The Protege — "Possibly the Worst Intelligence Disaster in U.S. History"

About this episode

Eric O’Neill discusses his experience spying on Robert Hanssen, one of the most damaging spies in U.S. history.

Two FBI agents. One room. One of them is the most damaging spy in U.S. history. Robert Hanssen told a lot of lies — including a really weird one about booking the Beach Boys for the FBI. That lie didn’t matter all that much, but the others did. For 22 years, Hanssen sold America’s deepest secrets while hunting moles inside the Bureau. With retirement looming, the FBI set a trap: a fake department, a fake job, and a young agent named Eric O’Neill placed three feet from the suspected spy. This episode is our conversation with Eric O’Neill — the man tasked with spying on the spy — about lies, tradecraft, psychological warfare, and the sting operation into what the DOJ later called “possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

People in this episode

Guest: Eric O’Neill

Topics covered

• intelligence
• espionage
• FBI
• spy
• psychological warfare
• sting operation

Keywords

• Robert Hanssen
• FBI
• Eric O’Neill
• intelligence disaster
• spy
• psychological warfare
• sting operation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: FBI, DOJ

Books & works: The Protege

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