Robert Hanssen, FBI agent convicted of spying for Russia, dead at 79

[shemp]

Robert Hanssen, FBI agent convicted of spying for Russia, dead at 79

Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent who was one of the most damaging spies in American history, was found dead in his prison cell Monday morning, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

Hanssen, 79, was arrested in 2001 and pleaded guilty to selling highly classified material to the Soviet Union and later Russia. He was serving a life sentence at the federal penitentiary in Florence, Colorado.

Three years after he was hired by the FBI, Hanssen approached the Soviets and began spying in 1979 for the KGB and its successor, the SVR. He stopped a few years later after his wife confronted him.

He resumed spying in 1985, selling thousands of classified documents that compromised human sources and counterintelligence techniques and investigations in exchange for more than $1.4 million in cash, diamonds and foreign bank deposits. Using the alias "Ramon Garcia," he passed information to the spy agencies using encrypted communications and dead drops, without ever meeting in-person with a Russian handler.

His job in the FBI gave him unfettered access to classified information on the bureau's counterintelligence operations. His disclosures included details on U.S. nuclear war preparations and a secret eavesdropping tunnel under the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C. He also betrayed double agents, including Soviet Gen. Dmitri Polyakov, who were later executed.

Hanssen was arrested after making a dead drop in a Virginia park in 2001 after the FBI had been secretly monitoring him for months. His identity was discovered after a Russian intelligence officer handed over a file containing a trash bag with Hanssen's fingerprints and a tape recording of his voice.

 

[LondonJohn]

There was a good episode of the docu-drama series "Spy Wars" about Hanssen, and his investigation and capture.

If the programme is to be believed, the cloning of Hanssen's Palm Pilot (which yielded vital evidence of his treachery) was a very near-run event: his junior - who was actually an FBI investigations plant - arranged for Hanssen to undergo a routine FBI handgun proficiency check in the basement of their office building, giving him (the stooge) time to get the Palm Pilot from Hanssen's briefcase and to a nearby room where they had all the connectivity and decrypting gear set up. The stooge only just got the Palm Pilot back in Hanssen's briefcase by the time Hanssen himself re-entered their office,

Even then, there was a moment of panic when the stooge realised he hadn't noted which exact pouch in Hanssen's briefcase the Palm Pilot had originally been placed in: Hanssen was extremely fastidious (useful attribute for a spy), and it was likely that if the stooge replaced the Palm Pilot in the "wrong" pouch, Hanssen would notice this and therefore know that somebody had removed and replaced the Palm Pilot. It seems that the stooge lucked out with his choice of pouch for the replacement.

There was also some stuff about how the capture and arrest was nearly a Keystone Cops screw-up, but the details of that escape me for the time being.


In passing, I always find it interesting that "western" portrayals of Soviet-era spies (eg Gordievsky) almost unstintingly praise those individuals' strength of character, judgement and courage/bravery..... whereas of course "western" portrayals of "western" spies such as Hanssen use polar opposite descriptors. I'm guessing the reverse is true in Russia.....

 

[dann]

In passing, I always find it interesting that "western" portrayals of Soviet-era spies (eg Gordievsky) almost unstintingly praise those individuals' strength of character, judgement and courage/bravery..... whereas of course "western" portrayals of "western" spies such as Hanssen use polar opposite descriptors. I'm guessing the reverse is true in Russia.....

I don't think much has changed in that respect since the Soviet era.
From a book about Ana Belén Montes (Wikipedia), who was recently released after more than 20 years in jail:

"She demonstrates compulsive, avoidant, narcissistic, antisocial, and immature personality traits."
"She harbors feelings of inadequacy and self-dissatisfaction, and she is uncomfortable in social interactions."
"Montes is fearful of rejection and is thus heavily 'defended.' She is very cautious about expressing affection and uncomfortable when others attempt to become emotionally involved with her."
The CIA analysts conclude that Ana "had narcissistic and antisocial personality traits that are commonly found in spies." Unlike Aldrich Ames at the CIA and Robert Hanssen at the FBI, Ana "was not motivated by greed, frustration over poor work, low self-esteem reckless behavior, lack of judgment, infidelity, fascination with the art of espionage and other frailties," Defense Department Investigators found.
Code Name Blue Wren: The True Story of America's Most Dangerous Female Spy―and the Sister She Betrayed (goodreads)

The author repeats the CIA's description as his own even though the DoD says almost the exact opposite:

In a private ceremony, her Cuban spymasters also had presented their star student with a medal - and then took it away for safekeeping. It was both an ego stroke for their narcissistic agent and a private token of appreciation, an award that Montes cold never take home or display.

The rest of the book shows that Ana Montes is one of the least narcissistic people who ever walked this earth. As for the title mentioning 'the sister she betrayed', the book tells the story about how Ana Montes stood up for her younger siblings and defended them against a brutal narcissistic father. The CIA psychologist and the author of the book confuse anti-USA with antisocial, very different concepts.

