U.S. Charges FBI Agent With Spying for Russia Since 1985

A veteran FBI counterintelligence agent was arraigned Tuesday on charges of spying for Moscow for the last 15 years in what FBI Director Louis J. Freeh described as one of the most damaging espionage cases in U.S. history.

U.S. officials said Robert Philip Hanssen was caught during a clandestine operation Sunday night, when he was observed taking a package of classified material to a “dead drop” in a park near his suburban Washington home. At a second drop site, FBI agents intercepted $50,000 that was allegedly intended as Hanssen’s payment.

Hanssen is accused of providing his handlers over the years with more than 6,000 pages of material and 26 computer disks containing sensitive U.S. intelligence information. In return, officials said, he was paid at least $1.4 million in cash and diamonds. Hanssen also allegedly identified at least three Russian intelligence agents working for the United States; all three were subsequently tried, and two were executed for treason.

In 1989, Hanssen allegedly alerted the KGB, one of Moscow’s intelligence wings, about the secret FBI investigation into Felix Bloch, the highest-ranking diplomat suspected of spying for Russia. The leak “completely compromised” the investigation, according to an affidavit filed Tuesday. Bloch was never charged.

The 25-year FBI veteran also compromised numerous U.S. intelligence personnel, FBI counterintelligence techniques used against the Russians, a classified analysis of KGB operations, dozens of documents about U.S. double-agent programs and many other intelligence secrets, according to an affidavit filed by the government Tuesday.

When Hanssen was arrested Sunday, he seemed shocked, the FBI said. If convicted, he could face life imprisonment--and on some charges, the death penalty.

Hanssen will plead not guilty “at this point,” said his attorney, Plato Cacheris. Federal authorities “always talk like they have a great case, but we’ll see,” he added. A preliminary hearing has been set for March 5.

Hanssen, 56 and a father of six, is only the third FBI agent ever accused of spying. He was so proficient as a counterintelligence agent that the Russians did not discover either his name or his FBI position until after Sunday night’s arrest, Freeh said. He communicated with his handlers through a code name, Ramon, and the Russians referred to him simply as “B,” Freeh said.

Besides refusing to meet the Russians face-to-face in this country, Hanssen declined invitations to travel overseas to meet with his handlers or engage in espionage drops, according to the affidavit. He checked FBI records for indications that either he or the drop sites he used might be under investigation, Freeh said.

Yet his value to the Russians was reflected in the large payoffs made to him and the prestigious awards bestowed on his handlers, Freeh noted.

Bush ‘Deeply Disturbed’ by Charges

President Bush said he was “deeply disturbed” by the “extremely serious” allegations that a high-ranking FBI agent had been spying for Russia and its predecessor, the Soviet Union.

“Allegations of espionage are a reminder that we live in a dangerous world, a world that sometimes does not share American values,” Bush told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to St. Louis.

At a news conference, Freeh described Hanssen’s conduct as “the most traitorous actions imaginable.” Although he described the arrest as a “counterintelligence coup,” he said that Hanssen had managed to remove vast amounts of information from FBI records totally undetected for 15 years.

“The full extent of the damage done is yet unknown, because no accurate damage assessment could be done during the course of the covert investigation without jeopardizing it. We believe, however, that it was exceptionally grave,” Freeh said.

Hanssen was “upset” and “very emotional,” said his attorney, Cacheris, who had defended convicted spy Aldrich H. Ames, former Reagan administration Atty. Gen. John M. Mitchell and former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky.

Cacheris said he knew few of the details of the charges lodged against his client, describing the case as “embryonic.”

In earlier communications with his Russian handlers, Hanssen seemed fully aware of the possible consequences of his actions, according to the government affidavit and comments by U.S. officials.

“I know far better than most what minefields are laid--and the risks,” Hanssen once wrote to Russian intelligence officials, according to Freeh.

The 100-page affidavit constructs a litany of evidence underlying the charges of espionage and conspiracy to commit espionage filed against Hanssen.

Hanssen, who studied Russian in college, actively volunteered to conduct espionage against the United States, according to the affidavit by FBI agent Stefan A. Pluta.

According to the affadavit, Hanssen’s espionage career began in October 1985, when he sent an envelope to the Alexandria, Va., home of KGB officer Viktor M. Degtyar. A message inside instructed Degtyar to deliver the contents to the ranking intelligence official at the Soviet Embassy in Washington. Inside a second, inner envelope was an unsigned, typed letter from the person whom the KGB came to call “B.”

The letter promised that “B” would soon send a box of documents from “the most sensitive and highly compartmented projects of the U.S. intelligence community.”

“All are originals to aid in verifying their authenticity,” he wrote, according to the affidavit. “I believe they are sufficient to justify a $100,000 payment to me.”

That exchange marked the first in a series of irregular and always indirect swaps of information for cash. Hanssen was so careful, he once advised his handlers that too much money would cause him a problem.

