Host Mike Palm introduces former FBI counterintelligence agent Wayne Barnes, who worked on KGB espionage and debriefed Cold War defectors. Barnes has written a new book titled 'A Traitor in the FBI, The Hunt for a Russian Mole'. He explains that the book is a true story about an undercover operation to unmask a KGB mole in the FBI. Barnes sent the manuscript to the FBI's pre-publication review unit, which took seven years to respond with redactions and objections. He had to argue his case in Washington three times before the book was approved for publication. The FBI restricted the information because counterintelligence cases involving Russians and the KGB were highly classified. The traitor, Robert Hanssen, was arrested, spent his life in jail, and died a couple of years ago. Barnes started the investigation in 1998 and was based in San Diego for about 18 years due to his daughter's medical needs. He was sent on a mission to identify the spy among a dozen senior FBI agents suspected of being the mole. Barnes describes how his undercover work was so secret that even his family didn't know what he was doing. He was officially on a health care fraud squad to maintain cover. The host asks why someone in the FBI would become a traitor, and Barnes explains it was primarily for money, though Hanssen also thought he was the smartest person in the room. Psychologists noted that Hanssen compartmentalized his life, attending mass daily while leaving dead drops for Russians at night. Hanssen volunteered to spy and was not recruited by anyone. Upon arrest, he asked the SWAT team why it took so long to catch him. The investigation knew Hanssen was active in 1992 and 1993, and he was arrested in the early 2000s. The episode concludes with Barnes expressing relief that the story is now public and the host thanking him for sharing it.
