robert hanssen children

"I have opened the door for calumny against my totally innocent wife and children. They paid $7 million to KGB agent Alexandr Shcherbakov[43] who had access to a file on "B". 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. He then enrolled at the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, to study dentistry but after three years shifted to business studies. 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. 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. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much [38], The existence of two Russian moles working in the U.S. security and intelligence establishment simultaneouslyAmes at the CIA and Hanssen at the FBIcomplicated counterintelligence efforts during the 1990s. Hanssen restarted communications the next year and continued until his arrest. At present he is serving his fifteen successive life terms as prisoner #48551-083 at a federal supermax prison, the ADX Florence. His book written about this experience, Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose America's First Cyber Spy, was published in spring 2019. May 10 Robert Hanssen, FBI agent turned Russian spy, is sentenced to life in prison On May 10, 2002, Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent who intermittently sold state secrets to Russia over. In school, he was bullied for his acne, girls would not talk to him, and he also developed a stutter. In 1985 he approached the Soviets again and offered valuable secrets. Nor can there be any doubt that he was keenly aware of the gravity of his traitorous actions. Ames was arrested in 1994. He once said in a letter to the KGB that it should emulate the management style of Mayor of Chicago Richard J. Daleya comment that easily could have led an investigator to look at people from Chicago. 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. Although Hanssen was unaware of it, Ames had already exposed all three agents earlier that year. Leland Hale and Walter Gilmour co-authored the 1991 book "Butcher, Baker: The True Account of an Alaskan Serial Killer," chronicling the life and crimes of Robert Hansen. Robert was born in 1939 in Iowa to Danish immigrants Christian and Edna Hansen. Yuzhin was imprisoned for six years before he was released by a general amnesty to political prisoners, and subsequently emigrated to the U.S..[24] Because the FBI blamed Ames for the leak, Hanssen was neither suspected nor investigated. 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.) [45] FBI analyst Bob King remembered Hanssen using that same quote. At least three Russian agents he identified had been executed, and it was suspected that he compromised dozens of intelligence operations. He will report directly to the Attorney General and me and we will share his report with the National Security Council and Congress. Authorities say Hanssen was driven by greed, but Brookner rejected that assertion. Robert J. McNamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist. 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. Christian owned a bakery and would make his son work for long hours as a kid. [69], Hanssen frequently visited D.C. strip clubs and spent a great deal of time with a Washington stripper named Priscilla Sue Galey. 2000 - The FBI identifies Hanssen from a fingerprint and from a tape recording supplied by a disgruntled Russian intelligence operative. Hansen would frequent the strip clubs in the area. Our hearts go out to them. He managed to avoid a death penalty by negotiating a plea deal where he agreed to cooperate with government agents. [49][50][51], During his final days with the FBI, Hanssen began to suspect something was wrong. 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. [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. 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. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. 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. House Belonging To Former Spy Robert Hanssen Won't Sell. He continued with his counter-intelligence work after being shifted to the New York field office in 1985. He was paid handsomely by the Soviets. But Thursday, Bonnie Hanssen issued a statement through her attorney revealing the torment that the case has caused. Hanssen reportedly lavished cash and gifts on a Washington stripper whom he befriended. He often steered conversations to talk of religion and his very conservative values, which were aligned with the very conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. In 1993, he took a daring step by personally approaching a GRU official to offer his espionage, mentioning his codename Ramon Garcia, but the official turned him away. 1981 - Hanssens wife catches him with classified documents and convinces him to stop spying. 