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The Bureau and the Mole: The Unmasking of Robert Philip Hanssen, The Most Dangerous Double Agent in FBI History by David A. Vise Rating: ••• (Recommended)
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Betrayal Reporter David Vise presents parallel stories in his new book, The Bureau and the Mole. In addition to learning about the life of Robert Hanssen, convicted spy and former FBI agent, readers learn about Louis Freeh and the organizational culture of FBI he led. Both stories are fascinating and riddled with contradictions. Hanssen’s damage to the United States was massive, and Vise chronicles the nature of his betrayal with clarity. Most infuriating to readers is the understanding that the FBI mishandled Hanssen repeatedly. Here’s an excerpt from the beginning of chapter 8, “The FBI’s Blunder:” “The FBI could have cracked the Hanssen spy case in 1990. While Bob Hanssen was busing selling intelligence secrets to the Soviets, his family accidentally discovered that he was hiding thousands of dollars in cash at home. After learning about the cash and watching Hanssen spend money unusually freely, Mark Wauck, a Chicago-based FBI agent and Bonnie Hanssen’s brother, faced a difficult dilemma. Though he was loyal to his family, he suspected the cash came from spying and was convinced the matter deserved a full-blown espionage investigation. A sworn officer of the law, Mark Wauck took his FBI oath seriously and felt a legal duty to report what he reasonably suspected. If he didn’t and his brother-in-law turned out to be a double agent, his own job would be on the line, and Bonnie could face legal consequences if Bob were caught. If Wauck did nothing, he sensed that treason would be allowed to continue unabated with potentially disastrous consequences. Wauck told his FBI superiors in Chicago that he had an extremely important matter to bring to their attention. He disclosed that Hanssen had thousands of dollars in cash at home and had been spending too much money for someone on an FBI salary. He told Bureau officials that he suspected his brother-in-law was spying for the Russians. The FBI completely failed to investigate Wauck’s allegations about Hanssen, who went on spying for the Russians without scrutiny from law enforcement officials. The Bureau could have halted Hanssen’s damaging disclosures in 1990 by carrying out a standard probe involving physical and electronic surveillance.” Vise’s book takes a reportorial bent on most pages. We get a parade of facts, but not a lot of insight into why Hanssen behaved the way he did. There are lots of references to Bob’s relationship to his father, but a reader ends the book feeling that the a life riddled with contradictions remains with many questions unanswered. Despite this shortcoming, The Bureau and the Mole provides a comprehensive view of the damage one man did, and the impact of those actions on the FBI and its leader. Steve Hopkins, July 31, 2002
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