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 warned the KGB that Bloch was being investigated, causing the KGB to end contact with him abruptly. Sullivan noted that Hanssen spent a lot of time trolling ACS for information. His Russian contacts and Hanssen were highly trained in espionage techniques and were able to work together without ever meeting. 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. in Chemistry, 1966; Attended Northwestern University Dental School, 1966-1968;. In 1991, he discontinued selling classified information to KGB after the collapse of Soviet Union and also probably because the FBI was on the lookout for a probable defector. The FBI entrusted him with some of the most sensitive secrets of the United States Government and instead of being humbled by this honor, Hanssen has allegedly abused and betrayed that trust. The FBI believes that the Russians never knew the name of their source. [60] He refused to use the dead drop sites that his handler, Victor Cherkashin, suggested and instead chose his own. Yet Brookner said Bonnie Hanssen has no intention of divorcing her husband. (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. [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]. [21][29] On two occasions, Hanssen gave the Soviets a complete list of American double agents. Kelley instead reported the incident to the FBI. 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. In court proceedings the government stated that Hanssen had been paid more than $1.4 million during his spying career, most of which he never actually received, as it was held for him in a Russian bank. Robert Philip Hanssen is an American former Federal Bureau of Investigation double agent who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States from 1979 to 2001. He then enrolled at the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, to study dentistry but after three years shifted to business studies. His espionage of more than two decades had earned him cash of over 1.4 million USD and diamonds. 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. Hanssen was incarcerated in a "supermax" federal prison in Colorado which also houses other notorious inmates, including the Unabomber, one of the Boston Marathon bombers, and a number of organized crime figures. Hanssen made the donation to a charity affiliated with Mother Teresa, and cut off contact with the Soviets for the next few years. Robert was described as a loner and a quiet person, and he had a strained relationship as well with his strict and dominating father. 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. Hanssen's jailers allowed him to watch this movie, but he was so angered by it that he turned it off. Brian Blomquist. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. 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. It is alleged that Hanssen provided to the former Soviet Union and subsequently to Russia substantial volumes of highly classified information that he acquired during the course of his job responsibilities in counterintelligence. These reports went nowhere, however (via the New York Daily News). 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. He was the single most devastating mole in US history, and compromised more CIA assets than anyone in history, until Robert Hanssen that is. The pension was an important consideration for Hanssen in his plea negotiations, Brookner said. Once there, he would turn them loose and begin a human hunting expedition. He married Bernadette Wauck in 1968 and, influenced by his devout Catholic wife, he converted to Catholicism. Hanssen was finally discovered when a former KGB agent contacted American intelligence agents. Children: Lisa, Greg, Mark, John "Jack," Sue and Jane Education: Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, A.B. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/robert-hanssen-6997.php. McNamara, Robert. His espionage was described by the Department of Justice as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. Hanssen then began to videotape his sexual encounters secretly and shared the videotapes with Hoschouer. The couple went on to have two children. This wedded bliss was short-lived, however. The complaint alleges that he received over $600,000. Robert J. McNamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist. Investigators learned that Hanssen was set to make a dead drop on February 18, 2001. , . Ames was officially blamed for giving Polyakov's name to the Soviets, while Hanssen's attempt was not revealed until after his 2001 capture. 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. [44] FBI agent Michael Waguespack thought the voice was familiar, but could not remember who it was. Robert Hansen's Parents. At the Heights, McPherson told the family that they would not have to worry. It belongs to his wife . He married his second wife, Darla Henrichsen, within a few months of being released, in 1963. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Hanssen gave them the name of a Russian general, Dimitri Polyakov, who had been providing information to the Americans. 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. 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. [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. Asked what Bonnie Hanssen thinks may have motivated her husband, Brookner said: Who knows? After her children endured relentless bullying at school, she decided that her best path led out of Alaska (via The Cinemaholic). He often steered conversations to talk of religion and his very conservative values, which were aligned with the very conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. As alleged, he did so using a variety of sophisticated means of communication, encryption, and dead drops. He had been married twice, and fathered children. [65], A priest at Oakcrest said Hanssen had regularly attended a 6:30a.m. daily Mass for over a decade. 