Today, Mrs. Hanssen is teaching at a Catholic school in suburban Virginia and is living in the house she shared with her husband and their six children. Under Mr. Hanssen's plea bargain, she will receive the survivor's part of his bureau pension, as well as the right to keep the home. She visits her husband in prison regularly. . Booted out of their Vienna home while FBI agents scoured it for clues to Robert P. Hanssen's alleged spy work, Bonnie Hanssen, 54, and her teenage son and Hawaii mulls fees for ecotourism crush, Russian charged with war crimes: Ukrainian children can go home, U.N. rejects new Taliban prohibition on Afghan women working for the organization, Indiana governor signs ban on gender-affirming healthcare. I just watched Breach, the movie based on the capture of the mole Robert Hanssen, whose passing of information to the Russians constituted perhaps the most serious damage to U.S. national security. The only place he really did belong was Opus Dei, and he used most of the money he made from selling secrets to put his six children through expensive Opus Dei private schools. At least two movies have been made about Hanssen. In his last letter to his Russian contacts, he wrote, Something has aroused the sleeping tiger.. Some avowed deeply religious people seem to have an awfully low opinion of the Man Who Lives in the Clouds. The FBI declined to comment on whether the search Wiser began is continuing. During the 1960s, a corrosive mole hunt led by James J. Angleton, the CIAs counterintelligence chief, led to institutional paranoia, paralyzed operations aimed at the Soviet Union, and disrupted the lives of many innocent CIA officers who were fired or sidetracked in their careers. Bokhan froze. Aside from any other points, either God will forgive him or he wont. Raised Lutheran, he converted to his wife Bonnies faith and was active with her and extended family members in the conservative Catholic group Opus Dei. As such, Roberts credit card bills, mortgage payments, and debts piled up, even as he was forced to move his family further away from Manhattan as his family grew. A 1998 research paper from Brigham Young University studied 139 spies and concluded that half of them did it for the money. Robert admitted that he had already spent most of the GRU money, but Bonnie insisted that he repay to charity the full original amount. But it was only a matter of time. His target would be Robert Hanssen, a 25-year FBI veteran that the bureau suspected might be the most treacherous and damaging double agent in US history. The Crime Library article only mentions two: spies for the U.S. in the KGB who were outed in his initial communications and subsequently executed by the Soviets. And the intelligence culture is not going to let that go. By the time Hanssen and ONeill returned to the office, things seemed normal. in Chemistry, 1966; Attended Northwestern University Dental School, 1966-1968; Northwestern University, M.B.A. in Accounting and Information Systems, 1971. Moscow, August 3, 1985: It was 2 a.m. when Andrei Poleshchuk got home. Sunday night the FBI arrested Robert Philip Hanssen who has been charged with committing espionage. Hanssen is a Special Agent of the FBI with a long career in counterintelligence. They raved to friends about his big FBI job, happy marriage, six children and regular churchgoing. Is sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. I have to think that if there was more to be known, FBI interrogaters could have gotten it out of a housewife. Caught off guard, he grabbed his guns but not his PalmPilot. Discovery Company. The Ellis drop site, under a footbridge over Wolftrap Creek at Foxstone Park near Vienna, Va. U.S. Attorney Randy Bellows, right, is depicted in an artists sketch as he addresses the court during the sentencing of convicted spy Robert Hanssen, center, seen with his attorney Plato Cacheris, left, at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia. Make him angry. Moscow seemed to have no clue hed been secretly working for MI6, the British secret intelligence service, for 11 years. In a letter to me from the federal prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, where he is serving a life sentence, Ames wrote: Im quite sure of my recollection that I gave the KGB no names of any other than the two or three double agents/dangles I provided in April 85, until June 13th..
