Robert Hanssen had begun his collaboration with Moscow in 1985, but was not arrested until 2001 and during this long period, he was never the subject of any suspicion. He was always extremely wary and cautious, and on several occasions, he preferred to forget his Russian counterparts, as he had done in the past. Due to the various positions he held, he was also the best-placed to know if he was under any suspicion and could regularly consult his own folder in the FBI database. But did these intrusions risk leaving traces on the system? It has been said that this was one of the reasons for his fall after colleagues were interviewed about his regular searches. However, if this is the explanation given to the public then it is hiding the truth: the FBI did not actually know how Robert Hanssen had been unmasked!
In order to fully understand, we must return to the 1980s, when the FBI and the CIA were convinced that there was a mole in their midst. They were curious as to how some of their operations had failed and a top-secret cell was even set up in order to catch who it might be. Once more, such information could not have failed to get past Robert Hanssen. He wisely decided to play dead, which was all the more easy as it was always he who took the initiative when contacting the Russians, and finally resurfaced in 1994 after the arrest of Aldrich Ames.
In 1996 the hunt for moles provided fresh results with the arrests of Nicholson and Pitts, but Hansen waited until 1999 before making contact again with the Russians. No doubt he wanted to experience the thrill of the great spy game one last time. It must also be said, following the evidence he gave after his arrest, that he despised his colleagues so much that he believed them incapable of unmasking him. He even wrote to the Soviets telling them that they were over estimating the FBI.
The danger, however, came from the other side: Hanssen was betrayed by a man who knew some of the secrets behind Russian espionage. For many years the spy hunters had believed that the mole belonged to the FBI, and held a very high position, but despite their investigations, had been unable to identify him. They even decided to try and turn a Russian agent so they could get information on who it might be.
In autumn 2000, the first secretary of the Russian mission to the UN, Sergei Tretyakov, suddenly disappeared. It was only four months later, in January 2001 that it was learnt he had defected and sought political asylum in the United States. Even today, the FBI maintain that Tretyakov had nothing to do with the Hanssen affair. However, it is certain that the diplomat was a member of the secret services as he did not arrive empty handed: he possessed all the correspondence over the years between Hanssen and the Soviet and Russian authorities, in fact, the entire files of the mysterious ‘B'.
Confidential Defense
122
FOR THE SAFETY OF MY CHILDREN, I WOULD LIKE YOU TO SEND ME SOME DIAMONDS WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE OPPORTUNE TIME FOR YOU TO BUY MY SERVICES AS A SPEAKER. SOONER OR LATER, I WOULD APPRECIATE AN ESCAPE PLAN ON YOUR BEHALF (NOTHING LASTS FOREVER).
[The Confidential Defence journalist comments that:]
This last sentence clearly indicates that Hanssen was thinking of Kim Philby who, after fleeing to Russia, actually lived from giving special conference talks to KGB officers at the headquarters at Yasenevo. However, Philby had always refused to accept money from the Russians because he believed he was working for them for ideological reasons. The tone of this letter is interesting because it indicates a certain naivety within Hanssen, who shows himself from the outset as being very greedy, especially to people whose ideology is based on thought and relationships with people, not money, as opposed to that of the American population. Hanssen’s betrayal was therefore not down to ideology, like Philby, rather he wanted to live like the famous Englishman, which also in a way made him lose a little sense of what was real and what was not. He needed to find a valuable motive as far as the Soviets were concerned, as he had no real material needs. Yet his true motives were shameful as, in an irrational manner, they represented a fantasy that the Russians themselves could not understand. What is more, the nature of the relationship was sealed from the outset by his initial request for $100,000. For the Soviets, whatever the value of the information that Hanssen provided them with, he could only ever be considered as a mercenary character, unworthy of their consideration. One can only reasonably assume that if Hanssen had instead tried to pretend that he was acting out of ideological reasons, he might today be safe in Russia.
Now in possession of these documents, the FBI could mount a proper investigation to find out who this ‘B' actually was. This time, it appears that the information was only disclosed to a very small number of agents, which did not include Hanssen. One important detail is that in one of Hanssen's letters was a very detailed description of the dead letterbox system used by the spy. After examining the scene, the FBI agents found a piece of a rubbish bag on which were two fingerprints. They identified them as being Hanssen's by conducting a systematic search of the FBI files.123 However, they wanted to catch Hanssen in the act because they had only managed to find two fingerprints. The drop off point under the bridge was near Hanssen's home and so it was possible that a rubbish bag could have flown there by chance, or that he had thrown it away
