SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
February 21, 2001

FBI AFFIDAVIT ON ROBERT P. HANSSEN

If the FBI's counterintelligence program is in sad shape, at least the Bureau's public affairs staff is functioning well.

Following the announcement yesterday of the arrest of FBI counterintelligence official Robert Philip Hanssen on suspicion of espionage, the FBI did an outstanding job of providing information about the case to the press and the general public.

The 100-odd page FBI affidavit outlining the evidence against Mr. Hanssen is a fascinating account of the case and itself a valuable addition to the literature of espionage.

The affidavit is widely available, on the FBI web site and elsewhere, in PDF format. An HTML version of the document, which may be easier for some readers to access, is posted here:

CORPORATE AND INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE

The transcript of a Congressional hearing on "Corporate and Industrial Espionage and Their Effects on American Competitiveness" was published this week.

The rather perfunctory hearing was held on September 13, 2000 before a subcommittee on the House International Relations Committee.

The transcript is posted here:

IRAN BALLISTIC MISSILE PROGRAMS

Another, somewhat more substantive hearing transcript was also published this week on "Iran's Ballistic Missile and Weapons of Mass Destruction Program."

"Iran has very active missile and weapon of mass destruction development programs, and is seeking foreign missile, chemical, biological, and nuclear technologies," according to Robert Walpole of the National Intelligence Council, who was one of the witnesses.

This hearing was held on September 21, 2000 before a subcommittee of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. The transcript is posted here:

FAITH-BASED MISSILE DEFENSE

"Bush Unveils Faith-Based Missile Defense" is the title of a humorous article by Gregg Easterbrook that appears in today's issue of the online magazine Slate.

The article may be found here:

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