To his handlers in the KGB, he was Ramon Garcia, one of their longest-serving informants and a veritable bottomless source of information on United States espionage, security, and computer systems. I love him and Ill pray for the salvation of his soul every day for the rest of my life.. But for 20 years, Robert Hanssen was anything but that ideal. We dont know at this point what happened to that money, she said. I talked to some old MI6 friends, and they say they are sure there is. They were driven to the infamous Lefortovo prison for interrogation. Robert Hanssen, a church-going family man and FBI agent for 25 years, was actually working as a Soviet spy for well over 20 years. Its difficult, but its better than seeing him put to death.. He also expressed his trademark annoyance. Days later, ONeill helped devise another plan to get Hanssen out of the office: Two senior officers dropped in unexpectedly and said they wanted to go to the shooting practice range with Hanssen during lunch. Web2 was schooled at Oxford, which educated many agents, and worked in 1930s Shanghai, a hotbed of soon-to-be spies and Soviet recruiters. One of them finally answered: For espionage.. Finally, in 1991, with the KGB in disarray after its chief led the failed coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the authorities let Alla and her daughter leave. It is also one which can turn ingenious quickly, like an idiot savant, once convinced of a goal.. After buying a $150,000 house in Vienna, Virginia, Hanssen turned back to espionage to make ends meet. If it should turn out that the mole is no longer alive, the intelligence agencies would still run a damage assessment to try to reconstruct what and whom he might have betrayed. In the morning, they took usmy mother, my grandmother and meand put us in separate black Volgas, Andrei said. That raised a possibility that remains, even today, a subject of deep concern among counterintelligence agents, a problem privately acknowledged but little discussed publicly: That the three agents may have been betrayed by a mole inside U.S. intelligence whose identity is still unknown. I left that memo in your inbox, ONeill replied. He provided a file that contained damning evidence implicating Hanssen as the mole. Printing company. 1980 - Begins working for the counterintelligence unit, focusing on the Soviet Union. Hanssen had a reputation for being wildly arrogant and dour. For months, Andrei had been hoping his father would find him an apartment. Then the car started up again, and the radio, which had been playing pop music, suddenly boomed out SibeliusFinlandia. He portrayed it as selling worthless intel to the Soviets for quick and easy money. As they took him into custody, Hanssen turned to one and said, What took you so long?. In his fourth-floor office at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, he wrapped up five to seven pounds of secret documents and walked out of the building. In order to put the double-crosser away forever, ONeill would need to put his life on the line again. In the back seat were a jacket, hat and sunglasses. As they walked on the beach that Saturday, he said his career was in trouble. His fear mounted. Webrobert hanssen childrenruschell boone family. at the g.ay bar again? Gordievsky decided to risk his life and go. He had graduated from school and found a good job, and he wanted to live on his own. He was sentenced to 15 consecutive life sentences, which hes currently serving at the federal penitentiary in Florence, Colorado. O'Neill expands on the film, offering additional background and details, as well as noting where actual events were changed on the film for dramatic purposes. 1981 - Is assigned to the Intelligence Division at FBI headquarters in DC. I first learned about the infamous Robert Hanssen a few years back. Timeline. Arrested? He drove around Athens in his BMW for close to an hour to make certain he wasnt being followed, then walked into a 100-foot pedestrian tunnel under a highway. But Thursday, Bonnie Hanssen issued a statement through her attorney revealing the torment that the case has caused. WebOn this day February 18, 2001, Robert Hanssen was arrested and charged with committing espionage on behalf of the intelligence services of the former Soviet Union. The Soviets had arranged for the apparent good news to reach his wife through a friend and former co-worker in Moscow, who wrote to her in Lagos. Despite the personal sexual reports, Bonnie and the children continued their weekly visits. Then he kissed his wife and daughter goodbye. His MI6 handlers assured him theyd picked up no sign anything was wrong. Robert Hanssen made over $1 million spying for the Soviets until he was caught in 2001. I think its also bullshit that they get to keep part of his pension. Alleman explained to ONeill that the smoking gun