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. [23] Martynov and Motorin were recalled to Moscow, where they were arrested, charged, tried, and convicted of espionage against the Soviet government. Hanssen later joined the Catholic organization Opus Dei[13] with like-minded individuals. [4][42], FBI investigators later made progress during an operation where they paid disaffected Russian intelligence officers to deliver information on moles. Robert Philip Hanssen (born April 18, 1944) is an American former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) double agent who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States from 1979 to 2001. [4][31], When the USSR disbanded in December 1991, Hanssen, possibly worried that he could be exposed during the ensuing political upheaval, ended communications with his handlers for a time. [12] Hanssen received an MBA in accounting and information systems in 1971 and took a job with an accounting firm. [66] Opus Dei member C. John McCloskey said he also occasionally attended the daily noontime Mass at the Catholic Information Center in downtown Washington. The one thing the father and son would eventually have in common is their interest in hunting. The agencies initially focused primarilyand incorrectlyon a veteran CIA case officer, who was investigated for nearly two years. He passed on data related to surveillance activities of FBI and provided the GRU with data of suspected Soviet intelligence spies. February 18, 2001 - Is arrested in a Virginia park after making a drop of classified documents. [77] David Wise wrote Spy: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America. The fact that the KGB became aware of the probe triggered the FBI to look for the leak. The Hanssens were associated with the Catholic fraternal order Opus Dei. 2023 Cable News Network. Their actions represent counterintelligence at its very best and under the most difficult and sensitive of circumstances. Investigators learned that Hanssen was set to make a dead drop on February 18, 2001. Robert was described as a loner and a quiet person, and he had a strained relationship as well with his strict and dominating father. The money Hansen generated from his bakery went elsewhere. 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.. He compromised information about Americas plan of forming Measurement and Signature Intelligence, its bugging plan over the Soviets by digging a tunnel under the decoding room of the Soviets new embassy and data on double agents of the US. Mislock has since theorized that Hanssen probably went onto his computer to see if his superiors were investigating him for espionage and invented the document story to cover his tracks. It would seem as though Hansen's children want their privacy respected, and who could blame them? Its difficult, but its better than seeing him put to death.. In 1979, three years after joining the FBI, Hanssen approached the Soviet Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) to offer his services, beginning his first espionage cycle, lasting until 1981. January 12, 1976 - Joins the FBI as a special agent. He emerged as one of the most damaging spies to have infiltrated the FBI resulting in probably the worst intelligence disaster in the history of the US. After one teenage victim was able to escape, authorities were able to learn her abductor's identity. 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. Nor would many other intelligence and counterintelligence accomplishments that routinely but quietly contribute to the security of this Nation. We believe it was exceptionally grave. McNamara, Robert. 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. 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. [58] Going by the alias "Ramon" or "Ramon Garcia",[59] Hanssen exchanged intelligence and payments through an old-fashioned dead drop system in which he and his KGB handlers left packages in public, unobtrusive places. By February 2001, about 300 personnel were working the investigation and monitoring Hanssen. The first marriage lasted only for six months; his wife divorced him while he was serving a 3-year sentence for arson in Iowa. The agents working for him reported this breach to a supervisor, but no action was taken. After a few years working as an accountant, he decided to enter law enforcement. 1980 - Begins working for the counterintelligence unit, focusing on the Soviet Union. Hanssen applied for a cryptographer job in the National Security Agency but was rebuffed due to budget setbacks. Aside from a few brushes with the law, Hansen led a fairly ordinary life. She left her children, Ivanka, Donald Jr., and Eric well taken care of, but she didn't leave . By. The complaint alleges that he received over $600,000. He was Amazon.com's first-ever history editor and has bylines in New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets. [41] The idea that an FBI agent was the second mole was not considered early enough. However, two cases- the Bloch investigation and the embassy tunnel- remained unsolved. His espionage of more than two decades had earned him cash of over 1.4 million USD and diamonds. The FBI's codename for the suspected spy was "Graysuit". "Butcher, Baker" was adapted into the 2013 film "The Frozen Ground," starring Nicholas Cage, John Cusack, and Vanessa Hudgens (per IMDb). The couple married in 1968, and Hanssen converted from Lutheranism to his wife's Catholicism. Polyakov was arrested in 1986 and executed in 1988. His bride left him after six months when Hansen was put in prison for setting fire to the local school district's bus barns. Through our cooperative efforts, the FBI and CIA were able to learn the true identity of Ramon and the FBI was able to conduct a solid investigation. Hanssen then began to videotape his sexual encounters secretly and shared the videotapes with Hoschouer. As Hanssen grew up, his father was reportedly verbally abusive to him, often ranting that he would never succeed in life. [14] The next year, Hanssen was transferred to counterintelligence and given the task of compiling a database of Soviet intelligence for the FBI. 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. [75], The American Court TV (now TruTV) television series Mugshots released an episode on the Robert Hanssen case titled "Robert Hanssen Hanssen and the KGB".