Ana Belen Montes’ testimony at her sentencing
An Italian proverb perhaps best describes the fundamental truth I believe in: `All the world is one country.' In such a 'world-country,' the principle of loving one's neighbor as much as oneself seems, to me, to be the essential guide to harmonious relations between all of our ''nation-neighborhoods.'' This principle urges tolerance and understanding for the different ways of others. It asks that we treat other nations the way we wish to be treated -- with respect and compassion. It is a principle that, tragically, I believe we have never applied to Cuba.

Your honor, I engaged in the activity that brought me before you because I obeyed my conscience rather than the law. I believe our government's policy towards Cuba is cruel and unfair, profoundly un-neighborly, and I felt morally obligated to help the island defend itself from our efforts to impose our values and our political system on it. We have displayed intolerance and contempt towards Cuba for most of the last four decades. We have never respected Cuba's right to make its own journey towards its own ideals of equality and justice. I do not understand why we must continue to dictate how the Cubans should select their leaders, who their leaders cannot be, and what laws are appropriate in their land. Why can't we let Cuba pursue its own internal journey, as the United States has been doing for over two centuries?

My way of responding to our Cuba policy may have been morally wrong. Perhaps Cuba's right to exist free of political and economic coercion did not justify giving the island classified information to help it defend itself. I can only say that I did what I thought right to counter a grave injustice.

My greatest desire is to see amicable relations emerge between the United States and Cuba. I hope my case in some way will encourage our government to abandon its hostility towards Cuba and to work with Havana in a spirit of tolerance, mutual respect, and understanding. Today we see more clearly than ever that intolerance and hatred -- by individuals or governments -- spread only pain and suffering. I hope for a U.S. policy that is based instead on neighborly love, a policy that recognizes that Cuba, like any nation, wants to be treated with dignity and not with contempt. Such a policy would bring our government back in harmony with the compassion and generosity of the American people. It would allow Cubans and Americans to learn from and share with each other. It would enable Cuba to drop its defensive measures and experiment more easily with changes. And it would permit the two neighbors to work together and with other nations to promote tolerance and cooperation in our one `world-country,' in our only 'world-homeland.
Prisoner of Conscience: Ana Belen Montes is FREE! (The ProLibertad Freedom Campaign)

 

[dann]

I forgot this part:

I'm guessing the reverse is true in Russia.....

I don't know about Russia, but the reverse is true in the case of Cuba:

Senior Cuban government officials publicly praised Montes and saluted her work, portraying her as a fellow warrior in their fight for socialism and against the Reagan administration’s backing of anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua.
FBI alerted notorious spy for Russia to another working for Cuba (WP, Nov 30, 2023)

As for the alleged narcissism of Ana Montes, I think her statement when she was released speaks for itself:

From a communication written by Ana Belen Montes herself today:

I am more than happy to touch Puerto Rican soil again. After two rather grueling decades and in need of earning a living again, I would like to pursue a quiet and private existence.
Therefore, I will not participate in any media activities. I encourage those who wish to focus on me to instead focus on important issues, such as the serious problems facing the Puerto Rican people or the US economic embargo on Cuba. Who in the last 60 years has asked the Cuban people if they want the United States to impose a suffocating embargo that makes them suffer?
The pressing need for global cooperation to halt and reverse our destruction of our environment also deserves attention. I as a person am irrelevant. I am unimportant, while there are serious problems in our global homeland that demand attention and a demonstration of brotherly love.
Sincerely,
Ana Belén Montes
Prisoner of Conscience: Ana Belen Montes is FREE! (ProLibertad, Jan 6, 2023)

Can anybody imagine a well-known narcissist and former president say, 'I am unimportant. There are much more serious things to be concerned about!'?

As for Robert Hansen, who did indeed appear to be a narcissist, he was informed about the suspicions against Ana Montes but probably didn't inform Russia about them even though the chief of the Cuba unit at FBI headquarters thought so:

Following Hanssen’s arrest in February 2001, Holstad remembered telling him about the Montes case only a few months earlier.
(...)
Though Hanssen confessed to spying for Russia, he denied alerting his handlers to the FBI’s investigation of a Cuban spy, Holstad said, and claimed that he was only interested in providing information concerning Russia.
“I don’t believe his denial,” Holstad told The Post. “He was very narcissistic. If he believed he could enhance his reputation by passing this on, he would have.”
(...)
After Popkin’s article [claiming that Cubans stroked Montes' alleged narcissism] was published in The Post, Montes wrote to a friend, who shared her letter with the journalist. Montes “mocked” the story, Popkin writes in his book, and said “she would much have preferred a clinical analysis of why she spied, with a history lesson for readers on the U.S. attempts to ‘unjustly overthrow the government of Nicaragua in the 1980s,’ and other examples of what American administrations have done to foreign countries from the nineteenth century to today.
FBI alerted notorious spy for Russia to another working for Cuba (WP, Nov 30, 2023)

A pretty consistent attitude, which Popkin interprets as an attempt to avoid "any personal accountability" and replace it "by fact-laden stories of American hostility and imperialism worldwide."
Because nothing could be more narcissistic than clinical analysis and "fact-laden stories," right?!

