FBI Agent Turned Russian Spy | Call Me Ramon | 2
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Wondery Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. It's dusk on a crisp November day in 1985. Robert Hansen is behind the wheel of a black sedan, rolling slowly past the entrance to a public park in Vienna, Virginia. His eyes narrow as he spots a pedestrian crossing sign near the entrance, hoping to find a signal from the KGB.

It's been six years since Hansen sold his first batch of state secrets to the Soviets. Back then, as a junior FBI agent, he began passing top-secret information to the GRU, the Soviet Union's military intelligence service. But now he's graduated to the big leagues, working with the Soviets' premier intelligence agency, the KGB.

The collaboration began a month ago, when Hansen wrote a letter to a KGB agent selling himself as a mole inside the FBI with access to highly sensitive material. In the letter, he explained that he would soon mail a box of documents and asked for $100,000 in return. To establish his credentials and whet the Soviets' appetite, Hansen revealed the names of three KGB agents who had been secretly working with U.S. intelligence.

Shortly after mailing the box of secret documents, Hansen followed up with another letter that outlined how to deliver the cash and established a protocol on how they would signal back and forth in future exchanges. When Hansen was ready to receive a cash drop, he would leave a small, vertical strip of white tape on the pedestrian crossing sign near the entrance to this park. And when the KGB had placed the bag, they would replace the vertical strip with a horizontal one.

Then, once Hansen had retrieved the cash, he would again leave a vertical strip. So as Hansen looks closely at the crossing sign, he's thrilled to see a horizontal piece of white tape. Hansen wants to retrieve the package and get home as soon as possible. His wife just gave birth to their sixth child less than a month ago, and she needs help with the kids.

So Hansen parks his car by the entrance and begins making his way quickly toward a nearby footbridge. This is where he's instructed the KGB to leave the package. The sun is setting and the path isn't well lit. But Hansen knows the park well. It's close to where his family lived before his recent transfer to New York. Hansen approaches the footbridge and looks around to make sure he's alone. The coast seems clear. So he gets down on his hands and knees and reaches under the bridge, feeling around for a package.

but he's startled by a dog barking behind him on the trail. And then, a man's voice. Bob? Is that you? Hansen's heart skips a beat. His mind flashes to a worst-case scenario. The FBI has already caught him in the act of spying. But when he looks up, he's relieved to see it's just his old neighbor out walking his golden retriever. Oh, hi, nice to see you. Well, you too, Bob. I didn't realize you were still around. I thought you and Bonnie had moved to New York already.

Hansen pops back to his feet and takes a moment to pet the dog and steady his breath, buying time. He needs to quickly think of an excuse as to why he's in a park hundreds of miles from home, digging around underneath a bridge. Oh, we did. I'm just back in town for work, taking a break to clear my head with a walk. You know, I always love this park.

"'Well, it's great to run into you. Hey, I saw you rooting around in there. Did you lose something? Maybe I can help.' "'Oh, no, don't bother. I thought I'd drop my wallet for a moment, but it's right here.' Hansen pats the breast pocket of his jacket and quickly changes the subject. "'So how's your family doing? Your son's still playing football?' "'Yeah, he's actually got a game on the other side of the park right now. That's why I'm here. I'm just walking the dog at halftime.' "'Well, I don't want to keep you from the game, and I need to get on the road back to New York anyways. It was nice seeing you, though.'

After the neighbor heads back toward the football field, Hansen walks for a minute in the opposite direction down the path, trying to avoid suspicion. Then, seeing he's alone again, he returns to the footbridge. He reaches around underneath again until he feels a plastic bag secured with duct tape. He rips the bag free and shoves it into his front jacket pocket.

Then, as Hansen walks back to his car, he clutches the bag tightly. He can feel the stacks of cash inside when his heart leaps. There's more money in this bag than he makes in a year at the FBI. Robert Hansen, double agent, is back in business.

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Help Dell make a difference and shop AI-ready PCs powered by Snapdragon X-series processors at Dell.com slash deals. That's Dell.com slash deals. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American Scandal. By the mid-1980s, Robert Hansen seemed to have a lot going for him. He had married a beautiful woman named Bonnie and started a family.

