robert hanssen childrenrobert hanssen children

He began providing the Soviets with highly valuable material. 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. O'Neill ascertained that Hanssen was using a Palm III PDA to store his information. Hanssen's children returned to school within days of his arrest, family and friends said, to maintain their routines. He was Amazon.com's first-ever history editor and has bylines in New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets. 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.. 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.

He had been married twice, and fathered children. Robert J. McNamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist. in Chemistry, 1966; Attended Northwestern University Dental School, 1966-1968;. The damage Hanssen did was considerable. 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. Hanssen was finally discovered when a former KGB agent contacted American intelligence agents.

He was tasked with studying all known and rumored penetrations of the FBI to find the man who had betrayed Martynov and Motorin; this meant, in effect, that he was charged with searching for himself. He continued to perform incriminating searches of FBI files for his name and address. 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.

By 1998, using FBI criminal profiling techniques, the pursuers suspected an innocent man: Brian Kelley, a CIA operative involved in the Bloch investigation. The couple went on to have two children. Hanssen also revealed a multimillion-dollar eavesdropping tunnel built by the FBI under the Soviet Embassy. In fact, when his father passed away, Hansen inherited 17 guns from him as well. Instead, the 57-year-old defendant will be sentenced to life in prison without parole if he honors his pledge to tell the government all the secrets behind his two-decade career as a Russian spy. His exposure explained many of the asset losses U.S. intelligence suffered during the 1980s, including the arrest and execution of Martynov and Motorin. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. [34], In 1994, Hanssen expressed interest in a transfer to the new National Counterintelligence Center, which coordinated counterintelligence activities. He is a public speaker and security When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Hanssen became much more wary. 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. 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. His bride left him after six months when Hansen was put in prison for setting fire to the local school district's bus barns. 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. The investigation is covered in O'Neill's memoir Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose America's First Cyber Spy, published by Penguin Random House in the spring of 2019. 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.

[62] Hanssen took the risk of recommending to his handlers that they try to recruit his closest friend, a colonel in the United States Army.

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.) , . He was the single most devastating mole in US history, and compromised more CIA assets than anyone in history, until Robert Hanssen that is. At one point Hanssen spoke to a Russian agent over a pay phone, but they generally relied on placing signals in public places. He then followed his usual routine, taking a package consisting of a sealed garbage bag of classified material and taping it to the bottom side of a wooden footbridge over a creek.

Heres a look at the life of convicted spy Robert Hanssen. 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. [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. I take solace and satisfaction, however, that the FBI succeeded in this investigation. [21][29] On two occasions, Hanssen gave the Soviets a complete list of American double agents. Hanssen became alarmed that a Russian with knowledge of his activities would tip off the Americans that a highly placed mole was operating within the FBI and the resultant investigation would lead to him. He was arrested while in the process of using a dead drop to clandestinely provide numerous classified documents to his Russian handler. May 9, 2002 4:00am. When Robert Hansen was arrested in 1983, it would soon be revealed that this mild-mannered Alaskan baker was responsible for the deaths of as many as 17 young women in the Last Frontier. In what is now considered the largest intelligence breach in FBI history, Robert Hanssen's scandal made him millions in diamonds and cash, but cost the FBI $7 million and the lives of three informants. He often steered conversations to talk of religion and his very conservative values, which were aligned with the very conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. He also paid visits to various sex workers, two of whom filed complaints to the police about Hansen and his strange and terrifying behaviors.

Because of his sexual deviancy and espionage conviction, the organization's reputation was badly hurt. In May 2002, Hanssen was sentenced to life in prison. Polyakov was arrested in 1986 and executed in 1988. 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. [69], Hanssen frequently visited D.C. strip clubs and spent a great deal of time with a Washington stripper named Priscilla Sue Galey. The one thing the father and son would eventually have in common is their interest in hunting.

. Robert Hanssen's business cards, chalk and thumb tacks, which he used to communicate with his Russian contacts, according to the FBI. After the transfer, while on a business visit back to Washington, D.C., he resumed his espionage career. He was sentenced to life in prison.

