美国国家公共电台 NPR--Robert Hanssen, called the most destructive spy in U.S. history, dies at 79

Robert Hanssen, called the most destructive spy in U.S. history, dies at 79

Transcript¹

NPR's Michel Martin talks to journalist Tim Weiner about FBI agent-turned Soviet² spy Robert Hanssen, who died this week in prison. His actions led to the deaths of numerous U.S. Operatives.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent who led a double life as a Soviet spy, died in a prison cell this week. Hanssen may no longer be a household name, but he is still considered the most damaging spy in the bureau's history. For more on Hanssen, we turn to journalist Tim Weiner, an authority on intelligence-gathering agencies. He's the author of "Enemies: A History Of The FBI" and "Legacy³ Of Ashes: The History Of The CIA."

Good morning.

TIM WEINER: Good morning.

MARTIN: Could you just give us a brief portrait of Robert Hanssen and why it is said that his actions - why he's called the most damaging spy in the bureau's history?

WEINER: Hanssen was a third-generation Chicago cop. His father and grandfather before him were crooked⁴ cops, and he knew that. And as he told one of his debriefers after his arrest, the bar wasn't too high for me. He joined the FBI in '76. By '79, he was an active spy for the Kremlin. And off and on over the next 22 years, he kept spying. And when he was on, he was indeed the most devastating⁵ spy in the bureau's history. He was like a 500-year flood, this guy.

MARTIN: Because why? What exactly did he do, or what did he cause?

WEINER: All right. Among - we don't have an hour, but among the many things he gave up were the identities of all the Soviets⁶ and Russians spying for the United States, the fact that the FBI was tunneling under the new Soviet Embassy to tap into its communications, all the methodologies by which the United States tried to spy on the Soviets, the plans for World War III for the United States, who goes where, who does what.

MARTIN: Wow.

WEINER: The list is long.

MARTIN: How did he get away with it for so long?

WEINER: Because he was hiding in plain sight. His job was to analyze⁷ the FBI's spying operations against the Soviets. When two of the FBI's most-prized recruits inside the Soviet Embassy in Washington disappeared in 1985, the bureau couldn't figure out why. Who had done this? We're all looking for the guy who'd done - who's done this. They appointed a task force to look into how this had happened in 1988. Hanssen led the task force. He was looking for himself.

MARTIN: So lives were lost as a result of his behavior. Careers were ruined as a result of his behavior. How was he finally caught?

WEINER: Ah. For years after the arrest of the CIA's own mole⁸, the FBI and the CIA realized that the CIA mole couldn't have done all the damage he thought he had done. There had to be another mole within the United States. The bureau went looking inside the CIA for the second mole and destroyed the life and career of at least one CIA officer. Finally, the CIA got in to the investigation⁹, and a former KGB officer offered to defect and to bring with him a file on the mole that the Russians were running inside the FBI. The FBI paid $7 million. The CIA went to Russia and got the file.

And there was a tape in that file of Hanssen talking to his handlers. And on that tape was a particularly pithy¹⁰ phrase he had stolen from General Patton which we cannot say on the radio. It was a very distinctive¹¹ and obscene phrase. And they played the tape. And one of the people listening to it said, oh, my God; that's Hanssen. I heard him use that same obscene and pithy phrase in the office many a time. He was nailed.

MARTIN: So one of the points that you have made in your reporting and that others who followed this case have made is that, you know, just like you just said, he was hiding in plain sight, that he wasn't suspected because he was perceived as one of them, one of the guys. He fit just the - sort of the profile, the straight arrow, deeply devout¹², a family man, you know, allegedly. So even though he had some other sort of interesting sort of personal quirks¹³ that we're not going to go into here, has anything changed as a result of the Hanssen scandal? Have either of these agencies looked at themselves and said, there's something in our own culture that allowed this to flourish?

WEINER: Well, two things. One is there was a mentality¹⁴ that persisted into the 21st century of the FBI and the CIA saying, well, we know there's a mole, but it can't be one of us. It would never be one of us. Well, it was. And the second one is that after great and terrible struggle, the FBI and the CIA have learned to work together. You know, they're totally different cultures. The FBI are cops. The CIA are robbers. They take great pains, great struggle over the decades to really screw each other rather than help each other. But now they have learned to help each other where it really counts. It took both the 9/11 disaster and these series of spy cases to get them to learn to live together and sing off the same sheet of music.

MARTIN: Before we let you go, forgive me for sort of asking you to speculate, but how possible is it that there - a new Robert Hanssen could be keeping a desk at the FBI or the CIA but working for U.S. adversaries¹⁵? Have procedures been tightened¹⁶ up so that couldn't happen again?

WEINER: Michel, there is an actuarial certainty that as we speak there are moles¹⁷ inside the U.S. intelligence community and that they are working undetected.

MARTIN: That's Tim Weiner. He's the author of "Enemies: A History Of The FBI" and "Legacy Of Ashes: The History Of The CIA." And he's currently working on a book about the CIA in the 21st century.

Tim Weiner, thanks for joining us.

WEINER: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE NATIONAL SONG, "NOBODY ELSE WILL BE THERE")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

3 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

4 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

5 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

6 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

7 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

8 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。

9 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

10 pithy   

adj.(讲话或文章)简练的

参考例句：

• Many of them made a point of praising the film's pithy dialogue.他们中很多人特别赞扬了影片精炼的对白。
• His pithy comments knocked the bottom out of my argument.他精辟的评论驳倒了我的论点。

11 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

12 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

13 quirks   

n.奇事，巧合( quirk的名词复数 )；怪癖

参考例句：

• One of his quirks is that he refuses to travel by train. 他的怪癖之一是不愿乘火车旅行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All men have their own quirks and twists. 人人都有他们自己的怪癖和奇想。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

15 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

16 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

17 moles   

防波堤( mole的名词复数 )； 鼹鼠； 痣； 间谍

参考例句：

• Unsightly moles can be removed surgically. 不雅观的痣可以手术去除。
• Two moles of epoxy react with one mole of A-1100. 两个克分子环氧与一个克分子A－1100反应。