They lived a quiet, middle-class life while he worked for the FBI as a special agent, working in Soviet counterintelligence. But his aloof, awkward personality often rubbed his colleagues the wrong way. And instead of living out his fantasies of being a suave, secret agent, Hansen was relegated to office work, maintaining the FBI's computer networks and databases. Hansen's position, though, did give him access to some of the most sensitive and closely guarded secrets the agency had —

And despite his facade as a family man, devout Catholic, and staunch anti-communist, Hansen decided to start selling classified information to his country's greatest enemy, the Soviet Union. It didn't take long for the FBI and CIA to notice they were dealing with a mole, but Hansen found ways to keep them off his trail. This is Episode 2, Call Me Ramon.

It's August 18th, 1986, and a KGB officer named Alexander Fefolov stands by a payphone. He's outside the old Keene Mill shopping center in suburban Fairfax County, Virginia, waiting for a call from the KGB's new star double agent. Nobody at the KGB is sure of the mole's real identity. All they know is that he's an FBI agent who calls himself B or Ramon, and over the last 10 months, he's sold them valuable top-secret intelligence.

Ramon has shown the KGB that the Americans were exploiting a vulnerability in Soviet spy satellite transmissions, which then allowed them to fix the breach. He also revealed the identities of several KGB agents who had been flipped into secretly working with U.S. intelligence. In return, the KGB has paid their new friend in the FBI $60,000 in cash, an unbelievable bargain for the Soviets. And recently, Ramon and the KGB have created new methods of communicating.

In the new system, the KGB places a classified ad in the newspaper, selling a specific model of used car. Inside the ad are coded instructions that give Ramon a time and a phone number to call. But today, Fefolov is worried. The KGB made a critical error in their last payment to Ramon. They were supposed to leave the cash in a bag stashed under the corner of a footbridge in a public park. It was a very specific location they had used before.

But the agent who left the bag this time put it under the wrong corner of the bridge, and Ramon never found it. He walked away empty-handed. The next day, Ramon fired off a letter expressing his annoyance and saying he would call Fefolov to talk about it, using the same phone number the KGB had given him previously. So when the payphone finally rings, Fefolov's pulse quickens. He knows how important Ramon is to the KGB, and he's anxious to reassure him that a mistake like this will never happen again.

But before he can answer the call, he has one very important task. Using a rubber suction cup, he attaches a small microphone to the back of the receiver. Then he presses the record button on a microcassette machine in his jacket pocket. His bosses in the KGB want a copy of this conversation on tape. Hello, this is Williams. Feflav can never be sure who's listening, so he speaks cryptically, trying to mimic the conversation of two American men talking about a car for sale.

Yes, the car is still available for you. And like we agreed last time, I prepared all the papers and left them on the same table. You didn't find them last time because I put them on another corner of the table. Fefolov can't get a read on whether Ramon believes him, so he doubles down, trying to reassure his partner that everything is on the level.

But you really shouldn't worry. Everything is okay. The papers are with me now. Good. I believe under these circumstances, it's not necessary to make any changes concerning the place or time. Our company is reliable, and we are ready to give you a substantial discount which will be enclosed in the papers. Feflav hopes Ramon understands that by substantial discount, he means they will increase their payment to make up for their mistake. Speaking in code, he gives a date and time for the new drop. Do these new arrangements suit you?

Yeah, that should be fine. Okay, well, we'll confirm that the papers are waiting for you with the tape in the same place as the first time. Very good. So, everything is okay with you? I believe it should be fine. Thank you very much. Fefolov feels enormous relief. Ramon seems satisfied, and the KGB is back in his good graces. Not at all, not at all. Nice job for both of us. Have a nice evening, sir. Do svidaniya.

Fefolov is stunned to hear Ramon use a Russian expression, especially given the lengths they've gone to disguise the conversation as a pair of Americans discussing the sale of a car. But Fefolov recovers quickly, offering an American bye-bye before hanging up the phone. Then he presses stop on his tape recorder, chewing over the strangeness of what just happened. Ramon took a great risk just to show off his meager Russian to the KGB. It's like he's more concerned about proving his cleverness than he is about getting caught.

In October of 1986, two of the KGB double agents that Hansen exposed are put on trial in Moscow. Eventually, both are executed for treason. A third double agent that Hansen outed is sent to a gulag, a prison camp in Siberia. The loss of these highly placed assets is devastating to both the FBI and the CIA.

