Robert Philip Hanssen (April 18, 1944 – June 5, 2023) was an American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States from 1979 to 2001.
On January 12, 1976, Robert Philip Hanssen swore an oath to enforce the law and protect the nation as a newly minted FBI special agent. Instead, he ultimately became the most damaging spy in Bureau history.
Eric O'Neill took to Twitter, saying he regrets not asking Robert Hanssen — the former FBI agent sentenced to life in prison in 2002 for spying on America for Russia — why he betrayed his homeland.
Robert Hanssen's Arrest
Hanssen was a resident of Vienna, Virginia – and a Russian spy. Hanssen sold classified secrets to Russia and the former Soviet Union on at least 20 different occasions over more than 15 years, receiving large sums of cash and diamonds in return.
MATA HARI. Mata Hari embodied all the intrigue of espionage and remains the most famous female spy in history. The dancer turned WWI spy is said to have seduced diplomats and military officers into giving up their secrets.
“The Spy Who Loved Us is an enthralling account of revolution, war, and espionage. Thomas Bass's work will take its place alongside Neil Sheehan's A Bright Shining Lie and Michael Herr's Dispatches as one of the great books to come out of, memorialize, and illuminate the Vietnam War.”
Robert Philip Hanssen (April 18, 1944 – June 5, 2023) was an American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States from 1979 to 2001.
Robert Hanssen was one of the most damaging spies in the history of the FBI. The former US agent, who has died in prison, leaked top secrets to Moscow for nearly 20 years - betrayals that the agency says cost lives. It took 300 agents to finally bring him down.
WASHINGTON — Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent who took more than $1.4 million in cash and diamonds to trade secrets with Moscow in one of the most notorious spying cases in American history, died in prison Monday.
Robert Hanssen, FBI agent who spied for the Russians, dies in supermax prison. "He ultimately became the most damaging spy in Bureau history," the agency said.
Joaquín "Jack" García (born 1952) is a Cuban-American retired FBI agent, best known for his undercover work infiltrating the Gambino crime family in New York City. García is regarded as one of the most successful and prolific undercover agents in the history of the FBI. Joaquín "Jack" García.
The FBI is led by a Director, who is appointed by the U.S. President and confirmed by the Senate for a term not to exceed 10 years. The current Director is Christopher Wray. You can find information on all Directors who have served the FBI on our History website.
The U.S. employs more than 100,000 spies, consultants and foreign nationals to support its national security information needs.
Accuracy. The filmmakers fictionalized much of Eric O'Neill's story, as mentioned in the end credits. Among the major changes made for the film: The real O'Neill knew going in that Hanssen was the subject of a counterintelligence investigation.
Aldrich Hazen "Rick" Ames (/eɪmz/; born May 26, 1941) is a former CIA counterintelligence officer who was convicted of espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union and Russia in 1994.
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (1903-1975) was probably the most famous KGB “illegal” in history, whose story was the basis of Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning film “Bridge of Spies”. Born William Fisher in the UK to Russian émigré parents, he grew up to be a Soviet intelligence officer.
Jack Barsky was planted as a sleeper agent in the United States by the Soviet KGB. He was an active sleeper agent between 1978 and 1988. He was located by US authorities in 1994 and then arrested in 1997. Barsky quickly confessed after being arrested and became a useful source of information about spy techniques.
The Normandy Landings of 6 June 1944 marked the beginning of the liberation of occupied Western Europe. The Security Service made a significant contribution to the success of D-Day through its double agent Juan Pujol, codenamed GARBO, who has been described as the greatest double agent of the Second World War.
Often dubbed “America's first spy,” Nathan Hale was a Yale graduate who served in Knowlton's Rangers, a short-lived Continental reconnaissance unit.
Perhaps the most well-known Black spy of the American Revolution is James Armistead Lafayette. Born enslaved in Virginia, the French General Marquis de Lafayette recruited him to spy for the patriots in the summer of 1781. With the permission of his owner, James infiltrated General Charles Cornwallis' camp at Yorktown.