Robert Hanssen | 60 Minutes Archive

In 2001, Lesley Stahl reported on "The Secret Life of Robert Hanssen." The former FBI agent was convicted of spying for Russia, and began serving a life sentence in 2002. He died in prison this week at the age of 79.

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[ESUSAMEX]

He was pure evil and I get tired of hearing urbane people making excuses for the evil acts of people. He betrayed his wife, family, coworkers and nation in the worst way possible. His actions led to the horrible deaths of several people who also had families. That is evil! Plain and simple.

[JSSBBB]

He was at SuperMax ADX in Florence, Colorado. In a 7x12ft cell, 23 hours each day with no human contact. 15 consecutive life sentences well deserved.

[abrackas]

Chris Cooper played him in the movie Breach! Worth checking out!

[stellarwind]

This guy was so hated by the FBI/DOJ that they made sure he spent the rest of his life in sheer misery. Just for perspective, the typical inmate spends a maximum of 3 years there because of how harsh it is. He was there for over 20 years. The special housing unit of the ADX supermax walks a very thin line between incarceration and psychological torture.

[ernarc]

He seems to me to have been a classic narcissist. He treated everything - people he loved and hated, as well as classified information -- without considering or feeling remorse over their feelings, legal risk (posed to national security) or moral shame, as well as society's and his family's sense of horror and betrayal. To him, these people and things were simply objects to be exploited. The thrill of sharing his exploits publicly (in pornography) probably gave him a thrill - if, for no other reason, than the thrill of getting away with it (until he didn't).

[Anonymous-pmjf]

In hope Robert Hanssen suffered tremendously in prison over the past 20 years. Good riddance.

[johnfox]

He got life at the Alcatraz of the Rockies in Florence, Colorado where he rotted until his recent death. What a horrible person he was. His abusive father played a role in the production of this creep.

[earthstewardude]

I wonder how many more people are hiding in the shadows of government involved with this type of activity.

[chabelitapitufina]

I couldn't understand why this old feed was in my YouTube, until I found out that he just passed away a few days ago! I don't think he could ever be understood!

[wesmedia]

I just found this story. I had a brief encounter with Hansen when he was at the FBI training “farm”. I was a musician playing at the Springfield Holiday Inn and he was working part-time as a bartender for a while. He made it no secret that he was going to be an agent one day, and was studying Russian. One night I went up to the bar and asked him for a glass of water in Russian. I had looked up how to say that from a travel book that I have. On my next break he confronted me as I was coming out of the bathroom in a fairly dark hallway. He was a pretty tall guy and he just stood there waiting for me, and asked me bluntly how I knew Russian. I told him that I really didn’t, and I had just looked it up to prank him.
I only saw him a couple of times after that.

[rullvox]

He got away with this for over 20 years.
This is why I've always had little confidence in the FBI, in general

[robinwilson]

Hanssen said when he was caught. "what took you so long".

[ContrarianExpatriate]

Hansson died the other day. He is paying his ultimate price as he so deserves.

[wwilliaml]

It is amazing how long he went undetected. I am glad he was eventually caught but the damage he did was unprecedented. Was there anyone or anything he didn’t betray. Wow man…

[JOYOUSWARRIOR]

The smiles and laughter as they discuss this traitor is reprehensible. Maybe if it was your loved one who was executed because of him, you wouldn't laugh.

[freundschaft]

They figured out Hansen from a Patton quote used in the voice recordings. A coworker recognized Hansen using the same quote, then he was voice-matched and caught. He surely would have gone unnoticed for longer if it wasn't for that.

[kelechinwadigo]

Normally, top spies, eventually get expose by other top spy. Tough game

[lisamay]

If I was his kid I’d change my name and move away.

[JustAThought]

Wow! I never saw this episode. I am absolutely perplexed by this man’s actions. I always wonder what his father saw in him that no one else could detect? His father called him a loser. However, everyone else had no (major) issues with him. He was a FBI leader, the Federal Bureau of Investigation! Like…whoa! No one detected such craziness in this man.

[ardeladimwit]

Look, the FBI and CIA never clean out their own closets or investigate their own people because they are so busy snooping on innocent bystanders. Both organizations have long histories of ignoring the garbage in their midst rather than investigating it and cleaning it. So long as they can keep the preppie good boy look or Sunday School kid look to the public, that's all that matters.