They quickly determined that the exposure of all three men at once is more than just a coincidence, and there must be a mole somewhere in U.S. intelligence. But whose job it is to find that mole is another question altogether. Both the FBI and the CIA work for the American people, but they have different responsibilities. The FBI is a domestic law enforcement agency, and it's their job to monitor Soviet activity within U.S. borders.

The CIA, on the other hand, is a spy agency, and most of their work is done overseas. So even though both agencies perform counterintelligence against the Soviets, they rarely work together. But both agencies have an interest in catching the American spy working with the Soviets. Still, they're wary of teaming up to do so and protective of their turf. So after the loss of the double agents, both agencies assembled their own separate task forces to find the mole.

And in December of 1986, the leaders of the two groups reluctantly agree to meet at Camp Perry, a secret CIA training facility in Virginia. Leading the CIA team is Jean Vertife, a 30-year veteran and an expert on the Soviet intelligence services. She's also very skeptical of collaborating with the FBI. She doesn't trust them to conduct their investigation without compromising hers.

The CIA already seems to be leaking top-secret information like a sieve. And the last thing she needs is new leaks coming from the FBI. So when she enters the Wendellos conference room at Camp Perry to meet with her FBI counterparts, Vertife's guard is up. She politely greets Tim Caruso, who's leading the FBI team, and tells the other attendees to take their seats. Vertife stands at the head of the conference table and begins laying out the task in front of them.

She explains that finding a mole is one of the most difficult and delicate jobs he'll ever undertake. The very existence of the operation can't be revealed to anyone outside of these two small teams, because the moment the mole realizes he's being hunted, he's likely to cease all activity and go back underground forever. If that happens, it will be nearly impossible to catch him.

Vertife lingers on this point as she stares into Caruso's chilly blue eyes. She's sending him a message, don't mess this up, but Caruso returns her gaze with a look that suggests the feeling is mutual. The two break eye contact, and Vertife retrieves a stack of intelligence briefings from her bag.

As she distributes the packets around the table, she explains that because the mole has revealed the identities of highly placed CIA assets, they must assume that he or she is working somewhere inside the CIA itself. While it's possible the mole could be in another agency, such as the FBI or NSA, they will begin by looking at CIA employees who have access to top-secret intelligence on the Soviets.

But the packets she's handed out are much too thin to be useful. Everything inside them is already known to the FBI, and that's by design. Vertife has no intention of revealing the CIA's full knowledge to its rival agency. So Caruso peppers Vertife with questions about the CIA's investigation, digging for whatever information he can get. But Vertife keeps her answers short and vague. She's not giving up anything.

Then, as Vertife wraps up the meeting, she wishes the FBI luck in their investigation and sends them on their way. She's happy to have this session behind her, because now she can get back to the real work of catching the mole. The clock is ticking. The mole is still out there somewhere, and there is no telling what he could reveal to the Soviets next. Robert Hansen knows that both U.S. intelligence agencies are hunting for him, but he isn't very concerned about being found.

He's aware the FBI and the CIA will be reluctant to share information, and that'll hamper their investigations. He's confident that Ramon can stay one step ahead. But that's not to say things are going well for Hansen. After two years in the New York office, his career is stalling out. Hamstrung by his weak interpersonal skills, he's passed over for yet another promotion.

And then, in the summer of 1987, the FBI tells Hansen he's being transferred back to Washington to resume his old job as a supervisor in the Soviet Analytical Unit. This is a lateral move at best, a professional vote of no confidence. And the news lands with a heavy blow to Hansen's ego. After all the sacrifices he's made to relocate his wife and family to New York, he's right back where he started —

But this move does have a silver lining. From his old perch in the Soviet Union, Hansen can monitor the FBI's investigation into the leaks even more closely. And soon after he arrives, he's given an opportunity to sabotage the search from the inside.

That fall, the FBI launches a new top-secret study, hoping it will give them insight into the mole's psyche and behavior. They put together a small group to go through every known or suspected leak in the history of the FBI, looking for clues and patterns that might help them build a profile. Hansen sees this as an opportunity to undermine the investigation and quickly volunteers to lead the group himself. To his delight, the FBI gives him the job.

