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Business Wars. And in our new season,

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0:51

Before we start, just a quick note. Among

0:54

the surprises in this episode are a few

0:56

profanities and discussions about

0:58

sex.

1:03

Joanna's 1819 was a strip club

1:05

about a 15-minute walk from the White

1:07

House. In the late 1980s and

1:09

90s, it was a place where a

1:11

certain set of professional men in Washington

1:14

took their lunch hour. A

1:16

narrow entryway corridor opened to

1:18

a small stage.

1:20

Music blared from the DJ booth.

1:23

The clientele ate broiled fish

1:25

and watched women take their clothes off under dim

1:28

red lights.

1:30

Priscilla Sue Gailey was the dancer there.

1:32

My dancing? Yeah. That's part

1:34

of my soul. I had

1:37

to take off my clothes to make the money, but

1:39

dancing is a part of my soul. Priscilla

1:42

was in her early 30s. She was petite

1:44

with blue eyes and dark hair. The

1:46

other dancers at the club called her liquid

1:49

rhythm. To regulars, she was

1:51

known as Hot Legs. She

1:54

had danced at clubs in Ohio and Massachusetts

1:56

under different names.

1:57

Tracy Starr here in Columbus.

2:01

I was a Monique, I was a Monica,

2:03

DC I was Priscilla, and no one

2:05

ever knew my real name until then. I

2:08

never had power in my life until I

2:10

started dancing. Yeah, I

2:12

was abused, I

2:13

was stifled. No.

2:17

That is the first time in my whole life I was allowed

2:19

to be anybody I wanted to be. For 20

2:22

minutes at a time I could be anybody I

2:24

wanted to be.

2:25

And dancing at Joanna's, becoming whoever

2:28

she wanted to be that day, that hour,

2:30

that song, was how Priscilla

2:32

came to be the unlikely companion

2:35

of Robert Hanson. God, you're

2:38

so nice to me. It was a magical

2:40

year, he made my whole year just like, what?

2:46

When he met Priscilla in 1990, Hanson

2:49

had been married for 22 years. He

2:51

had six kids who he was trying to put

2:53

through private school and college. He

2:55

was an FBI special agent who was

2:57

climbing the bureaucratic ladder. He went

3:00

to church on Sundays, even sometimes visiting

3:02

Opus Dei during the week in the afternoons.

3:06

But there were other afternoons where

3:08

he was at Joanna's.

3:17

We've gone in depth on the damage wrought by

3:19

Hanson's espionage, the assets

3:21

who were jailed, tortured, or killed,

3:24

the billions Hanson caused taxpayers

3:26

and compromised spying programs. But

3:29

Hanson committed other betrayals.

3:32

These were more personal, intimate. Psychologically,

3:35

they were like night wounds, inflicted

3:38

on people Hanson professed to admire, care for,

3:41

and loved.

3:41

From

3:47

CBS News, I'm Major Garrett and this is

3:50

Agent of Betrayal, a double life

3:52

of Robert Hanson, Episode 3. Priscilla.

4:08

Priscilla Sue Gailey wasn't easy for

4:10

us to find. Sarah Kuka, producer

4:12

on this podcast, spent months looking for

4:14

her.

4:15

She got a response by email at first, then

4:17

Priscilla went dark for months.

4:20

Nothing.

4:21

Sarah eventually found her in Columbus,

4:23

Ohio, with the help of Facebook and

4:25

Priscilla's adult son.

4:27

Hi. Hi. Hi, this is

4:30

Major Garrett. Good morning. Priscilla

4:32

went to a studio in Ohio. We connected

4:34

with her over a phone line. Hi, Mr.

4:36

Garrett. Good morning to you also.

4:39

Oh, you don't need to call me

4:41

Mr. Garrett. Major's just fine. I'm very

4:43

pleased to meet you, and I thank you very much for coming

4:45

in. I really, really thank you for that.

4:47

Oh, it's my pleasure. Thank you.

4:50

She was eager to talk about Hanson and

4:52

their first meeting in 1990.

4:55

He came into my life like a whirlwind, but the

4:58

very first time I met him, he

5:00

sent, like, I think it was a $10 bill back to

5:02

the dressing room. I'd already went back after

5:04

my set, and the compliment

5:07

he gave me right off from the beginning, I

5:09

had to go find out who this man was, period,

5:12

because it was the most beautiful thing anybody ever said

5:14

to me or about me, and I just

5:17

was not going to let it go.

