The Worst Intelligence Disaster in FBI History | True Life Spy Stories
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Published 2023-12-22
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In 1986, a chilling revelation sent shockwaves through the FBI's Soviet counterintelligence section in Washington. Two prized Soviet informants, Valery Martynov and Sergei Motorin, had been compromised. Once exposed, the men were lured back to Moscow, and brutally executed - a bullet in the head for each, the KGB's grim signature for traitors.
The loss of the two agents referred to affectionately within the FBI as ‘M&M’ marked an abrupt end to what had become routine covert meetings and intelligence exchanges.
Parallel to this, the CIA, ensconced across the Potomac in Langley, grappled with its own nightmare. Over the years, dozens of their operatives in the Soviet Union had suddenly gone dark, were executed or imprisoned.
The FBI scrambled to form an elite investigative team to unravel the mystery. Yet, as the years wore on and the puzzle remained unsolved, the unsettling possibility of the traitor being one of their own lingered in the air like a bad smell.
Determined to root out the mole, experienced analysts within the FBI’s Soviet unit delved into archives of debriefings and reports, searching for a pattern, a clue, anything that might reveal a link to the betrayer. They honed in on an innocent agent, meanwhile the culprit, who was outwardly a devout Catholic, a loving husband, father of 6, and a trusted FBI agent, harboured a perilous secret.
Robert Philip Hanssen’s decades-long path of treachery is considered the worst intelligence disaster in FBI history. This is his story.
#roberthanssen #philipthompson #truelifespystories
All Comments (21)
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Just saying if my first post as an FBI agent was in Gary, Indiana I think I’d become a traitor too
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You'd think that the FBI would require its agents to provide details on the costs of their mortgages, vehicles, vacations, children's educations, etc.
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The priest was like do what you want but leave the money here 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
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After years of harassing him and his family, Brian Kelley eventually received apologies from both the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. In 2007, the year after he retired, the C.I.A. awarded him its Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal.
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Instead of getting a smaller house and sending his kids to public schools, he seriously committed TREASON!?!?!
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I’ve been wanting to learn more about Hanssen because his daughter Susan is a professor at my school. This is crazy…
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I much prefer natural voice narration to AI narration, so it's good to hear! Also, I love a South African accent, so it's extra good.
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In a previous job I used to pass lie detector tests regularly - I lied through all of them. I just followed the advice given to Aldrich Ames "Just relax" but also trying 'the stress gambit' (hyperventilating while waiting for the test). So if a slob like me can piss through a lie detector test, putting the in top managers of the FBI through lie detector tests isn't going to achieve much (especially as they know the lie detector's short comings). The fact Hanssen's contact didn't show, would be an indicator of another spy.
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And where he says he intended to "make some spare cash and get out of the spy game fast" - that was basically my same idea when I started messing with cocaine after I'd been completely drug free for 7 years.. It was like, "My wife left me, I have sleep apnea, I'm always totally exhausted and I work 12 hour overnight shifts in a sawmill - so I'll just get a little cocaine and feel a little spry this weekend and then not mess with it anymore.." Well, 4 months later and I owe my guy $900 (when I make $750 a week), I feel like I can't do without it and I fully intend to ask my doctor for Disulfiram... Hopefully I can dig my way back out. I think - hopefully - I've learned my lesson to never go into something dangerous, sketchy, unhealthy, addictive, etc. with the intention of "getting back out quickly" - because you always get sucked into the black hole...
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The bought a house, ran the entire operation on paper, literally manufactured a whole job and position for him... INCLUDING a parking spot?!? The feds weren't playing around with this one lmao
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This was an interesting video. I love that you don't include distracting music and side effects - just concentrate on the story. I'm curious why his wife was not charged, as she knew what he was doing. He was a really bad husband though, and the worst of traitors. I'm glad he wound up in a super-max prison. His actions hurt and killed a lot of people.
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While in college in the 1990s, I took a couple of classes on National Security and Global Politics from a visiting CIA officer who was part of a CIA recruitment program to identify gifted students who would be interested in an intelligence career. While I was nowhere near smart enough to go in to that field, the classes were quite fascinating. This was right after the time when Aldrich Ames was caught and convicted and it turns out my professor knew Ames quite well, having worked with him off and on over 20+ years. One of the things my professor mentioned in class was that it was well accepted in the agency that every person has a price at which they can be bought.
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What a jerk that he would do those thing’s to his wife. Especially, having his friend watch. Her husband was a real scumbag.
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Just started watching and I wasnt expecting a South African accent. What a nice surprise. Regards, from JHB.
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25:00 working in a US intelligence agency in the 80s and hearing someone say "gee it'll be nice when i retire to poland someday" has to be the most sus moment EVER
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This deserves some kind of YouTube achievement award! There was a lot of information in this documentary not covered in the movie Breach you could redo an even cooler movie based on this, well done!
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This was an awesome listen! First time on your channel. Not that it means much coming from a random comment, but your attention to detail, pacing, tone and video editing are amongst the best in the genre. You deserve all the subs and success that is coming your way.
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The FBI was warned in 1983 and the evidence was given to Hanssen's supervisor.
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One word : brilliant. Using your own voice makes the story even more interesting than it already is. Well done Philip. Can’t wait for the next one
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Interesting…Hanson looks familiar, as a navy veteran who was on active duty during 70/80/90s, it’s sad that such FBI agents went so long undetected, such traitors go undetected when they are looking for themselves, like in the the movie “The Departed”, the greatest threats always come from within, as they are still occurring today, within the government, especially when you get someone in the highest seat in the government who is secretly compromising secrets, then claiming he has immunity, no one should be above suspicion or the law…