Hansen's tickled that the FBI is unwittingly putting him in charge of investigating himself. Nothing gratifies his ego more than getting one over on the superiors who have overlooked his talents. So Hansen hand-selects his team: Jim Milburn and Bob King. Milburn is an imposingly large man with red hair, while King is slighter, with dark brown hair and glasses. And on an autumn day in 1987, he gathers them both together for the first meeting of the new study group.

The three men meet at Hansen's office at FBI headquarters in Washington. They gather around his desk as he lays out manila folders full of FBI case files. Some of them are decades old. Hansen picks up one and blows dust off its cover. Inside, he finds classified psychological profiles of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the husband and wife who were convicted of spying for the Soviets and executed in the 1950s.

This file, like many others in the pile, contains information never revealed to the public or even to most senior officials at the FBI. It's an absolute dream for Hansen. He has truly become the master of secrets. King and Milburn join Hansen in thumbing through the files, and as they read, they start chatting, tossing out initial theories on who the mole may be. King suggests they explore possible motives for why someone would share information with the Soviets.

Of course, there's always money, he says, and Hansen suppresses a smirk. Milburn suggests that perhaps money is too obvious of a motive. And besides, they don't even know if the mole is selling information. He may be just giving it away. Instead, Milburn suggests they should explore the idea that the mole has a bone to pick with U.S. intelligence. Maybe it's an agent with a big ego, but who has been passed over for promotion and wants to get back at his bosses.

Maybe they should ask the FBI for files on all agents who have been denied a promotion in the past decade. Hansen winces at this idea. Milburn gets a little too close to the truth, so Hansen picks up the case file from Morris Cohen, a soldier in the U.S. Army who smuggled blueprints for the atomic bomb to the Soviets in 1945. Hansen points out that Cohen, like the Rosenbergs, was an avowed communist and working with the Soviets for purely ideological reasons.

Hansen then wonders aloud if the current mole could also have warm feelings about communism. He suggests the team take a close look at any current agents who were members of left-leaning clubs in college or made any recent donations to left-wing political candidates. And as King and Milburn head to their desks to dig into their new assignment, Hansen tries not to chuckle. He's the most vocal anti-communist in the office and has zero connection to left-wing politics.

He's just sent his colleagues down a rabbit hole that will lead them in exactly the wrong direction. Eight years into his spying career, Robert Hansen feels safer than ever from any chance of ever getting caught.

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That February, in return for just $25,000, he gives the KGB information about the latest technology the United States has developed to intercept Soviet communications. He also offers to report on the activities of a Soviet defector he recently met through work, a man named Viktor Shemov, a brilliant Russian computer security expert and former high-ranking KGB agent who defected to the U.S. in 1980.

Shamoff is now living in the Washington area under an assumed name in hiding from the Soviets, and he's proven to be one of America's most valuable sources in the Cold War. So the KGB has a keen interest in keeping tabs on what he's up to. Recognizing that Shamoff could be a valuable asset, Hansen begins cultivating a close personal friendship with the Russian. They bond over a shared passion for computers and a mutual hatred for communism.

And on a Saturday evening in 1988, Hansen invites Shamoff and his wife over for dinner at his home in Virginia, hoping to impress the KGB with his ability to extract personal information from his target. Hansen and his wife Bonnie sit together with Shamoff and his wife at the Hansen's dining room table, sharing a bottle of wine and enjoying Bonnie's signature baked chicken. After the meal, Hansen takes the opportunity to chat up his Russian friend.

So, Victor, have you been following what's going on back at home? Interesting times. I'd love to hear your take. Well, it seems Moscow is losing her grip on the Baltic countries. I think Latvia may break away within the next year. Well, from your lips to God's ears, right? Hopefully the rest of the region follows suit. And if we're lucky, the whole damn empire crumbles down. Yes, that would be something. I'd like to think the work you and I do is helping to bring about the end of communism for all of Eastern Europe.

Well, I can toast to that. Now, speaking of work, though, what have you been tinkering with lately? I'm always fascinated. I'm afraid it's a bit technical. I wouldn't want to bore our wives with computer talk. Oh, I'm sure they'll indulge us a little bit. You know I love this kind of stuff. Shamoff goes on to describe some new encryption technology he's working on. And Hansen makes mental notes of all the key details as he listens. He knows the Soviets will want to hear all of this. And he pushes for more.