5:19

She had just performed a set wearing an all-white

5:22

chiffon number with bell sleeves

5:24

and a blue and white feather boa.

5:26

Do you remember what that compliment was?

5:29

Oh, yeah, I would never forget it. She says something

5:31

to the effect of, I've never seen such grace

5:33

and beauty in a strip

5:36

club. I just, something to that effect.

5:38

It really made me feel special, and

5:41

believe me, you don't get special like that

5:43

every day.

5:44

Priscilla did something she had never done

5:47

before. She ran out of the dressing

5:49

room to find him.

5:51

I always had these little chiffon

5:53

things that you throw over your top and bottom

5:55

like a baby. So yeah, but I ran

5:58

to the front of that. I barely, he was a tall, person

6:00

in there so it wasn't hard to see him going out

6:02

the front door. I ran

6:04

up there and caught him.

6:06

Hanson was in his trademark dark

6:08

suit. When Priscilla caught him, he

6:11

gave her his FBI business card, the

6:13

Bureau Insignia in raised print.

6:15

I didn't even know they had cards but

6:17

I'm glad he told me he was an FBI agent. I'm like okay

6:20

buddy. I put that away. Yeah

6:23

I never intended

6:24

to call that number.

6:26

That would have been the end of that.

6:29

Of course it wasn't the end of that.

6:31

A few weeks later, Hanson was back at the

6:33

club and this time they

6:36

got to talking.

6:37

I said you're a lot more down to earth and I expected

6:40

FBI people to be. I said I was not

6:42

going to call you though because I'm kind of afraid of

6:44

the FBI. He goes why? He said

6:46

you have nothing on your record. I go what

6:48

do you mean? He said I've checked you

6:51

out. You don't even have a criminal record. I

6:53

said you checked me out. Yeah that

6:55

freaked me out but it just sort of like oh

6:57

my god here we go

6:59

it's the FBI.

7:01

Hanson had a ready-made story for

7:04

his visits to the strip club. He

7:06

was trying to catch

7:07

a KGB guy or talk to an

7:09

informant. He

7:12

said two or three people got

7:14

killed and that's why he had he had an informant.

7:18

He would always say he was doing one of those two things

7:20

when he came to the club. I have no way

7:22

of knowing whether that was true or not but that

7:24

was his reason for being in the club. Half

7:27

the people in there had had stories

7:29

he never really knew if it was all true but

7:32

his sounded real. I mean it really did.

7:34

Think

7:35

of the circularity. Hanson

7:38

goes to a strip club with the cover story that

7:40

he's mole hunting an operation that would have been

7:42

highly classified. All the while

7:44

he knows he is a mole. Hanson

7:48

tells Priscilla about the Russians helping

7:50

the U.S. who were tortured and killed. Of

7:53

course one of the reasons they were tortured

7:55

and killed was because Hanson gave

7:57

them up.

7:58

Quite the cover story.

7:59

one that put Hanson and

8:02

his ego

8:03

center stage. Anyway,

8:10

by the second time they met, Hanson hadn't

8:13

just run a criminal background check on Priscilla.

8:15

He had run to the jewelry store too,

8:18

returning to the club with a sapphire

8:21

and diamond necklace.

8:22

I said, I can't accept

8:24

this. I mean it was beautiful.

8:27

Don't get me wrong. It was absolutely

8:30

gorgeous. But then I thought, uh-oh,

8:33

he wants something and then he said it's beautiful,

8:35

you should have it. And he took it out the box and put

8:37

it on me and I was like, but

8:41

I took it. I could

8:43

not help myself. It was so beautiful.

8:46

And this happened in the club? In

8:48

the club.

8:49

Right out there in the open.

8:51

Right out there in the open. I

8:54

said, you make this kind of money. He said, I don't know.

8:56

I got a very

8:57

large inheritance. I was like,

8:59

oh, okay.

9:01

Okay. And in that case, and

9:04

I didn't want to be taking food out of his kids' mouths

9:06

or... I don't know what

9:08

I thought. It just seemed like an

9:10

awfully lot. It was unbelievable. That's

9:13

what I'm saying. He was so nice to me.

9:15

Of course, Hanson didn't have a

9:17

large inheritance. He came from a middle-class

9:20

background. But

9:22

the Soviets had provided Hanson with tens of

9:24

thousands of dollars for every batch of secrets.

9:27

By now, he had made an estimated $450,000. That

9:29

would be about a million

9:32

dollars today. And he made a

9:34

lot of that right before meeting Priscilla.