“I have little need or utility for more than the $100,000,” he wrote in one letter cited in the affidavit. “It merely provides a difficulty since I can not spend it, store it or invest it easily. . . . Perhaps some diamonds as security to my children.”

He also requested “an escape plan” for himself, since “nothing lasts forever.”

Throughout his career as a counterintelligence specialist, Hanssen worked in top national security posts offering access to the most highly classified intelligence information in the United States, Freeh said. In its investigation, the FBI found that he “routinely” accessed classified records that he then passed on to the Russians using encrypted messages and dead drops.

“The trusted insider betrayed his trust without detection,” Freeh said.

Hanssen Was Allegedly Paid Over $600,000

The affidavit cites 27 letters and 22 packages Hanssen gave the KGB and its post-Soviet successor, the SVR, and describes 33 packages they left for Hanssen at secret locations.

For his services, Hanssen, who received an MBA in accounting from Northwestern University in 1971 and became a certified public accountant before joining the FBI, was paid more than $600,000 in cash and diamonds. In addition, the Russians told Hanssen they had deposited funds now worth at least $800,000 in escrow in a Moscow bank on his behalf, the affidavit alleges.

Freeh Doesn’t Say What Was Tip-Off

The arrest was the result of what Freeh described as “long-standing FBI-CIA efforts” launched after the Ames case to “aggressively engage” in identifying other breaches of the U.S. intelligence community.

Freeh did not say what specifically tipped off the FBI about Hanssen, although he referred to extensive use of “substantial” covert surveillance, court-authorized searches, computer forensic analysis and “other sensitive techniques” to nail down Hanssen’s activities.

“Because of these coordinated efforts, the FBI was able to secure original Russian documentation of an American spy who appeared to be Hanssen,” a premise confirmed when Hanssen made secret contact with Russian intelligence officers, Freeh said.

The investigation was “extremely complex,” however, because of Hanssen’s expertise in counterintelligence, Freeh said.

To shield his identity from both Russian and American agents, for example, Hanssen instructed his handlers to take out a classified ad in a Washington newspaper listing a “Dodge Diplomat” automobile for sale, according to the affidavit. He then supplied the Russians with a pay phone number where he could be contacted.

Hanssen had been under surveillance since last fall. He was transferred back to FBI headquarters from a five-year stint at the State Department in January so his activities could be more closely monitored.

In announcing the case against Hanssen, Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft pledged to continue the search for spies in this country.

“Individuals who commit treasonous acts against the United States will be held fully accountable,” Ashcroft warned. “I will devote whatever resources are necessary within the department to ensure that justice is done in this case and any other case like it.”

John Martin, former head of the Justice Department’s internal security section until he retired four years ago, said Hanssen’s cooperation would have been of great value to the Russians.

“The fact is that the Soviets had two penetrations at the same time: one at the FBI and one at the CIA. So people at the American desk at KGB Center in Moscow would be in the catbird’s seat as far as human intelligence and technical intelligence goes. It was a coup for the Russians.”

On Capitol Hill, senior lawmakers who oversee intelligence issues also expressed alarm at the implications of the Hanssen case.

“Clearly, we need to remain vigilant and to recognize that the end of the Cold War did not eliminate the business of stealing our nation’s most valuable secrets,” said Bob Graham of Florida, the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), another intelligence committee member, said a lengthy review would be required to assess the damage.

What was perhaps most disturbing, Kyl said, was the discovery that a mole was operating inside the FBI while Ames was peddling secrets from inside the CIA.

“Apparently having this guy from the FBI and Ames from the CIA at about the same time confirming each other’s information, whether they knew of each other or not, is pretty significant,” Kyl said.

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Times staff writers Ronald J. Ostrow, Nick Anderson and Kathleen Howe contributed to this story.

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Making the Drop

FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen allegedly delivered materials to Russians at a number of prearranged “dead drop” sites near his home in Vienna, Va., including the two principle ones shown here, referred to as “Ellis” and “Lewis.” The FBI says Hanssen left packages for the KGB and its successor agency, the SVR, at the sites, in exchange for money as well as diamonds. Hanssen had been under surveillance for several months before he was arrested Sunday making an alleged drop at Foxstone Park.

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Ellis drop site

FBI says drop was made under a footbridge over Wolftrap Creek near Creek Crossing Road at Foxstone Park.

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Lewis drop site

FBI says drop was made at one corner of a wooden platform located in the amphitheatre of Long Branch Nature Center.

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Sources: FBI; staff reports; Fairfax County Park Authority; Arlington County Dept. of Parks, Recreation and Community Resources

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More Inside

Typical Neighbor: Spy suspect Robert Philip Hanssen lived a quiet life on a quiet street, A14

Review of FBI: The Justice Department has ordered a panel to study FBI procedures, A14

Mistrust Intact: The arrest of an FBI agent shows little has changed since the Cold War, A15