Oh, that sounds like a real breakthrough. I'd be happy to take a look at the specs if you need a second eye. I may take you up on that. You should come by the office. I'll swing by next week. Okay, enough computer nerd talk. I think we can change the subject. Now look at that. Bonnie's already relieved. Tell me, do you two have any vacations coming up? You've been in the country for eight years. You must be itching to see more of it.

Well, please don't take this personally, but I've promised your people at the CIA that I won't reveal any travel plans to anyone, not even to friends. They are quite strict. I'm sure you'll understand. Oh, I know how intense the CIA can be. At the FBI, we avoid them like the plague, but I'm sure they can make an exception. It's not like I'm your buddy from the bowling league. I have top-secret clearance, and my intelligence says that your wine glass is empty. Here, let me top you off.

Hansen, eager to loosen up his target, refills Shamoff's wine glass. Well, we've always wanted to see Niagara Falls. We're planning a trip for Memorial Day. That's a great idea. You won't be disappointed. It's beautiful. Niagara Falls. Hansen knows the Soviets are going to love this. It's the type of information they can only get from him. And as the dinner continues, he keeps the wine flowing, and the conversation focused squarely on Shamoff.

Hansen doesn't know what Moscow will do with all this information. It may even put his friend's life in danger. But Hansen doesn't much care. Shamoff wouldn't be the first man Hansen got killed. The FBI never trusted Hansen to deal with sources face-to-face in the field. But now he's got one in his own home, and he's playing him like a fiddle. The period from 1988 through 1990 is Robert Hansen's most prolific stretch of spying for the Soviets.

In a series of dead drops, he delivers cassettes to the KGB containing a wide variety of top-secret information. While continuing to provide updates on Shamoff, Hansen also exposes the identities of more Soviet double agents. He shares information about the United States' early warning systems and plans to retaliate in the event of a nuclear war.

Hansen also hands over the results of the comprehensive study that he, Bob King, and Jim Milburn put together, outlining the FBI's full history of Soviet penetrations into the Bureau. And for all of this priceless, top-secret information, Hansen asks for a relative pittance in return. He takes home just a few hundred thousand dollars in cash and diamonds. ♪

Because it's not just about the money, friends. He's equally invested in the psychological rewards from his blossoming relationship with the KGB. This angle is not lost on the Soviets, and they are happy to stroke Hansen's ego, ensuring the secrets keep flowing. They praise Hansen and thank him effusively in letters they include with payments. Hansen's desire to please his KGB friends becomes so deep, he even begins to prioritize them over his own family.

So on Christmas Day, 1989, while Hansen's six kids bounce around the living room opening gifts, his mind is fixated on a different type of present. Hidden in the trunk of his car is a surprise for his second family in the KGB, and he can't wait to deliver it to them. Just six weeks ago, the Berlin Wall fell, signaling the end of communism in East Germany.

Soviet-backed communist regimes all over Eastern Europe are crumbling, and even the Soviet Union itself appears to be in danger of breaking apart. While all this unfolds, the KGB is desperate to know what their adversaries in America are thinking. Hansen, always happy to please his handlers, has collected documents containing a U.S. intelligence assessment of the situation. He's also gotten the names of three more double agents who were spying for the FBI and information on four recent defectors.

Hansen knows the Soviets urgently need this information, and he's so eager to get it to them, he's not even going to let Christmas with his family get in the way. Besides, the park where he does his dead drops is likely to be deserted on Christmas morning. As Hansen begins putting the leash on his dog, Bonnie emerges from the kitchen with a cup of hot cocoa in his favorite holiday mug. Seeing the leash, though, Bonnie asks where her husband is headed.

Hansen explains that he's taking the dog out for a bit of exercise so he won't get too riled up by all the commotion around the tree. Bonnie asks Hansen just to walk the dog down to the end of the cul-de-sac and back. And to make it quick, the kids are dying to open their presents. But Hansen explains that he's driving to Idlewood Park a few miles down the road. The dog really needs to run around, he says. He tells Bonnie he might be gone a while, so go ahead and start opening presents without him.

