Robert Hanssen Spy Case - FBI Supervisory Special Agent who spied for the Soviet KGB/Russian SVR

Counterintelligence - Espionage - Spy Case

Name

HANSSEN, Robert Philip

aka Bob

Employer

FBI

Dates of Employment

12 Jan 1976-18 Feb 2001

Employee Type

Staff

Job Title/Duties

Supervisory Special Agent working in counterintelligence

Military Rank

None

Clearance Level

TS/SCI

Spying For

Soviet KGB and GRU, Russian SVR

Codename

Ramon Garcia, Jim Baker, G. Robertson, "B"

Spying Dates

1979-1981: Spied for Soviet GRU

1 Oct 1985-1991: Spied for Soviet KGB

1992-2001: Russian SVR

Co-conspirators

None

Methodology

Classic dead drops, signal sites. No meetings with handlers.

Possible Motivations, Problems

Finances

Began spying when in debt

Identified/

Investigation

Russian intelligence officer sold the KGB/SVR file on Hanssen to the FBI for $7 million.

Arrest Date/Location

Sunday, February 18, 2001, Foxstone Park, Vienna, VA

Charges

Court

Eastern District of Virginia

Lawyers

Plato Cacheris

Status

Sentenced to Life in Prison: Friday, May 10, 2002, Alexandria, VA

Current Location: Inmate #48551-083/D, Supermax prison in Colorado; no letters, no phone calls, no visitors, cement cell, called "the prisoner" instead of his name

Date/Place of Birth

18 April 1944, Chicago, IL

Citizenship

Residences

Vienna, VA

Education

Knox College, Northwestern University

Family

Wife, six children

Other Employment

Additional Bio

Documents

USA v. Robert Philip Hanssen Affidavit (20 Feb 2001)

Affidavit for Search Warrant (Feb 2001)

Veteran FBI Agent Arrested and Charged with Espionage (FBI press release, 20 Feb 2001)

Statement of FBI Director Louis J. Freeh on the Arrest of FBI Special Agent Robert Philip Hanssen (FBI, 20 Feb 2001)

FBI News Conference on Bob Hanssen

Hanssen 21-Count Indictment (16 May 2001)

Plea Agreement, June 2001

Sentencing Memorandum, May 02

Govt Reports/

Reviews/

Investigations

US DOJ/IG Report: A Review of the FBI’s Progress in Responding to the Recommendations in the Office of the Inspector General Report on Robert Hanssen (Sept 2007)

US DOJ/IG Report: A Review of the FBI's Performance in Deterring, Detecting, and Investigating the Espionage Activities of Robert Philip Hanssen (14 Aug 2003)

US DOJ/IG Report:Review of the FBI's Performance in Uncovering the Espionage Activities of Aldrich Hazen Ames (April 1997)

FBI Response to IG Report: FBI Director Mueller Statement Regarding the Inspector General's Report on Robert Hanssen (14 Aug 2003)

Webster Commission Report: A Review of FBI Security Programs (March 2002)

Executive Summary

Introduction

Recommendations

Quotes regarding Webster Report

FBI and DOG Responses to Webster Report (4 April 2002)

US Senate Committee on the Judiciary Hearings, 9 April 2002--

Reforming the FBI in the 21st Century: The Lessons of the Hanssen Espionage Case

Review of FBI Security Program, Kenneth Senser, 18 July 2001

Reforming FBI Management, Sen. Patrick Leahy, 18 July 2001

Quotes

Quotes about the Hanssen case:

Case Links

CI Centre Training Course:

Learn more about the Hanssen case by those who knew and worked with him: CI Centre's course #208: Robert P. Hanssen Course and SpyDrive^®

More Training Courses

Arrest mug shot of Hanssen: what you should have seen in February 2001

CIA Officer Wrongly Accused

Bridges of Fairfax and Montgomery Counties

News Conference on plea bargain, July 6, 2001

BBC documentary on Hanssen including insights from a former FBI psychiatrist who talked with Hanssen for 40 hours

Photos of Hanssen spy activities

Hanssen's last letter to SVR

"Secret Passage" article in the Chicago Tribune magazine about Hanssen

February 18 Events in History

2 Feb 03: CBS 60 Minutes interviews CIA officer Brian Kelley

Aftereffects of Hanssen Case

New Counterintelligence manager appointments at the FBI

Observations on Hanssen Sentencing by Larry Schiller, May 10, 2002

Misc

An FBI insider and admitted spy (CNN In-Depth)

CI CENTRE STORE:

