Pino-Marina, Christina. "Virginia FBI Agent Arrested on Espionage Charges." Washington Post, 20 Feb. 2001. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]Materials presented chronologically.
Pino-Marina, Christina. "Virginia FBI Agent Arrested on Espionage Charges." Washington Post, 20 Feb. 2001. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
According to an FBI spokeswoman, Robert Philip Hanssen, a 27-year FBI veteran, was arrested on 18 February on at least one espionage charge and will appear in U.S. District Court in Alexandria on 20 February.
Johnston, David.
"F.B.I. Agent Charged as Spy Who Aided Russia
for 15 Years." New York Times, 21 Feb. 2001. [http://www.nytimes.com]
Robert Philip Hanssen, a "senior F.B.I. agent who worked as a counterintelligence supervisor at the agency's headquarters," was charged on 20 February 2001 "as a spy who passed highly classified information to Russia for 15 years.... Hanssen, 56, was accused of turning over to Moscow a huge array of secrets, including the identities of three Russian agents ... recruited to spy for the United States. Two of the Russians were subsequently tried and executed; the third was imprisoned and later released. In return, F.B.I. officials said, the Russians paid Mr. Hanssen a total of $1.4 million."
Shenon, Philip.
"From Dour 'Mortician' of F.B.I. to Suspected
Russian Superspy." New York Times, 21 Feb. 2001. [http://www.nytimes.com]
"The Russians apparently never knew the name of their prized American spy. To them, he was only B or Ramon or R. Garcia, the code names that the hypercautious American used during the 15 years that he is said to have provided Moscow with some of the most sensitive intelligence documents in the files of the F.B.I."
Details of the case released by law enforcement officials on 20 February 2001 "offer little explanation for the motivations of a man who, unlike the brazenly greedy Mr. Ames, was never obvious about enjoying the hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and diamonds that his Russian handlers supposedly provided. Mr. Hanssen was remembered by F.B.I. colleagues as dour, colorless, socially awkward 'the mortician,' as he was called behind his back, both for his personality and his penchant for dark, unstylish business suits."
Johnston, David.
"F.B.I. Never Gave Lie Test to Agent Charged
as Spy." New York Times, 22 Feb. 2001. [http://www.nytimes.com]
According to law enforcement officials on 21 February 2001, the FBI never polygraphed Robert Philip Hanssen "to determine whether he might be a security risk during the 15 years when, it is charged, he spied for the Soviet Union and then Russia." Hanssen "was not under suspicion until late last year, when American intelligence obtained what officials have said was the entire Russian case file on his activities as a secret agent."
On 21 February 2001, "William H. Webster, the former F.B.I. and C.I.A. director, said in an interview that he was assembling a team to assess the bureau's security procedures and methods for detecting penetrations by foreign agents. Mr. Webster said he would focus on the F.B.I.'s polygraph policy and other counterespionage methods."
LaFraniere,
Sharon. "Russia Says FBI Agent's Arrest Shouldn't Hurt Relations."
Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2001, A6. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
On 21 February 2001, Boris Labusov, a spokesman for the Foreign Intelligence Service, "played down the arrest of Robert Philip Hanssen, saying espionage is a normal part of political life."
Lewis, Neil A.
"The Prosecution Case: Zigs and Zags of Spy Cases
Put a Damper on Predicting." New York Times, 22 Feb. 2001. [http://www.nytimes.com]
"The espionage case against Robert Philip Hanssen as outlined in a 100-page document from the F.B.I. looks as strong as can be, with investigators possessing computer disks, bundles of cash, a fingerprint and other incriminating evidence.
"But lawyers and others familiar with espionage prosecutions know that even the best cases can take legal twists and turns. The criminal complaint is also the beginning of a process in which Mr. Hanssen and the government will have to deal with many questions, the most important of which may be whether he will, in exchange for avoiding a death sentence, agree to tell intelligence officers what secrets he may have handed over to Moscow....
"The espionage act under which Mr. Hanssen is charged provides for the death penalty in a variety of circumstances, including one in which the defendant is found guilty of disclosing the identities of agents who die as a result."
Loeb,
Vernon, and Brooke A. Masters. "Spy Suspect Had Deep Data Access, Ex-Associates
Say." Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2001, A1. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
Three of his former colleagues said on 21 February 2001 that the damage from Robert Hanssen's "alleged spy career could be particularly severe because he possessed both access to intelligence information across the government and computer skills that made him among the most technologically sophisticated officials at the FBI.... Two years after he allegedly began spying for the KGB in 1985, Hanssen served as deputy director of the FBI Intelligence Division's Soviet section, giving him full access to information about counterspy activities against the Soviet Union."
Risen, James.
"The Spymaster: Spy Handler Bedeviled U.S. in
Earlier Case." New York Times, 22 Feb. 2001. [http://www.nytimes.com]
According to an FBI affidavit, KGB colonel Viktor Cherkashin "was instrumental in handling" both Aldrich H. Ames and Robert Philip Hanssen. "Cherkashin was chief of counterintelligence in the K.G.B.'s Washington station in 1985 when Mr. Ames and, according to the F.B.I., Mr. Hanssen also volunteered to spy for Moscow.... [I]t appears that Mr. Cherkashin was such a master of his espionage craft that he was able to help keep two moles running deep inside the United States government far longer than American counterintelligence experts would have believed possible.... To ensure his security, Mr. Hanssen never met with Mr. Cherkashin or any other K.G.B. officers, and did not tell the K.G.B. his name or where he worked in the United States government, federal officials said."
Vise,
David A., and Dan Eggen. "FBI Faulted For Rejecting Warnings."
Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2001, A1. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
"The FBI failed to heed a series of blunt warnings to adopt security measures that might have allowed agents to detect the kind of espionage that Robert P. Hanssen allegedly conducted for much of the past 15 years, government officials said" on 21 February 2001.
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