FBI agents outside the Virginia home of Robert Philip Hanssen, who was arrested for espionage Sunday morning.

A 27-year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been charged with spying for the Soviet Union and Russia for the past fifteen years. FBI agents are describing themselves as feeling "punched in the stomach" upon hearing that agent Robert Philip Hanssen, a specialist in counterespionage and counterterrorism, had provided the Russians with information about how the United States conducts electronic surveillance.

"The actions alleged date back as far as 1985, and with the possible exception of several years in the 1990s, continued until his arrest on Sunday," charged FBI Director Louis Freeh. "[Hanssen] was arrested while in the process of using a Fairfax County dead drop to clandestinely provide classified documents to his Russian handlers. FBI agents also covertly intercepted $50,000 in cash, which the Russian intelligence officers put in a second drop, we believe intended for Hanssen."

The 56-year-old FBI employee was arraigned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. Underscoring the gravity of the case, former FBI Director William Webster will lead a blue-ribbon panel to assess the impact of the alleged espionage.

Until Sunday, Hanssen worked at FBI headquarters in downtown Washington, and during his career advised the State Department on security protection. The State Department has had severe security lapses over the last several years, including listening devices on the seventh floor of the building, near the Secretary's offices. The FBI believes Hanssen may have had a role in these security breaches.

The FBI also believes Hanssen may have been used by the Russians to confirm information they received from Aldrich Ames, one of the CIA's most notorious double agents. Ames, who turned over intelligence information that resulted in the deaths of several U.S. spies in the Soviet Union, was arrested in 1994 and is serving a life sentence.

Hanssen is only the third FBI agent ever accused of spying.

In 1997, Earl Pitts, who was stationed at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., was sentenced to 27 years in prison after admitting he spied for Moscow during and after the Cold War. The only other FBI agent ever caught spying was Richard W. Miller, a Los Angeles agent who was arrested in 1984 and later sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The FBI charged that Hanssen confirmed a disclosure of Ames, the identity of two KGB officials who were recruited by the U.S. government to serve as spies at the Soviet Embassy in Washington. When these two KGB officials returned to Moscow, they were tried, convicted on espionage charges and executed.

The FBI does not believe that Hanssen met face-to-face with his Russian handlers, or revealed to them his true identity or where he worked. He refused any foreign travel to meet with the Russians. Using his training as a counterintelligence specialist, Hanssen never displayed outward signs that he was receiving large amounts of unexplained cash.

Hanssen's attorney, Plato Cacheris, briefly addressed reporters today, saying Hanssen was "quite upset" by the charges, and plans to plead not guilty to the espionage charges.

"[Prosecutors] always talk that they've got a great case, but we'll see," Cacheris said.

"You cannot simply say that this was an artifact or a residual of the Cold War," Freeh lamented. "The activity obviously continued beyond that. And as late as Sunday there was clearly an intent to exchange $50,000 in cash for very highly classified and very damaging information from the FBI."

"The arrest of Robert Hanssen for espionage should remind us all that our nation, our free society, is an international target in a dangerous world," said Attorney General John Ashcroft. "In fact, the espionage operations designed to steal vital secrets of the United States are as intense today as they have ever been."

Part of a Disturbing Pattern	A Horrific Breach of National Security