Robert Hanssen
Catch Me If You Can: The Story of Robert Hanssen
Kevin Hoke
HLS 402- Counterintelligence
February 29, 2012
Robert Hanssen joined the FBI as an agent on January 12, 1976 and was transferred to the Gary, Indiana, office. In 1978, Hanssen and his family moved to New York when the FBI transferred him to its office there. The next year, Hanssen was moved into counter-intelligence and given the task of compiling a database of Soviet intelligence for the Bureau. It was then, in 1979, only three years after joining the FBI, that Hanssen began his career as a Soviet spy.
In 1979, Hanssen approached the GRU and offered his services. Hanssen never indicated any political or ideological motive for his activities. During his first espionage cycle, Hanssen told the GRU a significant amount, including information on FBI bugging activities and Bureau lists of suspected Soviet intelligence agents. His most important leak of information was the betrayal of Dmitri Polyakov, code named TOPHAT. Polyakov was a CIA informant for more than 20 years and passed large amounts of information to American intelligence while he rose to the rank of General in the Soviet Army. The Soviets did not act on their intelligence about Polyakov until he was betrayed a second time by CIA mole Aldrich Ames in 1985 (Wise, 2003).
Hanssen was nearly exposed in 1981, when Bonnie Hanssen caught her husband in their basement writing a letter to the Soviets. Hanssen admitted to her that he had been giving information to the Soviets for monetary gain and that he had received $30,000 as payment. Hanssen then stopped spying for the Soviet Union until 1985 (Wise, 2003).
Hanssen was transferred to the Washington, D.C. office in 1981. His new job in the FBI's budget office gave him access to information involving many different FBI activities. This included all the FBI activities related to wiretapping and electronic surveillance. He became known in the Bureau as an expert on computers.
In 1983, Hanssen
Kevin Hoke
HLS 402- Counterintelligence
February 29, 2012
Robert Hanssen joined the FBI as an agent on January 12, 1976 and was transferred to the Gary, Indiana, office. In 1978, Hanssen and his family moved to New York when the FBI transferred him to its office there. The next year, Hanssen was moved into counter-intelligence and given the task of compiling a database of Soviet intelligence for the Bureau. It was then, in 1979, only three years after joining the FBI, that Hanssen began his career as a Soviet spy.
In 1979, Hanssen approached the GRU and offered his services. Hanssen never indicated any political or ideological motive for his activities. During his first espionage cycle, Hanssen told the GRU a significant amount, including information on FBI bugging activities and Bureau lists of suspected Soviet intelligence agents. His most important leak of information was the betrayal of Dmitri Polyakov, code named TOPHAT. Polyakov was a CIA informant for more than 20 years and passed large amounts of information to American intelligence while he rose to the rank of General in the Soviet Army. The Soviets did not act on their intelligence about Polyakov until he was betrayed a second time by CIA mole Aldrich Ames in 1985 (Wise, 2003).
Hanssen was nearly exposed in 1981, when Bonnie Hanssen caught her husband in their basement writing a letter to the Soviets. Hanssen admitted to her that he had been giving information to the Soviets for monetary gain and that he had received $30,000 as payment. Hanssen then stopped spying for the Soviet Union until 1985 (Wise, 2003).
Hanssen was transferred to the Washington, D.C. office in 1981. His new job in the FBI's budget office gave him access to information involving many different FBI activities. This included all the FBI activities related to wiretapping and electronic surveillance. He became known in the Bureau as an expert on computers.
In 1983, Hanssen
Cited: A not-so-secret tunnel. (2009, February 11). Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/03/04/national/main276193.shtml Spycatcher: bringing down robert hanssen . (2002, December 27). Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=123776 Wise, D. (2003). Spy: the inside story of how the fbi 's robert hanssen betrayed ameri . Random House Trade Paperbacks.