Your wifes genetic code] demands she stay home and nurture the children. 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. As an agency, we lived up to our responsibility, regardless of how painful it might be. 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. 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. We dont know at this point what happened to that money, she said. Long-lost ship found at the bottom of Lake Huron, confirming story of tragic collision, TikTok to set default daily time limit of up to 60 minutes for minors, The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles, Shocking, impossible gas bills push restaurants to the brink of closures, TikTok faces bans in a number of countries over security fears. He became an agent in 1976, and spent two years working in the Indianapolis, Indiana, field office. This story has been shared 106,031 times. 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. By the time Hanssen and ONeill returned to the office, things seemed normal. Senior FBI officials described him as . ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Apologizing before a U.S. federal judge, former FBI agent Robert Hanssen was sentenced Friday to . Twenty years ago today, Hanssen was arrested on February 18, 2001 when he was . When these two KGB officials returned to Moscow, they were tried and convicted on espionage charges and executed. Should I get him to confess?. Without the current unprecedented level of trust and cooperation between the CIA and FBI, making this case would not have been possible. Among the files was a letter from Hanssen to the Russians arranging to meet. He has never answered that question for anyone. 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. Is sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. agent who confessed to selling secrets to Moscow, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole today by a . Why are we still having these debates? (They took Hanssens Ford and the plan to search his car was dropped for the time being.). 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. But money is. Suit David Huband Photographer Catherine Burdon Agent Nece Here was ONeills opportunity to push Hanssen to his limits. He will report directly to the Attorney General and me and we will share his report with the National Security Council and Congress. Pressed to explain what he was doing, she said, he acknowledged that he was dealing with the Russians. Follow. Christian owned a bakery and would make his son work for long hours as a kid. Days later, ONeill helped devise another plan to get Hanssen out of the office: Two senior officers dropped in unexpectedly and said they wanted to go to the shooting practice range with Hanssen during lunch. Therefore, after he was given a 461-year sentence for his crimes, she chose to divorce him. ONeill now feared he may have pushed Hanssen over the line from suspicion to paranoia. So he leaned back, forcing Hanssen off balance a bit, and apologized for his outburst claiming he just wanted to make sure they roll into the DIA in style, in that big black FBI SUV., This seemed to pacify his boss. 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. February 18 marks the 20th anniversary of the arrest of Robert Hanssen, one of the most damaging spies in U.S. history. While this arrest represents a counterintelligence investigative success, the complaint alleges that Hanssen located and removed undetected from the FBI substantial quantities of information that he was able to access as a result of his assignments. Hanssen was arrested on February 18, 2001, at Foxstone Park near his home in Vienna, Virginia, charged with selling American secrets to Russia for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds over a 22-year period. 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. 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. One reason for her frustration may be that some government officials were apparently not convinced of her story. His job was to help assemble a database of foreign officials posted in New York who, while posing as diplomats, were actually intelligence officers spying on the United States. 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. Annoyed at ONeills seeming incompetence, Hanssen lashed out, calling him an imbecile and a moron. Finally, he said, Well take my car, and thats final.. After Bonnie Hanssen confronted her husband, he told her that he had been in contact with his Soviet intelligence counterparts only as a ploy to trick them with disinformation, the attorney said. 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. appreciated. 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. 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. Caught off guard, he grabbed his guns but not his PalmPilot. But something went wrong and when the two men showed up in the parking garage, the FBI car wasnt there. 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.. Did you see it?. 2000 - The FBI identifies Hanssen from a fingerprint and from a tape recording supplied by a disgruntled Russian intelligence operative. In 1985 he approached the Soviets again and offered valuable secrets. Alleman tasked him with purloining Hanssens PalmPilot. FBI leadership decided Hanssen needed to be removed from his temporary position and brought back to FBI Headquarters. Spy's Wife Speaks, After Taking a Lie Test, https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/16/us/spy-s-wife-speaks-after-taking-a-lie-test.html. Many of them were agents of the Soviet intelligence agency, the KGB, or its military counterpart, the GRU. Read more Print length 352 pages Today hes a national-security strategist for the cyber-security company Carbon Black and runs his own investigative and security-services firm. Yet Brookner said Bonnie Hanssen has no intention of divorcing her husband. He pleaded guilty to 13 counts of espionage plus two related counts and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. He wanted to interview Hanssen for the book but was refused. 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. Hanssen received payments of $1.4 million in cash and diamonds from the information he gave the Soviet Union and Russia. She said she repeatedly questioned her husband to ensure that he was making the payments, and each time he insisted that he was. The pension was an important consideration for Hanssen in his plea negotiations, Brookner said. He pleaded guilty to 15 counts of espionage in July 2001 and was sentenced to prison without the possibility of parole. In one deadly instance in 1985, the FBI believed Hanssen exposed three KGB agents working for the Americans. They bought a modest, three-bedroom home in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., north of New York City. The FBI also obtains the complete original KGB dossier on Hanssen. 