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. Although his name was not specifically mentioned, evidence in the file pointed to Hanssen, who was put under close surveillance. When O'Neill could briefly obtain Hanssen's PDA and have agents download and decode its encrypted contents, the FBI had decisive evidence. We believe it was exceptionally grave. "Robert Hanssen, FBI Agent Who Became a Soviet Mole." [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. In 1999 he established contact with the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, which was preceded by the KGB before Soviets collapse. Hanssen's section evaluated Soviet agents who volunteered to give intelligence to determine whether they were genuine or re-doubled agents. Robert Hansen was a reputed baker and a married man with two children living in Anchorage, Alaska. 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. The plea bargain allows Bonnie Hanssen to receive about 55% of Hanssens pension, which will total an estimated $39,000 per year. I am shamed by it," Hanssen told U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton. [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. Polyakov was arrested in 1986 and executed in 1988. 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. Hanssen was detailed to the Office of Foreign Missions at the Department of State from 1995 to 2000. As alleged in the complaint, computer forensic analysis, substantial covert surveillance, court authorized searches and other sensitive techniques revealed that Hanssen has routinely accessed FBI records and clandestinely provided those records and other classified information to Russian intelligence officers. In January 2001, Hanssen moved into a small office in FBI Headquarters secretly outfitted with surveillance cameras and microphones. After being imprisoned, Hanssen claimed he periodically admitted his espionage to priests in confession. Hanssen is a Special Agent of the FBI with a long career in counterintelligence. 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. [49][50][51], During his final days with the FBI, Hanssen began to suspect something was wrong. He wrote to them anonymously. 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. children: Greg Hanssen, Jane Hanssen, John Hanssen, Lisa Hanssen, Mark Hanssen, Sue Hanssen, education: Kellogg School Of Management, Knox College (Illinois), See the events in life of Robert Hanssen in Chronological Order, (Former FBI Double Agent Who Spied for Russian Intelligence Services Against the United States from 1979 to 2001), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Hanssen.jpg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert-Philip-Hanssen.jpg. Once when Bonnie caught his espionage, he made a confession to an Opus Dei priest, donated cash to Catholic charity and gave his word of never spying again. Robert Hanssen was born in Chicago, Illinois, to a Lutheran family who lived in the Norwood Park neighborhood. She went with Hanssen on visits to Hong Kong and the FBI training facility in Quantico, Virginia. [5] His mother was Edna Margret Petersen. 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. Robert Hansen Remains 'Person of Interest' in Mom's Disappearance As for the investigation back in the 1960s when Joan Hansen disappeared, Urquhart was obviously not working for the Sheriff's office. Ames was arrested in 1994. He relayed secret information to Russia regarding US intelligence and counterintelligence operations. Even without knowing who he was or where he worked, Hanssens value to the Russians was clear both by the substantial sums of money paid and the prestigious awards given to their own agents for Hanssens operation. Christian owned a bakery and would make his son work for long hours as a kid. Some promising suspects were cleared, and the mole hunt found other penetrations, such as CIA officer Harold James Nicholson. 1981 - Hanssens wife catches him with classified documents and convinces him to stop spying. Hanssen was recalled yet again to Washington, D.C., in 1987. The following year he was shifted to counter-intelligence division where he was delegated the job of organising data of Soviet intelligence. 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. Though both Hansen and his wife earned respectable incomes, it would be revealed that it was Darla who was supporting the household. I dont think there was anybody more shocked by all this, Brookner said. To get Hanssen back to FBI Headquarters where he could be closely monitored, Neil Gallagher, assistant director of the National Security Division at the time, called Hanssen to inform him of a bogus assignment to serve on his staff as a special assistant for a technology project. Despite having shown his face, disclosed his code name, and revealed his FBI affiliation, Hanssen escaped arrest when the FBI's investigation into the incident did not advance. He continued to perform incriminating searches of FBI files for his name and address. 1999 - Resumes spying, this time for the Russian Intelligence agency. A turning point came in 2000, when the FBI and CIA were able to secure original Russian documentation of an American spy who appeared to be Hanssen. 2. He is a public speaker and security [35] Three years later, convicted FBI mole Earl Edwin Pitts told the FBI that he suspected Hanssen due to the Mislock incident. Hanssen's superiors were not amused and began an investigation. 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