[76]. Hanssen ensured that he did not reveal himself with his study, but in addition, he gave the entire studyincluding the list of all Soviets who had contacted the FBI about FBI molesto the KGB in 1988. [4], In 1989, Hanssen compromised the FBI investigation of Felix Bloch, a Department of State official who had become suspected of espionage. At least two movies have been made about Hanssen. When told that he would have to take a lie detector test to join, Hanssen changed his mind. He never indicated any political or ideological motive for his actions, telling the FBI after he was caught that his only motivation was financial. [70] Hanssen gave her money, jewels, and a used Mercedes-Benz but ended contact with her before his arrest when she began abusing drugs and doing sex work. Hanssen was recalled yet again to Washington, D.C., in 1987. Hanssen was arrested on February 18, 2001, at Foxstone Park,[5] near his home in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Vienna, Virginia, after leaving a package of classified materials at a dead drop site. "[3] Hanssen is currently serving 15 consecutive life sentences without parole at ADX Florence, a federal supermax prison near Florence, Colorado. 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. 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. 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. The investigation of Hanssen was conducted by the FBI in partnership with the CIA, the Department of State, and, of course, the Justice Department. The FBI planned to use it for eavesdropping but never did for fear of being caught. 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. His twenty two years of espionage against the US began in 1979. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Hanssen became much more wary. In mid-2001 he was tried in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on fifteen counts as a spy and was given sentence of fifteen life terms without a chance of parole. Friends of Hanssen later came forward and told journalists that Hanssen had exhibited eccentric behavior, which included an obsession with pornography. His assistant, Eric ONeill, was tasked with keeping investigators apprised of Hanssens movements. Christian owned a bakery and would make his son work for long hours as a kid. During the early 1990s, KGB veterans began to approach western intelligence agencies and provide information. , . "Robert Hanssen, FBI Agent Who Became a Soviet Mole." All Rights Reserved. (Serial Killer) Robert Christian Hansen was a convicted serial killer from America who abducted, raped, and murdered at least 17 women in and around Anchorage, Alaska, in the 1970s and early 1980s. The complaint, however, does not allege any compromises by him at the State Department. 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. Though the government alleges that Robert Hanssen, 56,. Hanssen parked on a residential street and walked down a wooded path to a footbridge with the classified materials wrapped in a plastic bag. 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, Im afraid for her life: Riverside CC womens coach harassed after Title IX suit, Six people, including mother and baby, killed in Tulare County; drug cartel suspected, Want to solve climate change? Undated file photo released by the FBI February 20, 2001 shows a package recovered at the 'Lewis' drop site containing $50,000 cash allegedly left by Russians for FBI Agent Robert Philip Hanssen. This California farm kingdom holds a key, These are the 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles, New Bay Area maps show hidden flood risk from sea level rise and groundwater. He began providing the Soviets with highly valuable material. Hanssen refused. The pension was an important consideration for Hanssen in his plea negotiations, Brookner said. Hanssen took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same, but he decided to violate that oath. Updated The October 1 letter began a long, active espionage period for Hanssen. 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. [44] FBI agent Michael Waguespack thought the voice was familiar, but could not remember who it was. 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. To closely oversee his activities, the FBI relocated him in its headquarters in January 2001. Director Tenet and I have briefed the intelligence committees of Congress because of the clear national security implications. December 2000 - The FBI begins surveillance of Hanssen. We particularly appreciate the unhesitating leadership and support of Attorney General Ashcroft from the moment he took office. As the FBI was in the lookout for a turncoat for long, they first suspected a CIA officer but later zeroed in on Hanssen, probably due to a leak from a Russian defector. 