 

[newyorkguy]

I got this on my news feed yesterday. Hansen was truly dangerous and despicable. Very irresponsible. Not only leaked super-secret nuclear information to the Soviets but revealed the identities of some double agents to his KGB handlers and some of those double agents were executed as a result. A direct result.

Still, it seems sad. He spent several decades in super max and then died -- alone -- in his cell. Was it worth it? News reports say he 'earned' $1.4 million for his espionage. He spent twenty-two years locked up. Heck, that works out to barely $60,000 a year.

I have to think some form of mental illness played a role. Not to the degree that should have absolved him of wrongdoing -- legally he knew the difference between right and wrong -- but some form of mental illness that drove him to do what he did.

[IMGW=300]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1457&pictureid=13514[/IMGW]

 

[Donal]

Another name for the Clinton Body Count List

 

[dann]

I have to think some form of mental illness played a role. Not to the degree that should have absolved him of wrongdoing -- legally he knew the difference between right and wrong -- but some form of mental illness that drove him to do what he did.

"He wanted to be James Bond, and he thought they'd made him a librarian," O'Neill told Washington Post when asked why he believed Hanssen spilled secrets.
O'Neill revealed that Hanssen was patriotic, but was displeased as an employee of the bureau after hopes of being a field agent were replaced with being assigned to work as an analyst.
FBI agent who took down sexually deviant spy Robert Hanssen says traitor wanted to be 'James Bond' (New York Post, June 6, 2023)

I don't think that's an unusual motive for spies who turn against their countries. Some people, and they don't even have to be in the spy business, do it over and over when they feel that they aren't appreciated enough by their employers.

It reminds me of the story of the Dane Morten Storm (Wikipedia). He started out as a member of the Bandidos, converted to Islam and became an al-Qaeda sympathizer, became disenchanted with militant Islam and informed on them to the CIA and the Danish Secret Service (PET), and then he turned against PET and revealed his cooperation with them to the press, apparently because he felt that they didn't recognize the importance of his work for them sufficiently.
Danish spy claims key role in terrorist's death (CBS News, Aug 18, 2013)

 

[newyorkguy]

Hanssen definitely had a bizarre lifestyle and suffered serious psychiatric problems. A court-ordered psychiatrist concluded Hanssen's problems reached the level of a "severe psychological disorder."

Back in 2001, when Hanssen was first arrested, CBS News reported on him.

Lesley Stahl reports that Hanssen invited his best friend to watch him have sex with his wife on a secretly installed television system his wife never knew about. ...Hanssen also sent nude pictures of his wife, Bonnie, to [Jack Horschauer, a retired army officer], unbeknownst to her, the sources revealed. Hanssen's sexual behavior, including posting sexually explicit stories about him and Bonnie on the Internet and numerous visits to strip clubs, where he tried to convert strippers to Catholicism, was part of a psychological disorder, says a psychiatrist who examined him.

Dr. Alan Salerian claims..."[Hanssen's] espionage was an escape from his sexual demons. When he found himself in exciting, dangerous positions, such as espionage and spying, he found that his demons slowed down," Salerian tells Stahl. "He is driven by demons…by thoughts, unwanted thoughts." CBS News link

Hanssen told Dr. Salerian about attending Catholic 'confession' rites where he told a priest about his sexual problems and admitted to being involved in espionage with the Soviet government. The priest reportedly advised Hanssen to pray more and to donate the money he was receiving from the Soviet Union to Mother Teresa. Hanssen told federal investigators that back in the early 1980s he had donated money to Mother Teresa, about $12,000.

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[dann]

Wouldn't attempts to convert strippers to Catholicism be the only legitimate reason for a Catholic to visit a strip club? Or do they do it in order to have something interesting to tell the padre at their next confession?
Did Hanssen ever send nude photos of his wife to the Russians, for instance if there were a couple of empty frames on a roll of microfilm instead of letting it go to waste?

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

Hanssen definitely had a bizarre lifestyle and suffered serious psychiatric problems. A court-ordered psychiatrist concluded Hanssen's problems reached the level of a "severe psychological disorder."

Back in 2001, when Hanssen was first arrested, CBS News reported on him.


Hanssen told Dr. Salerian about attending Catholic 'confession' rites where he told a priest about his sexual problems and admitted to being involved in espionage with the Soviet government. The priest reportedly advised Hanssen to pray more and to donate the money he was receiving from the Soviet Union to Mother Teresa. Hanssen told federal investigators that back in the early 1980s he had donated money to Mother Teresa, about $12,000.

[IMGW=200]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1457&pictureid=13519[/IMGW]

That priest knew Anjezë Bojaxhiu very well. She was always interested in receinving Soviet money and then salting it away in the Vatican Bank.

 

[Crossbow]

Even after all of these years, I still have not been able to figure out what motivated Hansen to become a paid spy.

I guess some people are beyond logic.

 

[dann]

A disgruntled employee going postal is nothing new! (See post 7.)
+ He got paid. Quite a lot. And most of his money didn't go to Mother Theresa ...