The FBI Agent Who Secretly Betrayed America for 22 Years

Robert Hanssen led the FBI's hunt for Soviet moles - while secretly being one himself. Let my sponsor BetterHelp connect you to a therapist who can support you - all from the comfort of your own home. Visit https://betterhelp.com/newsthink and enjoy 10% off your first month I highly recommend the book: Spy: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America by David Wise https://a.co/d/5Wdq3w9 Chapters 00:00 Introduction 0:35 Robert Hanssen’s Espionage Activities 1:40 A Troubled Childhood 2:27 Becoming a Spy 3:49 The Year of the Spy 6:44 His Espionage Techniques 7:55 His Famous Betrayal: The Secret Tunnel 8:47 The Collapse of the Soviet Union Mirrors Hanssen’s Unraveling 9:28 The Hunt for the Mole 11:19 The Breakthrough 12:56 Catching Him in the Act 14:41 The Arrest 15:20 The Sentencing 16:31 His Motivation 17:30 Today’s Sponsor: BetterHelp Follow Newsthink on X https://x.com/Newsthink Newsthink is produced and presented by Cindy Pom https://x.com/cindypom Grab your Newsthink merch here: https://newsthink.creator-spring.com Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/Newsthink Sources: Original entrance of J. Edgar Hoover building: Tim Evanson, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0 via Wikimedia Commons Jacob K. Javits Federal Building (FBI in New York): By Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA - Jacob K. Javits Federal Building, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79951638 IBM 3033: Norsk Teknisk Museum, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 via Wikimedia Commons 261 Fifth Avenue entrance in Manhattan (Armtorg): By Beyond My Ken - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15029166 Russian R-36 (NATO: SS-18 “Satan”): Clay Gilliland, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0 via Wikimedia Commons FBI headquarters: By ajay_suresh - FBI Headquarters - J. Edgar Hoover Building, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=150221890 Fence at the Perm-36 gulag: By Gerald Praschl - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18353834 (note Yuzhin was sentenced to Perm-35) Construction workers in the Soviet Union: By RIA Novosti archive, image #20909 / B. Barmin / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18559672 Family life in the Soviet Union: By RIA Novosti archive, image #77629 / Boris Kavashkin / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18559758 Line up in the Soviet Union: By Л.П. Джепко - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5135415 St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Great Falls, Virginia: Cvoncsefalvay, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 via Wikimedia Commons J. Edgar Hoover building sign: Billy Hathorn, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 via Wikimedia Commons Soviet ICBM RT-23 Molodets: Andrey Korchagin from St. Petersburg, Russia, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0 via Wikimedia Commons Soviet MRBM RSD-10: By George Chernilevsky - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8315234 Dushanbe riots: By RIA Novosti archive, image #699865 / Vladimir Fedorenko / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17824601 Historical newspaper featuring arrest of FBI agent Earl Edwin Pitts courtesy of: Steve Goldman Goldman Historical Newspapers: https://www.ebay.com/str/stevegoldmanhistoricalnewspapers?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=LIcVo7saSbO&sssrc=3418065&ssuid=bZHJF1SxQUe&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY Covid highway sign: By EelamStyleZ - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=89019641