Vise,
David A. "From Russia With Love." Washington Post, 6 Jan.
2002, W18ff. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]Materials presented chronologically.
Vise,
David A. "From Russia With Love." Washington Post, 6 Jan.
2002, W18ff. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
"FBI agent Robert Hanssen was a frustrated loner isolated from co-workers, family and friends. Finally he found someone to appreciate his mind and talents: the nice folks from the KGB." [Article adapted from David A. Vise, The Bureau and the Mole (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2002).]
U.S.
Department of Justice. Commission for the Review of FBI Security Programs
[Webster Commission]. A Review of FBI Security Programs. Washington,
DC: 31 Mar. 2002. [http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/websterreport.html]
From the "Executive Summary": "The Commission for the Review of FBI Security Programs was established in response to possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history: the treason of Robert Hanssen.... During our review of FBI security programs, we found significant deficiencies in Bureau policy and practice. Those deficiencies flow from a pervasive inattention to security, which has been at best a low priority. In the Bureau, security is often viewed as an impediment to operations, and security responsibilities are seen as an impediment to career advancement."
Pincus,
Walter. "Hanssen Blamed for Identifying 50 FBI Informants to Russians."
Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2002, A4. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
According to the report of the special commission headed by former DCI and FBI director William H. Webster, released on 4 April 2002, convicted spy Robert P. Hanssen disclosed "the identities of more than 50 people who were providing confidential intelligence information to the bureau or were being recruited to do so" to the Russians.
The commission's report "sharply criticize[d] the FBI's sloppy security practices, starting with weaknesses in its automated case support system (ACS), which was supposed to 'store the Bureau's institutional knowledge'.... One of the Webster panel's recommendations was that 'the bureau should carefully consider adopting the ... system of compartmenting human source information developed by the CIA.'"
Masters,
Brooke A. "Hanssen Sentenced to Life in Spy Case." Washington
Post, 11 May 2002, A1. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
On 10 May 2002, Chief Judge Claude M. Hilton of U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., sentenced former FBI agent Robert Hanssen to life in prison.
Risen, James.
"Former F.B.I. Agent Gets Life in Prison for
Years as a Spy." New York Times, 11 May 2002. [http://www.nytimes.com]
Eggen, Dan. "Report: Spy Gained From FBI Laxity." Washington Post, 15 Aug. 2003, A4. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
A report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine, released on 14 August 2003, says that "[c]onvicted FBI spy Robert P. Hanssen ... was a reckless and 'mediocre agent' who succeeded because of the bureau's poor oversight and lax security.... The inspector general's findings ... appear to differ sharply from previous characterizations by many Justice Department and FBI officials, who had sought to portray Hanssen as a savvy and experienced counterintelligence agent who outwitted pursuers."
U.S. Department of Justice. Office of the Inspector General. A Review of the FBI's Performance in Deterring, Detecting, and Investigating the Espionage Activities of Robert Philip Hanssen. Washington, DC: Aug. 2003. [http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/03-08/index.htm]
Clark comment: This is the 31-page unclassified executive summary that provides a public version of the main findings in the lengthier classified reports, two classifications levels of which were prepared.
The summary states: "In 1985 and 1986, the CIA and FBI lost nearly every significant human asset then operating against the Soviet Union. These losses were unprecedented in scope, quantity, significance, and timing, yet the FBI undertook no sustained effort to determine their cause. Senior management was almost entirely unaware of the scope and significance of these losses, and throughout the 1980s the FBI failed to work cooperatively with the CIA to resolve the cause of these losses or to thoroughly investigate whether an FBI mole could be responsible for these setbacks. We now know that Hanssen compromised many of the assets and operations lost during the mid-1980s."
Jonkers, AFIO WIN 33-03, 22 Aug. 2003, calls the report "a painful picture of our Cold War FBI counter-espionage posture.... The report of this long-running espionage and treason-from-within is disturbing reading. It confirms my own suspicion, based on career observations, of the security (or systemic insecurity) of some HUMINT assets, even if never imagined in this proportion and magnitude. The report shows the damage from leadership feuds and bureaucratic turf protection, such as between the Justice Department and the FBI, which possibly colors this DoJ/OIG report on the FBI to some extent.... This is an interesting report, worth reading in full."
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