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. Director Tenet and I have briefed the intelligence committees of Congress because of the clear national security implications. "I apologize for my behavior. Hanssen met Bernadette "Bonnie" Wauck, a staunch Roman Catholic, while attending dental school at Northwestern. The October 1 letter began a long, active espionage period for Hanssen. Still, he was not identified as a spy. The Soviets, suspicious of being lured into a trap, demanded to meet him. Our hearts go out to them. 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. "[3] Hanssen is currently serving 15 consecutive life sentences without parole at ADX Florence, a federal supermax prison near Florence, Colorado. Hanssen is a Special Agent of the FBI with a long career in counterintelligence. In 1978, Hanssen was transferred to the FBI office in New York City and was assigned to a counterintelligence post. All his six children went to schools linked with Opus Dei. Robert was described as a loner and a quiet person, and he had a strained relationship as well with his strict and dominating father. He began providing the Soviets with highly valuable material. However, even though Hansen would go to church with his wife, nothing really changed. Hanssen is mentioned in the seventh episode of The History Channel series America's Book of Secrets, as well as in the fifth episode of Netflix series Spycraft. Hanssen restarted communications the next year and continued until his arrest. 1981 - Is assigned to the Intelligence Division at FBI headquarters in DC. Regrettably, I stand here today both saddened and outraged. However, two cases- the Bloch investigation and the embassy tunnel- remained unsolved. Hansen and Darla set down roots. Realizing the importance of the material, the United States paid $7 million for it. [4] He was spying at the same time as Aldrich Ames in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). 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. ThoughtCo. Robert Hansen was a reputed baker and a married man with two children living in Anchorage, Alaska. As Hanssen walked back to his car, the arrest team rushed up and took him into custody. Hansen opened a bakery and learned how to fly the small plane that he purchased. Hanssen then began to videotape his sexual encounters secretly and shared the videotapes with Hoschouer. 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. His father served on the police force in Chicago and was serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II when Hanssen was born. One notable example was the information that the Americans had dug a tunnel under the Russian embassy in Washington to install sophisticated listening devices. 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. The FBI believed his story, and Hanssen was merely given a warning. On May 10, 2002, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He was indiscreet enough to type his name into FBI search engines. He married his second wife, Darla Henrichsen, within a few months of being released, in 1963. [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. February 18, 2001 - Is arrested in a Virginia park after making a drop of classified documents. She would use her money to run the household and support the couple's children, while Hansen would spend the money he made at the bakery on "his own needs," according to what she would later tell Sergeant Flothe, who played a pivotal role in his capture. Robert Phillip Hanssen was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 18, 1944. I dont think there was anybody more shocked by all this, Brookner said. It would seem as though Hansen's children want their privacy respected, and who could blame them? FBI agents remove evidence from Robert Hanssen's home in Vienna, Virginia on February 20, 2001. . The complaint alleges that Hanssen, using the code name Ramon, engaged in espionage by providing highly classified information to the KGB and its successor agency, the SVR, using encrypted communications, dead drops, and other clandestine techniques. Ames was officially blamed for giving Polyakov's name to the Soviets, while Hanssen's attempt was not revealed until after his 2001 capture. That could leave Bonnie Hanssen, who works part time at the Catholic girls' school that her youngest child attends, in dire straits.

In one letter to his Russian handlers, Hanssen complains about lost opportunities to alert them that the FBI had discovered the microphone hidden at the State Department, known then by the FBI but apparently not by Hanssen as being monitored by a Russian intelligence officer. [41] The idea that an FBI agent was the second mole was not considered early enough. For more information:- Press Release - Veteran FBI Agent Arrested and Charged with Espionage- Affidavit- Statement ofFBI Director Louis J. Freeh on the Arrestof FBI Special Agent Robert Philip Hanssen (see below), Statement of FBI Director Louis J. Freeh On the Arrestof FBI Special Agent Robert Philip Hanssen, For Immediate ReleaseFebruary 20, 2001Washington D.C.FBI National Press Office. [65], A priest at Oakcrest said Hanssen had regularly attended a 6:30a.m. daily Mass for over a decade. [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. When these two KGB officials returned to Moscow, they were tried and convicted on espionage charges and executed. Judge Webster and anyone he selects to assist him will have complete access and whatever resources are necessary to complete this task.

In January 1976, he left the police department to join the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).[4]. Later he would convert to Catholicism from Lutheranism. 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. A digital investigation found that an attempted hacking had occurred using a password cracking program installed by Hanssen, which caused a security alert and lockup. Ames had been stationed in Rome at the time of the Bloch investigation and could not have known about that case or the tunnel under the embassy, as he did not work for the FBI.[39][40]. 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.. The Hanssens are active members of Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic group. The ensuing investigation confirmed this suspicion. 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 placed a white piece of tape on a park sign, which was a signal to his Russian contacts that there was information at the dead drop site. Christian owned a bakery and would make his son work for long hours as a kid. Hanssen received payments of $1.4 million in cash and diamonds from the information he gave the Soviet Union and Russia. Hanssen was set to retire, so investigators had to move fast. [33], Hanssen continued to take risks in 1993 when he hacked into the computer of a fellow FBI agent, Ray Mislock, printed out a classified document from Mislock's computer and took the document to Mislock, saying, "You didn't believe me that the system was insecure." After executing a search warrant, authorities found items in Hansen's home that belonged to other missing women from the area. Both Ames and Hanssen compromised the names of KGB agents working secretly for the U.S., some of whom were executed for their betrayal. Ames was arrested in 1994. We dont know at this point what happened to that money, she said. 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. Although Robert Hanssen forfeited all the money he received from Moscow, his wife and six children get to keep their Vienna, Va., home and three cars, under the plea agreement. The FBI's codename for the suspected spy was "Graysuit". [5] His mother was Edna Margret Petersen. Hanssen wanted to be posted to Allenwood in hopes that he might be visited frequently by his wife Bonnie and their six children. The fact that the KGB became aware of the probe triggered the FBI to look for the leak. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. He never indicated any political or ideological motive for his actions, telling the FBI after he was caught that his only motivation was financial. He enrolled in dental school at Northwestern University[11] but switched his focus to business after three years.

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.

Hansen was convicted of just four of the murders in a deal that spared him .