Bonnie is taken aback, unable to hide her disappointment. She pleads with Hansen. This is the kids' favorite day of the year. They want to spend it with their father. But Hansen doesn't have time for this. He abruptly turns and heads for the door with the dog by his side. As Hansen walks to the car, he feels relieved to finally be free from his family. They can get by without him for an hour or so. His friends in Moscow need him more.

And as Hanson climbs behind the wheel and starts the car, he thinks about his priorities. He's still a devoted Christian and family man. And Christmas is also one of his favorite days of the year. But no amount of time with his wife and kids gives him the same feeling he gets from spying for the KGB.

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By 1990, Robert Hansen has been spying on and off for more than a decade, selling the Soviet Union an enormous amount of top-secret information. And in that time, he's collected close to half a million dollars for his services.

It's likely that the KGB would have been willing to pay well into the millions, but Hansen has never played hardball over prices. In fact, at times, he deliberately asks for smaller amounts, knowing that if he starts throwing around too much money, it could arouse the suspicions of the FBI and CIA, who are still desperately working to find the mole. For the most part, Hansen spends his cash on mundane things like groceries, gas, tuition for his kids' Catholic school, and an extension on their home.

He allows himself just one indulgence, a relationship with an exotic dancer he meets at a Washington, D.C. strip club in 1990. Priscilla Sue Gailey is a slim brunette in her early 30s and often performs in a racy secretary's outfit. Hansen is smitten and begins showering her with gifts, including a diamond necklace, a silver Mercedes, a new laptop, and even her own American Express card.

But oddly, according to Gailey, he never asks for sex. At one point, he even tries to convert her to Catholicism, and he never reveals that all his presents are paid for with KGB money. So between his relationship with Gailey and his ongoing work for the KGB, Hansen is hiding more secrets than ever. And even after lavishing Gailey with gifts, he's also hiding a lot of cash. He can't put the money into a bank, so he stashes it around his home.

But in the summer of 1990, Hansen slips up. Hansen's wife, Bonnie, is putting away some laundry when her sister, Jean, is visiting. They're in the middle of a conversation when they walk into the master bedroom. But as the sisters enter the room, Bonnie sees Jean stop dead in her tracks. Bonnie, what is that on top of the dresser? Jean points and Bonnie sees it. A thick bundle of cash.

Oh my goodness, what's that doing here? I'm asking you. How much do you think that is? I have no idea, Gene. I'm not a bank teller. Bonnie drops her basket of laundry and approaches the dresser. She can see there's a yellow band holding the bills together. The label reads $5,000. Gene raises an eyebrow. Does Bob usually leave money like that lying around? He doesn't strike me as a flashy guy.

Immediately, Bonnie thinks back to the day 11 years ago when she found Bob hiding cash in their basement. He admitted then that he was passing documents to the Soviets, but he claimed they were fakes and promised never to do it again. Bonnie wonders briefly if maybe her husband has broken that promise, but then she pushes that thought from her mind. "'No, I've never seen this much cash in the house before.'

Do you think Bob has a gambling problem? He told me his dad liked to bet on horses. No, Bob doesn't gamble. He's a very good Catholic. Then where did the cash come from? You know, Bob was in a car accident recently and hurt his wrist. He got a decent payout from the insurance company. I bet that's it. Bonnie, I don't think the insurance company is paying cash.

Well, either way, I'm not going to worry about it. Bob handles the money and I don't get involved. That's what the church tells us to do. Let's just finish the laundry and talk about something else. How was your trip? Bonnie takes the money from the dresser and stuffs it into her husband's sock drawer, hoping to put it out of sight and out of mind.

Bonnie Hanson may be eager to forget finding the cash, but her sister Jean can't shake the incident so easily. She knows that Hanson is an FBI agent with a top security clearance. And while she doesn't suspect him of selling secrets to America's enemies, she does feel compelled to tell someone about what she saw. So she shares the story with her and Bonnie's brother Mark, who also happens to be an FBI counterintelligence agent based in Chicago.

Mark is aware that the FBI has been hunting for a mole in the bureau. He also knows that Hansen's salary wouldn't afford him the luxury of having thousands of dollars in cash sitting around his home. Mark doesn't want to assume the worst about his brother-in-law or cause any problems for his sister's family, but he does feel it's his obligation to report this story to his bosses. After all, if it turns out Hansen is the mole, Mark could be seen as complicit for not reporting what he knows.