--Spy arrests mugshot poster, includes Hanssen

--Spy homes poster, includes Hanssen's three homes

--Operational Games poster lists Russian agents Hanssen betrayed

--More CI & Security Posters

BOOKS

	Spy: How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America by David Wise Intelligence author David Wise has written the last book on the Hanssen case. Includes story of CIA officer Brian Kelley whom the FBI incorrectly thought was the mole.
	Spy Handler: The True Story of the Man Who Recruited Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames By Victor Cherkashin with Gregory Feifer
	Excerpts from "Into the Mirror: The Life of Master Spy Robert P. Hanssen" by Lawrence Schiller and Norman Mailer. This book about the Hanssen case by Lawrence Schiller and Norman Mailer based on their upcoming CBS miniseries on Hanssen's life.
	The Bureau and the Mole by David A. Vise Washington Post/David Vise online discussion about Hanssen The Bureau and the Mole website
	The Spy Next Door: The Extraordinary Secret Life of Robert Philip Hanssen, the Most Damaging FBI Agent in History by Elaine Shannon and Ann Blackman
	The Spy Who Stayed out in the Cold: The Secret Life of FBI Double Agent Robert Hanssen by Adrian Havill (first book to come out; summarizes news articles; [Hanssen was *not* a "double agent"]) Excerpts from the book

MOVIES

VIDEOS

Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story is now available on DVD. This CBS-TV movie stars William Hurt as Hanssen, Mary-Louise Parker as his wife and Ron Silver as his boss.

More Info or Order

CBS miniseries on Hanssen. Information about the making of this movie. The CI Centre staff were technical consultants to the movie.

click for complete details

Video Preview: Watch the trailer for MASTER SPY: THE ROBERT HANSSEN STORY and seven exclusive clips from the movie

Behind the Scenes: Executive Producers Norman Mailer and Lawrence Schiller discuss what went into making the mini-series that was filmed on location in Moscow, Hong Kong, Hawaii, Toronto and Washington, D.C.

Hanssen Movie: Breach (Feb 2007)

VIDEOS:

There's Another Story Behind "Breach"

It turns out Robert Hanssen wasn't the first person FBI investigators suspected of being the mole inside the agency.....(Channel 9 News/Washington, DC)

A Spy's Deception Pinned On A Local Patriot

No one plays Brian Kelley in the new movie about FBI traitor Robert Hanssen -- but someone probably should.....(Channel 9 News/Washington, DC)

FBI Spy Scandal on Film...(Channel 9 News/Washington, DC)

CI Centre Podcast:

CI Centre President David Major reviews the new movie "Breach"

Listen to David G. Major, retired FBI counterintelligence expert and President of the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies, discuss the validity of the new film Breach based upon his personal interaction with Robert Hanssen, a senior FBI agent who spied for the Soviets/Russians. Not only will you discover the role that lead character Eric O'Neill actually played in Hanssen's apprehension, but you will also learn the inner workings of the FBI as related to the Hanssen espionage case and see how they compare to the movie's portrayal.

Movie Review [.mp3 | 38 MB | 01:21:06]

More Podcasts

“Robert Philip Hanssen is a traitor and that singular truth is his legacy.”

US Prosecutors

News:

FBI Agent Held Without Bond on Spy Charges

A long-time FBI agent has been charged with spying for Moscow since 1985, in what is being characterized as the worst case of espionage in FBI history. The agent is accused of handing over highly classified documents and betraying American intelligence sources and electronic surveillance methods in exchange for an estimated $1.4 million in cash and diamonds. The agent, Robert Philip Hanssen, was arrested at a park near his home in Vienna, Va., Sunday night, February 18, 2001....(Washington Post, 20 Feb 01)

July 6, 2001:

Hanssen agreed to counts 1-4, 6, 8, 9, 11-15, 18, 20 and 21. Counts 5, 7, 10, 16, 17 and 19 were dismissed. (Read the Count Indictment) His lawyer Plato Cacheris said Hanssen began his espionage in the 1979-80 timeframe and ended voluntarily in 1981. He resumed in 1985 and ended in 1991-92 timeframe. From 1992 to 1999, he did not commit espionage. In 1999, Hanssen resumed his espionage until he was arrested on 18 February 2001. Hanssen had a premonition that day that he was going to be arrested, but went ahead anyways. Cacheris said regarding the plea agreement that this was a rare case where "both sides win"--the death penalty has been removed and Hanssen is prepared to fully debrief the government on his espionage activities. The sentencing date had been set for 11 January 2002. It has been delayed to May 10, 2002 in order to continue the briefings.

Hanssen Sentenced to Life Without Parole

A federal judge on Friday sentenced former FBI agent Robert Hanssen to life in prison without parole for spying for Moscow, closing a chapter in one of America's most-damaging espionage scandals....(Washington Post, 10 May 02)

Use the Search engine at the top of the page to find all the news articles on Hassen.