Robert Hanssen: The fake job that snared FBI agent who spied for Moscow

Robert Hanssen was 1 of the astir damaging spies successful the past of the FBI. The erstwhile US agent, who has died successful prison, leaked apical secrets to Moscow for astir 20 years - betrayals that the bureau says outgo lives. It took 300 agents to yet bring him down. Two of them who played a cardinal portion archer america however they did it.

In December 2000, FBI cause Richard Garcia had a funny sojourn from a workfellow overseeing the Russia desk.

"He asked, 'Do you cognize a feline named Robert Hanssen?'" Mr Garcia recalled. "I said, 'No'."

The authoritative responded: "Good. Because you're astir to."

A fewer months later, successful portion acknowledgment to Mr Garcia's covert work, the full state would arsenic well. Hanssen's apprehension successful February 2001 sent shockwaves done the quality assemblage and the grade of his treble beingness burst connected to the beforehand pages.

More than 2 decades later, connected Monday this week, authorities announced that helium had been recovered unresponsive successful his compartment astatine the maximum-security situation successful Colorado wherever helium was serving a beingness sentence. He was 79 and is thought to person died from earthy causes.

Mr Garcia, present 70 and retired from the FBI, reacted tersely to the news. "Good riddance," helium said.

Hanssen had studied Russian successful assemblage and began moving for the FBI successful 1976. Within a decade, helium was double-crossing the bureau. Starting successful 1985, Hanssen operated arsenic a destructive mole wrong the US government, selling apical concealed documents to the USSR and Russia, and compromising the identities of undercover spies.

According to the 100-page affidavit outlining his crimes, Hanssen's espionage resulted successful the apprehension and imprisonment of 3 US sources and the execution of 2 more.

Some of the top-secret documents that Hanssen handed implicit included a US quality appraisal of Soviet attempts to stitchery quality connected American atomic programmes. Hanssen gave accusation to the KGB, and aboriginal its post-Soviet iteration, the SVR.

In speech for his deceptions, the Russians paid Hanssen $1.4 cardinal - $600,000 successful currency and diamonds, and different $800,000 placed successful a slope account.

Hanssen operated nether the radar for truthful agelong owed to his old-school espionage methods. He relied connected "dead drops", a method of physically leaving materials for his handlers to discover. He chose mundane sites passim the suburban Virginia neighbourhoods that situation Washington to present the stolen intelligence.

His handlers successful Moscow did not cognize his identity. He went by the alias "Ramon Garcia", of nary narration to Robert Garcia who mused the coincidence mightiness person irked Hanssen erstwhile they met.

His activities continued agelong aft the Berlin Wall fell and the USSR disintegrated. He was attempting to pass with the Russians close up until the infinitesimal of his arrest.

But a bid of quality breakthroughs yet enactment the FBI and the US quality apparatus onto his tail.

US quality officials had suspected a spy successful their midst since the 1990s, but it took a fewer years to zero successful connected Hanssen.

Then a Russian plus moving for the US obtained the Russian dossier connected their antheral successful Virginia. Inside US quality officials discovered a signaling of a telephone telephone Hanssen made to his handlers, arsenic good arsenic fingerprints near connected trash bags utilized for dormant drops.

By November 2000, they had their man. But present they had to beryllium it.

The FBI hatched a program to spot Hanssen nether surveillance by transferring him retired of the State Department wherever helium worked and creating a bogus occupation astatine the Bureau wherever operatives could show him.

"What we wanted to bash was get capable grounds to convict him, and the eventual purpose was to drawback him successful the act," Debra Evans Smith, a erstwhile lawman adjunct manager of the Counterintelligence Division, recalled successful an FBI summary of the case.

That's wherever Mr Garcia came in.

On 8 December 2000, the conception main for the FBI's Russia table dropped by to capable him successful connected Hanssen's subterfuge.

Mr Garcia, an experienced undercover operative, was to beryllium Hanssen's fake superior, a precise bureaucratic boss.

"He hated me, let's enactment it that way," Mr Garcia recalled. "I had to fundamentally dilatory him down without it getting excessively ridiculous."

Only a fewer FBI employees knew astir the spy successful their midst.

Mr Garcia recruited Eric O'Neill, a 26-year-old undercover operative with a cognition of hacking, to airs arsenic Hanssen's administrative aide.

"This was 1 of the astir large events successful my life, going undercover astatine a comparatively young property and going up against the astir damaging spy successful US history," Mr O'Neill told the BBC.

Over the adjacent 2 weeks, the 2 got to cognize each different good - though 1 was covertly investigating the other. At 1 point, Mr O'Neill adjacent accompanied Hanssen's household to church.

Mr O'Neill described his people arsenic a narcissist with a immense ego. "He wanted to beryllium a mentor. He wanted to impart each his cognition connected someone."

Over the people of the investigation, Mr Garcia would instrumentality Mr Hanssen (whom helium described arsenic a "gun nut") to a shooting scope portion agents conducted searches, including 1 of his car wherever agents uncovered apical concealed documents.

One day, helium lured him retired of his bureau to a shooting scope portion Mr O'Neill frantically copied the contents of his Palm Pilot - a precursor to BlackBerrys and smartphones.

In Mr O'Neill's telling, helium replaced the instrumentality conscionable successful clip earlier Hanssen returned.

If this sounds similar thing retired of a Hollywood movie, it is 1 - Mr O'Neill's communicative was made into a 2007 espionage thriller called Breach, starring Ryan Phillippe, Chris Cooper and Laura Linney.

By February 2001, 300 agents were moving connected the case, according to the FBI.

They laid successful hold for Hanssen to effort different dormant driblet and yet helium did.

Hanssen was arrested successful February 2001 astatine Foxstone Park successful Virginia and charged with espionage. He pleaded blameworthy to 15 counts and was sentenced to beingness successful situation without the anticipation of parole.

FBI manager Louis Freeh called Hanssen's betrayal "the astir traitorous actions imaginable against a state governed by the regularisation of law".

The lawsuit threw a wrench into relations with its Cold War rival and President George W Bush expelled galore Russian diplomats.

Hanssen was sent to situation successful Florence, Colorado, wherever helium remained for implicit 2 decades until his decease this week.

The historical lawsuit changed the lives of everyone involved.

Mr O'Neill went connected to constitute a publication astir the case, Gray Day, and is present a "keynote speaker/spy catcher", according to his website.

He tried for years, without success, to interrogation Hanssen for the book. After spending weeks unopen successful a small, bureaucratic bureau with Hanssen successful the aboriginal 2000s, situation officials refused to fto him walk adjacent a infinitesimal successful the spy's cell.

When helium heard Hanssen had died, Mr O'Neill regretted not pushing harder to get it.

"I would person asked him, wherefore did you bash it? Because it's thing that I americium reasonably definite I know, but thing that helium has refused to ever archer anyone."

Mr Garcia's absorption to the quality was little introspective.

"He's astir apt the worst spy ever until this day. For the harm helium did for the US and Russia, for radical who died arsenic a effect of the accusation helium gave up. For doing it for truthful long. It was conscionable astonishing that it happened the mode it did."