would be an actual information drop for the Russians. I had no job. I never want you in my office again, Hanssen said. The mere belief that theres another mole, whether correct or not, can cause chaos inside an intelligence agency. They drove through several checkpoints with no trouble, but they had to stop at Soviet customs when they reached the border. March 11, 2023. Although Gordievsky has written that he climbed into the trunk of one of the cars, a former CIA officer says he actually crawled into a space in a specially modified Land Rover. Eric Michael O'Neill (born March 3, 1973) is an American former FBI counter-terrorism and counterintelligence operative. When the driver turned off the engine, Gordievsky could hear dogs close byAlsatians, he later learned. Long after the massive losses in 1985, the lingering questions still gnaw at their counterintelligence experts. I always thought there was another one, he told me. Children: Lisa, Greg, Mark, John Jack, Sue and Jane. Hanssen wanted to be posted to Allenwood in hopes that he might be visited frequently by his wife Bonnie and their six children. After stops in Madrid and Frankfurt, a military jet flew him across the Atlantic. But the CIA and FBI debriefers soon recognized a glaring anomaly in Ames account: It was clear that those three agents had fallen under suspicion in May 1985before Ames insists he handed over the documents. It was in my fathers handwriting. Leonid Poleshchuk knew his first CIA case officer, who had recruited him in Nepal, as Joe. He worked as an Investigative Specialist with the Special Surveillance Group (SSG) and played a major role in the arrest, conviction, and imprisonment of FBI agent Robert Hanssen for spying on behalf of the Soviet Union and Russia. Clearly the KGB had searched his flat. At Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland he looked out the window and saw several black cars and people on the tarmac. This story is a selection from the November issue of Smithsonian magazine. A feature film called Breach was released in Printing company. She supports the plea agreement and agrees that the sentence of life in prison without parole, rather than the death penalty, is appropriate in these circumstances.. Authorities said they are convinced that Bonnie Hanssen--unlike the wives of several other notorious U.S. spies who helped their husbands--was not involved in Hanssens spying. There, he found a watertight bag containing his money. In July 1994, Leslie Wiser, the FBI agent who unmasked Ames, flew to London to interview Gordievsky. or getting a.ss kicked from your ex wife? Although the elder Hanssen encouraged his son to become a doctor, his son was uninterested in studies of any kind, and eventually received a degree in chemistry in 1966. He has been admitted to the bar in Maryland and in the District of Columbia. Prisoner #48551-083 as he is known today is held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, and he has no possibility of receiving parole. He found the work interesting, but he soon tired of it. But dont be fooled by that appearance. Enraged to the point that his fist was clenched in a tight ball, Hanssen ran through his usual list of insults Idiot! Should the Soviet official agree to the switch, Hanssen wrote, they could arrange for the swap through a personal ad in The Village Voice. A plan began to form in his mind. Why too much original content from Netflix is bad for subs Costco cake decorator's epic fail leaves customers in stitches, The one thing Madeleine McCann's mom is certain led to her daughter's disappearance, Ex-Playmate who allegedly had affair withTrump breaks silence after indictment, Khlo Kardashian hints at sons name after outing with Tristan Thompson, Tom Schwartz says Tom Sandoval is addicted to Raquel Leviss: Shes his heroin, Pump Rules recap: Sandoval says he gets it as Schwartz talks about wanting Raquel, Scottish 'Stone of Destiny' is ready for the coronation, Madonna shows off cute face after swelling from surgery went down. The double agent was arrested (above right) in 2001 by the FBI after leaving intel for them under a bridge in the park. I said, No way we are taking your beat-up, boring, outdated old Ford Taurus to the DIA. They flew to New York and, with help from the CIA and the FBI, were reunited with Sergei at a motel near John F. Kennedy International Airport. For two years I went to Lefortovo two, three times a week, Alla Bokhan told me. (AP Photo/Doug Mills) In all, by the time he was arrested in February 2001, Hanssen collected an estimated $1.4 million for giving lists of American undercover agents abroad, the identities of Russian double agents, documents showing the U.S. was intercepting Soviet Soon there was a plan for an exfiltration, the CIAs term for spiriting an agent in danger out of a foreign country. In the letter, Hanssen