Paper Topic:

Robert Philip Hanssen Espionage Case

Robert Philip Hanssen

David C . Felix

Hodges University

CJ350 Wheel Three

December 3 , 2007-12-05

Patricia A . Parke

Abstract

Robert Philip Hanssen

Robert Philip Hanssen was a counterintelligence agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI ) with the responsibility of protecting the United States from the Soviet Union . Many consider Hanssen to be the worst traitor in the history of the United States . Hanssen used his access to intelligence secrets and betrayed his country by selling those secrets to Russia and the former Soviet Union . This will discuss

br the history of this case and how Robert Philip Hanssen could betray his country

Introduction

In a twisted career that lasted almost two decades , Robert Philip Hanssen became a mole inside the FBI , ending his career in prison serving a life sentence . Beginning in 1985 , Hanssen started out as a person who was known as a hardworking man by his neighbours , colleagues and friends . This man who appeared to be a hardworking family man had a dark side that some say simply manifested itself as greed

This FBI agent who admitted to being a spy for the Soviet Union and later , Russia , traded the secrets of his country for cash that amounted to almost 1 .4 million dollars as well as jewels and diamonds . He said he did it for his children - as if that was enough of an excuse for the lives that were lost due to his perfidy . During the many years of betrayal , Hanssen provided the Soviets with key information that included documents of almost six thousand pages , as well as twenty six computer diskettes that contained information on top secret programs This information had been catalogued for the Soviets and generously placed into their hands by Hanssen

Ironically , the very Soviets he chose to help were the ones who turned him in . It is said that someone from Russia itself had tipped off the FBI that there was a spy in their midst . An investigation ensued and it wasn 't long before Hanssen was hauled up on fifteen counts of espionage and conspiracy charges . He pled guilty to all charges in the indictment in a plea agreement that excluded the death penalty . On May 10 , 2002 at the age of fifty eight years , he was sentenced to a life in prison without the possibility of parole (CNN , 2002

Many people still wonder what motivated a man like Hanssen to sell out his country and betray the national trust . They also wonder how he could spy for this nation 's prime enemy for fifteen years before he was caught . Was he the first and biggest blunder in the history of America 's security

Discussion 100 ,000 that would add to his collection

In the same letter , Hansse , along with Aldrich Ames , also alerted the Soviets about the Russian spies that had been recruited by the United States . Three Soviet officers ? Boris Yuzhin , Sergey Motorin and Valeriy Martynov ? were the people who were being used as double agents by the...

15 pages

74.5 KB

Free sing-up