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. Written by on 27 febrero, 2023. During his second round of dealing with Russian agents, Hanssen was much more cautious. While not identifying himself, he was able to gain their trust by initially providing information which the Soviets found both credible and valuable. After working in the FBI division that developed secret listening devices, Hanssen was again placed in a position to track Russian agents operating in the United States. I dont think there was anybody more shocked by all this, Brookner said. 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. Expert interviews recount Hanssen's life, how he stayed hidden for over 20 years, and the events leading to his arrest. ThoughtCo. Asked what Bonnie Hanssen thinks may have motivated her husband, Brookner said: Who knows? 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. 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 one thing the father and son would eventually have in common is their interest in hunting. 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. ''He never said he was spying. 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. Under Mr. Hanssen's plea bargain, she. One might propose that I am either insanely brave or quite insane. Hanssen, a 56-year-old counterintelligence specialist, was in the process of giving information to his Russian contacts in exchange for $50,000 in cash, FBI Director Louis Freeh said today. Special Agent Don Sullivan, a squad supervisor at the FBIs Washington Field Office at the time, volunteered to replace Hanssen. COVID origins? Hansen even followed in his fathers footsteps and opened up his own bakery. The complaint alleges that Hanssen conspired to and did commit espionage for Russia and the former Soviet Union. "I have opened the door for calumny against my totally innocent wife and children. 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. (AP Photo/Doug Mills) In all, by the time he was arrested in February 2001, Hanssen collected an estimated $1.4 million for giving lists of American undercover agents abroad, the identities of Russian double agents, documents showing the U.S. was intercepting Soviet satellite transmission and the methods by which the U.S . 's investigation of Mr. Hanssen, the former F.B.I. A feature film called "Breach" was released in 2007. Just then the door buzzed, indicating Hanssens return. 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. He pled. The couple, however, did not have a great relationship. . Still, he was not identified as a spy. A TV movie called Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story was released in 2002. 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. robert hanssen 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. 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. They have committed their lives to public service and to upholding the high standards of the FBI. Stahl reports that Hanssen invited his best friend to watch him. officer based in Washington. Since he held key counterintelligence positions, he had authorized access to classified information. Hanssen, 56, was an FBI agent for 25 . Chicago Tribune July 4, 2001. '', ''I have very supportive friends, who have been tremendous,'' Mrs. Hanssen said. In the face of worldwide publicity about one of the most damaging espionage breaches in U.S. history, Bonnie Hanssen, 54, has maintained a steadfast silence since her husband of nearly 30 years was arrested in February near their home in suburban Washington. The investigation of Hanssen was conducted by the FBI in partnership with the CIA, the Department of State, and, of course, the Justice Department. A bakery owner by trade, Hansen was also an avid outdoorsman and. 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. He betrayed his best friend, offering him up to the KGB. 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. However, even though Hansen would go to church with his wife, nothing really changed. He visited an office of the Russian government's trading company and offered to spy. She said she told the bureau the same thing immediately after her husband's arrest last year. I raised my chin and met his eyes, puffed out my chest and stood with my feet shoulder-width apart. Before getting caught in 2001 and sentenced to life in prison, he sold thousands of pages of sensitive material to the Soviet Union and ruined massive U.S. intelligence plans. FBI agents outside Robert Hanssen's home in Virginia, Feb. 20, 2001. So ONeill was torn when he got his next assignment: Wed like you to make [Hanssen] angry, Alleman said, hoping the suspected operatives reaction would deepen the psychological profile of him. Investigators learned that Hanssen was set to make a dead drop on February 18, 2001. 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. Most of all, he betrayed himself. Our hearts go out to them. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. I have hurt so many deeply." Hanssen, who began working with Soviet military intelligence in 1979, was. Children: Lisa, Greg, Mark, John "Jack," Sue and Jane. The Robert Hanssen Story" was released in 2002. . The agencies initially focused primarilyand incorrectlyon a veteran CIA case officer, who was investigated for nearly two years. A few years later, they moved to Anchorage, Alaska, and had two children. 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. Clearly she doesnt approve of what hes done, and there was a whole part of this man she doesnt know, but I think with her deep religious convictions, he will, at least in mind and in spirit, continue to be her husband and the father of her children., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Caregiver accused in Manhattan Beach child sexual abuse case believed to be in Philippines, Prosecution presents closing arguments in Alex Murdaugh murder trial, Intel agencies say theres no sign adversaries were behind Havana syndrome, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Dramatic before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, Yet more rain expected to hit California in March. While other spies were still chasing after paper files, Hanssen had entered the digital world. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. 1981 - Hanssens wife catches him with classified documents and convinces him to stop spying. On this day in history (February 18), one of the most famous and damaging insiders within the FBI, Robert Philip Hanssen was arrested. Intelligence officials began debriefing Hanssen this week, defense attorney Preston Burton said Thursday. Hanssen was set to retire, so investigators had to move fast. January 30, 2003 / 4:50 PM / CBS. As it turned out, Hanssen had just been spotted by agents driving at a snails pace past the sign for Foxstone Park in Vienna, Va. ONeill rushed everything he found to Alleman, who had all of it copied, and then quickly returned the contents to Hanssens bag. The purloined PalmPilot gave the FBI the final piece of the puzzle: Hanssens next meeting with the Russians was scheduled for the following weekend. 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