Risen, James,
and David Johnston. "F.B.I. Rejected Spy Warning
2 Years Before Agent's Arrest." New York Times, 22 Apr. 2001.
[http://www.nytimes.com]Materials presented chronologically.
Risen, James,
and David Johnston. "F.B.I. Rejected Spy Warning
2 Years Before Agent's Arrest." New York Times, 22 Apr. 2001.
[http://www.nytimes.com]
According to "current and former" FBI officials, two years before Robert Hanssen's arrest on charges of spying for Russia, Thomas Kimmel, a senior FBI investigator, "concluded in a still-classified report that Moscow might have recruited a mole in the bureau's ranks.... In early 1999, F.B.I. Director Louis Freeh was told by ... Kimmel ... about his findings. In response, the officials said, senior bureau officials convinced Mr. Freeh that Mr. Kimmel's reasoning was flawed and investigators focused their hunt for a mole at the Central Intelligence Agency, not the bureau."
Risen, James.
"Former F.B.I. Agent Indicted in Spy Case."
New York Times, 17 May 2001. [http://www.nytimes.com]
On 16 May 2001, a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, returned a 21-count indictment against Robert P. Hanssen on charges of spying for Moscow for more than 15 years. The indictment came after negotiations over a possible plea agreement broke down over prosecutors' refusal to negotiate a deal that would spare Hanssen the death penalty.
Risen, James. "Jailed Agent Says He Voiced Suspicion about Spy Suspect." New York Times, 28 May 2001. [http://www.nytimes.com]
Interviewed at the federal prison in Ashland, KY, where he is serving a 27-year sentence for spying for Moscow, Earl Pitts said that he told FBI investigators in June 1997 "that he knew of suspicious activity by his fellow agent Robert P. Hanssen that indicated he might also be spying."
Masters,
Brooke A., and Dan Eggen. "'79 Contact by Hanssen Is Detailed: Account
Suggests Spying Predated 1985; Agent Told Wife That Deal Was a Ploy."
Washington Post, 16 Jun. 2001, A1. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
According to government officials and others familiar with the case, Bonnie Hanssen, the wife of accused FBI spy Robert P. Hanssen, became suspicious of his activities in 1979. At that time, he "told her he had exchanged information for money from Soviet agents, but only in a gambit to trick them.... This account ... suggests that Robert Hanssen had surreptitious contacts with Moscow at least six years earlier than prosecutors have publicly alleged. It is also the first public indication that his wife ever suspected him of espionage before his arrest."
Risen, James,
and David Johnston. "Wife Says Suspect Told a
Priest 20 Years Ago of Aiding Soviets." New York Times, 16 Jun.
2001. [http://www.nytimes.com]
Risen, James.
"Ex-Agent Pleads Guilty in Spy Case." New
York Times, 7 Jul. 2001. [http://www.nytimes.com]
On 6 July 2001, in Federal District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, Robert P. Hanssen pleaded guilty to charges that he had spied for Moscow since 1985. "In return for his guilty plea, the government agreed not to seek the death penalty.... Hanssen, who is 57, will be sentenced to life without parole, and he has agreed to undergo extensive debriefings by officials from the F.B.I. and other agencies to discuss the extent of his espionage.... As part of the agreement, the government will let Mr. Hanssen's wife ... receive the survivor's portion of his F.B.I. pension, and retain ownership of their home in the Washington suburb of Vienna, Va."
Novak, Robert.
"Who Is the Real Hanssen?" Sun-Times
(Chicago), 12 Jul. 2001. [http:// www.suntimes.com]
"Three-and-a-half years ago [24 November 1997], I reported that a veteran FBI agent resigned and retired after refusing a demand by Attorney General Janet Reno to give the Justice Department the names of top secret sources in China. My primary source was FBI agent Robert Hanssen."
Eggen, Dan. "Robert
Hanssen, Man of Many Mysteries." Washington Post National Weekly
Edition, 16-22 Jul. 2001, 31.
"Spies are often quite clear in their motives.... But Hanssen is still a riddle. The more information that emerges about his behavior and beliefs, the more contradictory they appear. None of the usual motives for espionage -- greed, ideology or revenge -- seem sufficient to explain the multiple deceptions he engaged in at work, at home, and at church."
Risen, James.
"Spy in F.B.I. Is Said to Have Given Secrets
to 2 Soviet Agencies." New York Times, 8 Aug. 2001. [http://www.nytimes.com]
Hanssen has told counterintelligence debriefers that at different times he spied for both the GRU and KGB.
Pincus,
Walter. "Hanssen Gave Away Identity of One of U.S.'s Top Sources."
Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2001, A6. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
Robert P. Hanssen has reportedly "told government debriefers that in his first round of espionage for Moscow 22 years ago, he gave away the identity" of Russian army general Dimitri Polyakov (codenamed "Top Hat"), "one America's best intelligence sources inside the Soviet military." Although Hanssen said he betrayed Polyakov in 1979, the KGB did not arrest Polyakov until 1986. "Until Hanssen's disclosure, it was believed that Polyakov was one of more than a dozen U.S. agents first betrayed to the KGB by CIA turncoat Aldrich H. Ames, who was arrested in 1994.
Whitworth, Damian. "FBI Traitor Reveals Identity of Agent." Times (London), 4 Oct. 2001. [http://www.the-times.co.uk]
"FBI spy Robert Hanssen has confessed to betraying the most important Soviet double agent employed by the United States.... Hanssen has revealed that he was responsible for telling his Moscow handlers the identity of the legendary informant 'Top Hat'. Dimitri Polyakov, a senior official with Soviet military intelligence, was subsequently executed."
Thompson,
Cheryl W. "Book Says FBI Was Told in '90 Hanssen Might Be Spy."
Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2001, A2. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
"In 'The Bureau and the Mole,' Washington Post reporter David A. Vise writes that Hanssen's brother-in-law, Mark Wauck, an FBI agent in Chicago, discovered in 1990 that Hanssen 'was hiding thousands of dollars in cash' in his house and 'spending too much money for someone on an FBI salary.' Wauck reported his suspicions to his supervisors in Chicago, telling them he thought Hanssen was spying for the Russians. The book contends that the FBI did nothing, allowing Hanssen to continue spying for 10 more years."
Forward to Hanssen Spy Case 2002-2003
Return to Hanssen Spy Case Table of Contents
Return to FBI Table of Contents