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. [68] He also explicitly described the sexual details of his marriage on Internet chat rooms, giving information sufficient for those who knew them to recognize the couple. In short, the trusted insider betrayed his trust without detection. He was delegated to probe police officers who were suspected of corruption. While their exact whereabouts are unknown to the public, it's suspected that they still live in the Midwest. A reader replied to the blog, claiming to have been roommates with Hansen's daughter in the early 1990s, but this has yet to be substantiated. [20] In 1985, Hanssen was again transferred to the FBI's field office in New York, where he continued to work in counterintelligence against the Soviets. Hanssen's story is the subject of the 2021 documentary A Spy in the FBI. I take solace and satisfaction, however, that the FBI succeeded in this investigation. A few years later, they moved to Anchorage, Alaska, and had two children. Sunday night the FBI arrested Robert Philip Hanssen who has been charged with committing espionage. Hanssen disclosed this information to the Soviets in September 1989 and received a $55,000 payment the next month, equivalent to $120,232 in 2021. She and her young children could remain in their home, or they could seek refuge elsewhere. In 1995 he was designated as a liaison between the Office of Foreign Missions of the Department of State and the FBI. He visited an office of the Russian government's trading company and offered to spy. [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. The investigation was not fruitful and the FBI was unable to charge Bloch on any account. She told Sergeant Flothe (the man who played a pivotal role in Hansens capture) that their income streams were separate and that Hansen would spend the money from the bakery on his own needs. The plea bargain allows Bonnie Hanssen to receive about 55% of Hanssens pension, which will total an estimated $39,000 per year. Both Ames and Hanssen compromised the names of KGB agents working secretly for the U.S., some of whom were executed for their betrayal. 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. The criminal conduct alleged represents the most traitorous actions imaginable against a country governed by the Rule of Law. May 31, 2001 - Pleads not guilty to all charges. Yet Brookner said Bonnie Hanssen has no intention of divorcing her husband. This is particularly timely as we move to the next generation of automation to support the FBIs information infrastructure. One notable example was the information that the Americans had dug a tunnel under the Russian embassy in Washington to install sophisticated listening devices. Hanssen's section evaluated Soviet agents who volunteered to give intelligence to determine whether they were genuine or re-doubled agents. Interestingly, Hansen got married twice. He was arrested while in the process of using a dead drop to clandestinely provide numerous classified documents to his Russian handler. Hanssen claimed he was trying to connect a color printer to his computer but needed the password cracker to bypass the administrative password. He worked as an Investigative Specialist with the Special Surveillance Group and played a major role in the arrest, conviction, and imprisonment of FBI agent Robert Hanssen for spying on behalf of the Soviet Union and Russia. 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. Therefore, after he was given a 461-year sentence for his crimes, she chose to divorce him. These reports went nowhere, however (via the New York Daily News). Intelligence officials began debriefing Hanssen this week, defense attorney Preston Burton said Thursday. Desk: FBI and CIA Counterintelligence As Seen From My Cubicle Dog Ear Publishing 2010, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose America's First Cyber Spy, Spy: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America, "USA v. Robert Philip Hanssen: Affidavit in Support of Criminal Complaint, Arrest Warrant and Search Warrant", "Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator", "A Review of FBI Security Programs (Webster Report)", "A Review of the FBI's Performance in Deterring, Detecting, and Investigating the Espionage Activities of Robert Philip Hanssen", Thompson Statement Regarding Hanssen Guilty Plea, "Spy's Wife Speaks, After Taking a Lie Test", "Riddle Resolved: Who Dimed Out American Traitor and Super-Spy, Robert Hanssen? Both schools are associated with Opus Dei. Agents find a bag nearby containing $50,000 that they believe is Hanssens payment for the documents. [27][28] When the Soviets began construction on a new embassy during 1977, the FBI dug a tunnel beneath their decoding room. [5] His mother was Edna Margret Petersen. [54], With the representation of Washington lawyer Plato Cacheris, Hanssen negotiated a plea bargain that enabled him to avoid the death penalty in exchange for cooperating with authorities. A Warner Bros. 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. In his office, Hanssen had full access to the FBIs Automated Case Support (ACS) system and the State Departments computer systems. News reports at the time of his sentencing said American intelligence agencies were not entirely satisfied with the extent of his cooperation and believed he was holding back information. Special Agent Don Sullivan, a squad supervisor at the FBIs Washington Field Office at the time, volunteered to replace Hanssen. Hanssen was set to retire, so investigators had to move fast. At present he is serving his fifteen successive life terms at a federal supermax prison, the ADX Florence. In early February 2001, he asked his friend at a computer technology company for a job. Imagine finding out that your husband is a ruthless serial rapist and murderer. In 1971 he earned his Master in Business Administration in accounting and information systems. I dont think there was anybody more shocked by all this, Brookner said. During his second round of dealing with Russian agents, Hanssen was much more cautious. 1981 - Is assigned to the Intelligence Division at FBI headquarters in DC. His most important leak was the betrayal of Dmitri Polyakov, a CIA informant who passed enormous amounts of information to U.S. intelligence while rising to the rank of general in the Soviet Army.
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