9:38

Hanson was paid in cash and diamonds

9:40

and there's only so much of that you can keep

9:42

in your sock drawer. Some went to

9:44

his kids' private school

9:45

tuition, some to a home renovation.

9:48

Any deposit over $10,000 would

9:50

be flagged by the bank.

9:52

He needed somewhere to put the extra cash.

10:00

There

10:00

was no reason for Priscilla to question

10:02

his story, because Priscilla was

10:04

focused on the other question.

10:06

What did Hanson want in return?

10:10

In spite of Priscilla's expectations, she

10:12

says Hanson didn't seem interested in her

10:15

physically.

10:16

At first when he was coming in, my

10:18

mother described my real father once. He

10:20

was a tall, handsome man. He

10:23

didn't want any kind of hugging, sexual

10:25

thing, anything from me, and he was so

10:27

generous. I thought in my fantasy-ridden

10:30

mind that that might be my long-lost father,

10:32

not wanting to tell me who he was.

10:35

That fantasy didn't last long. They

10:38

were only about 15 years apart in age.

10:40

The more she learned about him, Priscilla concluded pretty

10:43

quickly Hanson was not her biological

10:45

father, just a generous patron,

10:48

and maybe a

10:49

friend.

10:51

Regardless of what their relationship meant,

10:54

Priscilla really liked him.

10:56

He was fascinating.

10:57

I really will

10:59

say the word fascinating to me. I

11:01

couldn't wait to see him again. He intrigued me. He

11:04

was so intelligent and quiet. He

11:06

always smiled, too. So

11:08

that really made me at

11:10

ease.

11:11

Hanson went out of his way to care for Priscilla.

11:14

For instance, when he learned that she'd never

11:16

gotten a driver's license, he loaned her his

11:19

BMW so she could take the test.

11:21

She passed.

11:23

And while Hanson was known around the office as

11:25

gruff, superior, and sour, when

11:27

he was with Priscilla Sue Gailey, he

11:30

acted so differently. He took

11:32

her to museums. They talked over

11:34

lunch. They went on long walks.

11:37

He would bring up topics

11:39

of things that I knew nothing about.

11:43

And I pride myself in being

11:46

able to comprehend and keep up with

11:49

anyone's conversation, especially in

11:51

D.C. at that point. He actually

11:53

thought I went to college. I'd never been to college,

11:56

but he didn't know that, and that made me feel really

11:58

good.

12:00

On stage, Priscilla liked to tell a

12:02

story. Her act involved costumes

12:04

and different personas. Sometimes

12:07

she wore glasses and carried a briefcase, like

12:10

an office worker.

12:11

I always told him, I'm a chameleon. I

12:14

can blend in. I can be anybody I want to be, for 20 minutes

12:16

at a time. But

12:19

that was on stage. I didn't mean it for everything, but

12:22

I guess he wanted to put it to the test. I

12:24

didn't fail.

12:26

Hanson took Priscilla to a popular

12:28

FBI bar, but first he

12:30

decided she needed an outfit change.

12:33

I always used to wear beautiful high heels, and

12:35

I'm talking like six-inch

12:37

heels. And he said, oh, no. You

12:40

have to put something on more conservative. And

12:43

I was like, way me. So he bought

12:45

me the ugliest pair of blue pumps.

12:48

Ugh, they were horrid. But I wore them.

12:51

But I didn't know he'd toss my other high heels.

12:53

He left them in the store. I didn't have them.

12:55

But I had to wear those ugly things around, and

12:57

I had to look the part. No high heels

12:59

allowed, I guess.

13:01

Priscilla had passed an initial test, but

13:03

she was about to get another

13:05

halfway around the world.

13:13

By spring of 1991, Hanson was working

13:15

in an FBI inspection unit. He

13:18

traveled to bureau field offices as an auditor, making

13:21

sure things were on the up-and-up. The

13:23

position frequently took him overseas.

13:26

When he told me he was getting ready to make a trip

13:29

to China, I

13:31

said, oh, really? I said, I love

13:33

their art. I went on and

13:35

on and on.

13:36

I said, if you're going, could you

13:38

do me a favor and just bring me anything? He goes,

13:41

can you take a break? And I'm

13:43

like, yeah, if I want to. I said, why? He

13:46

said, can you take a walk down the street with me? I

13:48

said, I'll be right back. Sure.

13:50

She got dressed, and they walked a couple of doors down

13:52

to a travel agency. Hanson told her

13:54

he needed to pick up his ticket for the trip.

13:57

Priscilla waited outside, smoking a cigarette.