So in September of 1990, Mark meets with a supervisor in Chicago, laying out the story of the unexplained cash on Hansen's dresser and his concerns that his brother-in-law may be working with the Soviets. Then Mark waits for the fallout from his revelation. He's sure an investigation will follow, and his brother-in-law will either be exonerated or arrested. But nothing ever happens. Mark's story never gets passed along to FBI headquarters in Washington.

And once again, Robert Hansen evades detection, but this time by sheer dumb luck. In the spring of 1991, the CIA decides to redouble its efforts to find the mole with a new investigation dubbed Operation Skylight. Jean Vertife volunteers to lead this new operation after her first attempt failed five years earlier. Now nearly 60 years old, Vertife is just 18 months from retirement, and she can't bear the thought of leaving before this case is closed.

But this time, she'll have more help. In April, Vertife has a meeting with Paul Redmond, the new deputy chief of the CIA's counterintelligence center. And he invites a pair of FBI agents along, including Ray Mislock, the bureau's new Soviet section chief. Redmond's sharp tongue and confrontational style are well known in the agency, and this meeting quickly proves to be no exception. Redmond doesn't hold back his anger at the CIA's failure to find the mole.

Since they first began the investigation in the mid-80s, things have only gotten worse. The CIA now knows of at least 10 Soviet double agents who have been called back to Moscow and executed. Many more have been interrogated and jailed. Vertife knows Redman is right to be angry, but it's still painful to hear him list off the names of human beings, assets who have been killed on her watch. Redman then turns his attention to the CIA's failed strategy.

The agency has been looking for patterns in the information the mole has leaked, but that's gotten them nowhere. Instead, he reasons, they need to look at people. This new operation can't be afraid to dig into any and all agents who are known to have access to the leaked information. Getting tough with their own agents will ruffle feathers, but at this point, they have no choice. Vertife loves this idea, and she quickly chimes in, letting Redmond know that she's all in favor of this new hard-nosed approach.

But then Miss Locke also speaks up, and Vertife doesn't feel as warmly about what he has to say. Miss Locke expresses appreciation for being invited to the meeting, but reminds his CIA counterparts that the last time they tried to find the mole, there was no sharing of classified information between agencies. As far as he's concerned, that's the main reason those previous efforts failed. This time, if the FBI is going to be involved, he wants a true collaboration, complete access to everything the CIA has.

Vertife was wary of working with the FBI back then, and her feelings are just as strong today. The FBI has a long history of muscling in on other agencies' investigations and throwing their weight around. She doesn't want Mislok and his team trying to take charge of her operation. But as Mislok makes his case, Vertife can see that Redmond is nodding in approval. He seems to like the idea, so she bites her tongue and waits for her chance to push back later. She doesn't get the opportunity to

Redmond immediately agrees to join forces with the FBI, saying he appreciates Ms. Locke's enthusiasm. And the more people they have working on the case, the better. Vertife muffles a sigh as she's forced to accept she's lost this battle. She's going to have to open her files to the FBI. She just prays that this new strategy will actually work. The mole is still out there somewhere, selling the country's most closely guarded secrets.

And if they don't stop him soon, it's only a matter of time before he exposes other human assets, leading to more blown operations and more lost lives. From Wondery, this is Episode 2 of FBI Agent Turned Russian Spy for American Scandal. In our next episode, the FBI and CIA continue their hunt for the mole and finally catch a break in the case. And Robert Hansen begins to unravel, leading to a shocking betrayal.

Thank you.

You can binge all episodes of American Scandal early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. And before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. And to find out more about me, including my other podcasts, go to notthatlindseygram.com. That's notthatlindseygram.com.

If you'd like to learn more about Robert Hansen, we recommend the books Spy by David Weiss and The Spy Next Door by Anne Blackman and Elaine Shannon. This episode contains reenactments and dramatized details. And while in most cases we can't know exactly what was said, all our dramatizations are based on historical research. American Scandal is hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship. Audio editing by Christian Paraga. Sound design by Gabriel Gould. Music by Lindsey Graham. This

This episode is written by Corey Metcalf, edited by Emma Corden. Our senior producer is Andy Herman. Executive producers are Stephanie Jens, Jenny Lauer Beckman, and Marshall Louis for Wondery.

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