A Spy in Plain Sight: The Inside Story of America's Most Damaging Russian Spy and the Implications for National Security Today

Description

New York Times bestselling author and former federal prosecutor Lis Wiehl delivers a behind-the-scenes account of how FBI agent Robert Hanssen, a church-going father of five, sold national security secrets to Russia for more than two decades--and how America's current political climate makes it still possible today. Three years into his career as an FBI agent, Robert Hanssen made the shocking decision to volunteer as a spy for the Soviet Union, beginning two decades of espionage that the Department of Justice considers "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in US history." Drawing upon deep archival research and exclusive personal interviews--including unique access to FBI and CIA agents and Hanssen's friends and family--former federal prosecutor and Fox News legal analyst Lis Wiehl has written a propulsive, page-turning thriller detailing how this unassuming father of five, a devout Catholic and member of Opus Dei, got away with sharing highly classified information with Russia, including the names of FBI operatives within the KGB and details about America's military weapons operations. When FBI agents--with help from an ex-KGB officer--arrested Hanssen in 2001, the resulting investigations laid bare the weaknesses in the FBI's internal security. In her careful analysis, Wiehl uncovers surprising reasons behind Hanssen's devastating acts of betrayal and sheds light on the very real possibility of another mole in operation today, particularly given our current social and political climate.

Lis Wiehl is one of the nation's most prominent trial lawyers and highly regarded legal commentators. The former legal analyst for Fox News and The O'Reilly Factor, she has appeared regularly on Your World with Neil Cavuto, Lou Dobbs Tonight, and the Imus morning shows, and is the host of the Wiehl of Justice podcast. She is also a professor at New York Law School. A former legal analyst and reporter for NBC News and NPR's All Things Considered, she also served as a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney's office. Wiehl earned her JD from Harvard Law School and her Master of Arts in Literature from the University of Queensland. She lives near New York City.