14:00

When Hanson emerged, he handed her

14:02

an envelope. It contained

14:05

her own ticket for a flight to Hong

14:07

Kong.

14:08

I said, I

14:10

was like stuttering like a ticket. I can

14:13

go. And he said, well, not with me.

14:15

He said, but if you like to go and find

14:18

your place in the world, you can go.

14:21

And I'm paying for it.

14:22

Hanson made it clear they would fly separately

14:25

and stay in their own hotel rooms. I

14:28

was like, oh my God, I went to Huggy and Bea. No, no,

14:30

no, that's not necessary. He backed off, like

14:32

wouldn't let me hug him or anything. But I was

14:34

so excited. I was like thrilled, like really,

14:36

for real. I mean, I was so,

14:39

I don't know, I was

14:41

overwhelmed. I was so excited and

14:43

happy and hell no, I'm not turning

14:46

it back in for money. I'm going.

14:49

A gift

14:50

with great potential for disaster.

14:53

Think about the risks to Hanson for a second, bringing

14:55

a dancer on a work trip abroad, a

14:58

trip taken under the auspices of the FBI.

15:00

It is hard to comprehend.

15:03

Hanson even pulled strings to get Priscilla a temporary

15:05

passport.

15:08

They stayed at a beautifully appointed high rise

15:10

hotel with a rooftop bar, a grand

15:12

staircase that flowed from the mezzanine to the lobby.

15:15

Stunning flower arrangements adorned the property.

15:19

In the day in Hong Kong, Priscilla and Hanson

15:22

went their separate ways. She shopped,

15:24

swam in the hotel pool, drank, played

15:26

tourist. He worked. But

15:29

they'd eat together every morning and have

15:31

dinner every night, halfway

15:34

around the world with a beautiful woman. It

15:37

was a James Bond-like

15:39

fantasy. Hanson

15:41

took care of every detail.

15:43

I sound like a total princess. I've

15:45

never been treated so well in my entire life.

15:48

First was at the hotel buffet. Dinner

15:50

was at a different spot around town each

15:53

night. They

15:54

would take luxury cars to the restaurants.

15:56

I swear I had six different kinds of Chinese

15:59

food.

15:59

them all. I wanted the place

16:02

setting. They would have

16:04

everything made out of onyx

16:05

or everything made out of jade

16:08

or everything with gold hips or everything

16:10

a turquoise or everything just he

16:13

said what would you like I said the place settings you

16:15

know like it was so beautiful. After

16:18

dinner Priscilla would usually hit the clubs without

16:21

Hanson.

16:23

Except one day before dinner when she wandered

16:25

into a bar because it happened to have her favorite

16:27

drink Canadian club whiskey.

16:30

So

16:30

I called him I said I'm down

16:32

here and I told him where is that I said I'm going

16:34

to be a little late because I finally found my

16:37

you know my Canadian club and

16:39

he's like you're where he said

16:42

you don't know where he said you're in the red light

16:44

district I go what's that he said

16:46

I'll be right down to get you.

16:48

Hanson raced to the red light district

16:50

to pick her up.

16:52

When he came in you know the music's good everything's

16:54

good I'm having a wonderful time and

16:56

the people were nice to me nobody was being

16:58

weird or anything he said you're in the red

17:00

light district we really got to go. I said

17:03

okay um let me finish my drink I

17:05

said oh and can we do you want to dance this one

17:07

song he's like no I said oh

17:09

please come on you can dance. So I

17:12

kind of pulled him out on the dance floor and

17:14

started you know and the poor guy

17:17

I've seen why he didn't want to dance. Oh he looked like you

17:19

remember Lurch?

17:20

You know Lurch from the Adams

17:23

family.

17:23

I'll teach you to them. Grandma

17:27

taught me she's a great dancer.

17:32

Lift Lurch's arms up one

17:34

at a time and you know how

17:37

poor

17:38

guy because I believe anybody

17:40

can dance but he just could not loosen

17:42

up but anyway

17:44

that didn't last long about half

17:46

the song and we're leaving.

17:48

As Priscilla's benefactor Hanson had

17:51

certain expectations for her he

17:53

wanted some control in exchange for

17:55

his generosity

17:56

for instance Priscilla had brought

17:59

a crocheted bikini.

18:00

two revealing for Hanson's puritanical

18:03

tastes. He made her pick

18:05

out a one piece, which he paid for.

18:08

Now you'd think he came to the club

18:10

to see me. Why

18:11

would that upset him? I guess because I was out

18:13

in public. I don't know. I had no idea.

