I was reading about that. Think he will get the death penalty? 5 kids in his family and he just kissed it all away.

                          FBI
                          is trying to calculate the national security
                          damage allegedly wrought by one of its own
                          agents, Robert Philip Hanssen, accused of
                          spying for Russia for more than 15 years. FBI
                          Director Louis Freeh says the intelligence
                          losses appear to be "exceptionally grave."

                          An FBI affidavit describing Hanssen's alleged
                          spying said he passed along to Soviet and
                          later Russian agents 6,000 pages of
                          documents - a virtual catalogue of top secret
                          and secret programs.

                          Attorney General John Ashcroft asked former
                          CIA and FBI Director William Webster to
                          convene a panel of experts to review internal
                          security procedures within the FBI and
                          recommend changes.

                          "The attorney general views the case very
                          seriously," said Mindy Tucker, Ashcroft's
                          spokeswoman. "The fact that there are still
                          countries that are interested in stealing our
                          intelligence secrets shows that we need to
                          take steps to review our security measures
                          so that this doesn't happen again.

                          "It's even more disturbing because this is
                          someone who knew how things worked," said
                          Tucker. Hanssen was a counterintelligence
                          expert.

                          Intelligence experts estimate that Hanssen's
                          disclosures were highly damaging.

                          "It appears that there's tremendous damage
                          to technical collection capabilities," Paul
                          Redmond, former head of counterintelligence
                          for the CIA, said on CNN. "The other
                          category is the losses of human sources ... if
                          it's true he was a spy ... (he) compromised
                          numerous sources."

                          The case marked the third time that an FBI
                          agent has been accused of espionage, and it
                          brought a quick reaction from President Bush
                          and members of Congress on Tuesday.

                          "Allegations of espionage are a reminder that
                          we live in a dangerous world, a world that
                          sometimes does not share American values,"
                          Bush said in a statement he read to reporters
                          on Air Force One. Declaring that espionage
                          remains a threat to the nation even with the
                          Cold War gone, the president added: "To
                          anyone who would betray its trust, I warn
                          you, we'll find you and we'll bring you to
                          justice."

                          "This could be a very, very, very serious case
                          of espionage," said Sen. Richard Shelby,
                          R-Ala., chairman of the Senate Intelligence
                          Committee. "Here's an agent who is a
                          veteran of the FBI, who's been doing
                          counterintelligence for a long time. He knows
                          a lot. He could have given them a lot."

                          Freeh told a news conference: "The full
                          extent of the damage done is yet unknown,
                          because no accurate damage assessment
                          could be done during the course of the covert
                          investigation without jeopardizing it. We
                          believe, however, that it was exceptionally
                          grave. The criminal conduct alleged
                          represents the most traitorous actions
                          imaginable against a country governed by the
                          rule of law."

                          Freeh said security measures need to be
                          tightened, and he ordered an internal review
                          to be headed by William Webster, a former
                          FBI and CIA director.

                          "We don't say, at this stage ... that we have
                          a system that can prevent this type of
                          conduct," Freeh said.

                          Hanssen, a 25-year FBI agent, was arrested
                          Sunday night at a park in suburban Virginia
                          after dropping a package of documents for
                          his Russian contacts, authorities said. FBI
                          agents confiscated $50,000 hidden for him at
                          a nearby drop site.

                          An FBI affidavit alleged that Hanssen
                          betrayed his country for about $1.4 million in
                          cash and diamonds.

                          A court hearing was set for March 5 for the
                          father of six, who was charged with
                          espionage and conspiracy to commit
                          espionage. Hanssen, who could face the
                          death penalty, appea

                          He was not asked how he pleaded to the
                          charges but outside the courthouse his
                          lawyer, Plato Cacheris, told reporters: "At
                          this point, not guilty."

Guys,
I would like to see this guy hang also IF he is guilty. I think we should wait and before condemming him to death. If he is guilty them by all means he should get the worst fate known to man. But he is entitled to a trial first. It would not be the first time the feds have knabbed the wrong guy.

Before you flame, my opinion is YES he probobly did it. The media is having a field day with this. If he is innocent that's going to make things much harder to deal with.

unfortunatly, i have seen too much BS in my life time and i wonder if someone is taking the fall, now i know absolutly no details about this case but it could have been our beloved ex-president clinton selling our souls again and someone taking the fall....again. i hate to ramble but we just cant beleive an ounce of info that the press or government releases. franksquid

My thought exactly. If the bastard is guilty FRY HIM. but lets not get to hasty. There may be bigger folks involved. Certanly the agency itself made it convienient for him.

I have another question regarding this. I thought the CIA was resposible for covert ops outside us borders. I thought the FBI was responsible for inside the borders. Am i wrong? When did the FBI become involved with covert ops outside the US. I might see where they have an interest in anti terrorist activities but spying? Why would the FBI be privy to national security secrets? Please forgive my ignorance but i just had to ask.

mike

it wouldn't matter if you found it. I'm sure the IRS was watching the suitcaes also. If you found 50,000 you'd only get to keep 3.50 after taxes.

mike

BTT