revealed that he had dreamed of being a spy against his country since the age of 14, after reading a book about Kim Philby the British intelligence officer who was also a Russian double agent. They were finishing just as Hanssen texted that he was on his way back. It seems to me that in a lot of criminal cases, family members tend to rationalize or justify the perpetrators actions. Faced with these unexplained losses, the CIA in October 1986 set up a small, highly secret mole-hunting unit to uncover the cause of this disaster. Before his father left Lagos, Andrei said, he gave a gold watch to his CIA case officer at the time. Take your pick. The year 1985 was a catastrophe for U.S. and British intelligence agencies. ONeill, 46, left the FBI in May 2001. Did you see it?. He demanded $100,000 in return. He took the opportunity to divert attention from himself and throw mole-hunting teams off the scent. After some months, she was released. His father, Leonid Poleshchuk, was a senior KGB counterintelligence officer, most recently the deputy rezident for counterintelligence in Lagos, Nigeria. The Remarkable Story Of Prince Hall, The 'Black Founding Father' History Almost Forgot, The Inside Story Of Walt Disney's Secret Tunnels Beneath The Magic Kingdom, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. In the letter, Hanssen offered the names of three Soviet moles on the FBIs payroll, along with proof. And its not entirely clear why he did what he did. What good does nagging God every frickin day do? Please be aware how deeply Mrs. Hanssen regrets the damage that her husband, Robert Hanssen, has caused to our country and to their family, the statement said. This. Ill never divorce him. After his father was executed, Andrei kept working for Novosti. Thanks for contacting us. John F. Lewis Jr., a former FBI counterintelligence agent who was chief of the national security division, believes there is a fourth mole. As Soviet intelligence agencies reeled in the aftermath of the collapse of the USSR, federal agents sought out disaffected former KGB operatives willing to sell information. She is also challenging some of her husbands credit card bills. Thats an attitude I dont understand, frankly. Watch the ones who speak the loudest. It was the signal to launch his escape. As the deputy chief, Bokhan was privy to all GRU spy operations aimed at Greece, the United States and the other NATO countries. One day in February, when Hanssen was away, ONeill took a risk and snuck into his boss office. After dark they left for a small airport, where Bokhan boarded a CIA plane. :dubious: Does anyone see some weird contradictions here? He worked as an Investigative Specialist with the Special A TV movie called Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story was released in 2002. Now 74, he is serving time at ADX Florence, the federal supermax prison in Colorado. Before Ames, there was Edward Lee Howard, a CIA officer who had been slated to go to Moscow but was fired instead for drug use and petty theft. No. After they drove home, he packed a gym bag and announced that he was going for a jog. Minutes later, ONeill extracted it from the mans bag, along with a floppy disc and a flash drive, running everything downstairs for a tech team to copy. Sign up today to get daily, up-to-date news and views from Irish America. [1][2][3], O'Neill graduated from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., in 1991. He even encouraged his KGB handlers to recruit his childhood best friend, a lieutenant colonel in Army intelligence. Stay calm, he recalls telling himself. Some days passed before his boss, Viktor Grushko, drove him to a KGB dacha, saying some people wanted to talk to him. He was thin, pale and obviously sick. The pension was an important consideration for Hanssen in his plea negotiations, Brookner said. A Spy in Plain Sight: The Inside Story of the FBI and Robert Hanssen, Americas Most Damaging Russian Spy, Lis Wiehl (Pegasus, 2022), 336 pages. I could sense he had been tortured. Leonid was executed on July 30. The new couple committed to send each of their six children to private schools and to tithe a portion of their income to the charitable works of their parish. Not only was he responsible for the deaths of several people who were responsible for the nations security, but he also undermined the efforts of thousands of others. For those who are betrayed, the damage persists long after the initial shock passes. But Brookner said Hanssens family was never the beneficiary of any spy money and that Bonnie Hanssen has no idea what happened to the proceeds from his spying, including $800,000 that authorities say the Russians deposited for him in a Moscow bank. Hanssen reportedly lavished cash and gifts on a Washington stripper whom he befriended.

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