18:17

But I didn't argue. I put it on and went

18:19

to the club. Oh, no problem.

18:21

Another day he arranged for Priscilla to tour

18:23

a Russian submarine docked in Hong

18:25

Kong's harbor. Hanson wanted

18:27

Priscilla to go inside the submarine. Really

18:30

scope it out. Would

18:31

you rather go shopping or go

18:33

aboard a Russian submarine? I wanted

18:35

to go shopping.

18:36

Thank you. Yeah.

18:39

And he seemed highly upset. Like you didn't

18:42

go? No, I

18:44

was shopping and just

18:47

blew it off like it wasn't even. But he was upset.

18:50

He didn't want to go. Why would I want to go without

18:52

him? I mean, it's something that if he wanted me to

18:55

go, he should have took me personally. That's

18:57

the way I felt.

19:00

We don't know why Hanson wanted Priscilla

19:03

to tour the Soviet submarine

19:05

without him there.

19:07

In hindsight, Priscilla wonders

19:09

what Hanson's intentions were. Was

19:11

she being groomed to be an accomplice

19:14

or a sacrificial lamb? What

19:17

did Hanson want from her?

19:20

After two weeks in Hong Kong, they had dinner

19:23

one final time.

19:24

I told him every night for dinner,

19:26

I would come down. They had this long, winding

19:29

staircase. I told him every night

19:31

when I come to dinner, I hope I look better

19:33

than I did the night before. Now,

19:35

I kept this up for two weeks. So you know, on

19:39

the last night, the last dinner date, I

19:42

felt like a movie star.

19:43

She was wearing a sapphire blue dress

19:46

with a small slit, not too high, she says,

19:49

with matching shoes, all adorned

19:51

with rhinestones. On

19:53

this last night, Priscilla wanted

19:56

to test for herself if this really

19:58

was a platonic relationship.

20:01

It was my last chance. I think I

20:03

got a little more tipsy and I had a lot

20:05

of time to think about everything that's been

20:07

done for me. The trip's over

20:09

and we're going to be going back to

20:12

where everybody knows us and he had not made a move

20:14

on me. I thought maybe

20:16

he

20:18

just needs a little push.

20:20

So I did the pushing.

20:23

Yeah,

20:23

I liked him a lot but I knew

20:25

he was happily married and I wasn't going to mess that up.

20:28

But I thought maybe he brought me all the way

20:30

over here because he could not make

20:32

that move any closer to home.

20:35

I made the move. He didn't believe me. He

20:37

stopped me. You

20:40

know, it didn't finish anything

20:42

but at least I found out what I needed to find

20:44

out.

20:45

That was it.

20:47

That might have ended most relationships,

20:50

but not this one.

20:52

Priscilla and Hanson went home to their separate lives,

20:54

Priscilla, with a few more suitcases than

20:56

she came with. Back in D.C.

20:59

he continued visiting her at the club. They

21:01

were still friends. Hanson

21:04

proselytized about Opus Dei to anyone

21:06

who would listen, but his approach to

21:08

Priscilla was more gradual,

21:10

less blunt. When

21:12

I told him I walked by this church every

21:14

day, this beautiful church from

21:16

the subway on the way to work. It

21:19

was so beautiful and that's when he started.

21:21

He said, you know,

21:23

you should go in. You should come

21:26

to my church. It's strange, but

21:28

he did not do it in an offensive way. He

21:30

did it in

21:31

an offering,

21:34

offering a different path. I was

21:37

afraid, if you know what I mean,

21:39

that I couldn't do that because he had took

21:41

off my clothes for a living. So I was

21:44

thinking I couldn't mix the two or something and he

21:46

convinced me otherwise.

21:48

With Hanson's encouragement, Priscilla showed

21:50

up at his family's Northern Virginia church.

21:53

I didn't go in, but I went to

21:56

go in. I just chickened out because

21:58

his wife and kids were there and I was. Feeling

22:00

awkward if that meant anything.

22:03

Hanson and Priscilla were close. They'd been

22:05

seeing each other for about a year. Hanson

22:07

had been giving her money regularly.

22:09

Then one day, Hanson

22:12

took Priscilla to lunch at a Mexican

22:14

restaurant. Went to lunch,

22:17

and he gave me money. And I was like,

22:19

oh, whoop, whoop.

22:20

By then. I didn't know what he had for

22:22

me, but I knew he

22:23

was probably going to give me some money. But

22:25

Hanson had something else up his sleeve,

22:28

or rather in the tortilla chips.

22:30

He had hidden car keys there. He

22:32

said, well, those are going to be yours.

22:36

I got a car? You got me a car?

22:39

And I got all excited. Oh my god. Did I

22:41

ever get excited? I didn't know what it was.

22:43

I didn't even care. It was just the fact that he had, like

22:45

a father would do, you know, bought me a car. And

22:48

so I couldn't wait to get done eating. I'm ready to go right now. I'm

22:50

not hungry anymore. I want to go. Oh

22:52

my kids. My baby bins. It

22:55

was champagne silver with red leather

22:57

interior and a sundress,

22:58

and I loved it. On

23:00

her way home, Priscilla went on a joyride,

23:04

50 miles out of her way.

23:05

I was floating. I was floating on

23:07

it. I sat it outside my apartment for

23:10

two weeks, and I'd look out the window because I just knew

23:12

they were going to come take it away. I just knew something.

23:15

It just can't be mine. It's not real. They're

23:17

going to come tow it away. It's not mine. But

23:19

it sat there for two weeks. And it was

23:21

mine. And finally, when I was convinced that it was OK,

23:24

I started driving it.

23:26

The car also came with an American Express

23:28

card to be used only for car-related

23:31

expenses.

23:34

Around this time, Hanson took Priscilla somewhere

23:36

civilians can't usually go, the

23:39

FBI training facility in Quantico, Virginia.

23:42

He gave her a badge so that she could access

23:44

the site. They went on what Priscilla

23:47

called a grand tour of the campus.

23:50

Then he left her alone to wander.

23:53

He told her if anyone asked, she

23:55

was working on the allegedly top secret

23:58

Eisenhower project.

23:59

Hanson didn't tell Priscilla what it was or

24:02

if it was even real.

24:03

They made a bet on it. 100 bucks. If

24:06

I could blend in, I would win the money. Well,

24:09

there was no problem. When he came down to get me, I

24:11

was eating ice cream with a whole table

24:13

full of people they didn't know.

24:15

Back in the Washington area, Hanson

24:17

also took Priscilla on walks in the woods.

24:20

That's what she thought they were. In reality,

24:23

they were circling Hanson's dead drop

24:25

sites, those places where he passed

24:28

secrets to the Soviets. I even

24:30

seen one of those tape things

24:32

and didn't even know what it was. On

24:35

the bridge. It's just the whole

24:37

thing added up.

24:38

I'm sorry, say that again. Priscilla, say that

24:40

again. You saw what?

24:42

You know, the little tape marks on the bridges

24:44

and wherever. I don't

24:46

know how they did it. I saw that later

24:48

on that they were taping marking spots

24:51

for drop offs or wherever. I actually saw

24:53

some tape on the thing and he just, he

24:55

didn't say anything. But

24:58

I wonder if I was with him when he dropped one off.

25:00

I hope not.

25:01

The tape markings were like the flag on

25:03

your mailbox. Hanson signaled

25:05

to and from the Soviets that a package

25:08

or cash reward

25:09

was ready for pickup. And that's kind

25:11

of frightening, really. I could have

25:13

been part of something I didn't even know I was part of. Yeah.

25:20

That December, Priscilla drove her champagne

25:22

baby Ben's home to Columbus, Ohio

25:24

for the holidays.

25:26

It was supposed to be a short family

25:28

visit.

25:29

Why did I go back to Ohio? I went back so

25:31

I could see my mother's jaw drop down

25:33

when I pulled up in a Mercedes at the little Christmas

25:36

wreath on the front. And it did exactly what

25:38

I expected.

25:39

That Christmas, something else happened

25:41

in Robert Hanson's world.

25:44

The Soviet Union

25:45

collapsed on December 25th, 1991.

25:49

Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev resigned.

25:52

Tonight, the red flag was taken down

25:55

from the Kremlin where it has flown since

25:57

the 1917 revolution. The

26:00

KGB dissolved. What was

26:02

once easy money for Hanson

26:04

was no longer so simple. Meanwhile, Priscilla

26:07

stayed in Columbus for longer

26:09

than she'd planned. She wasn't dancing

26:11

at clubs any longer or making money. She

26:14

pawned the sapphire and diamond necklace. That

26:18

credit card Hanson gave her for car expenses, she

26:21

used it for cigarettes and Easter dresses for

26:24

her nieces. And that's when Hanson

26:26

made a surprise visit

26:28

to Columbus.

26:30

I thought, oh my goodness,

26:32

he's here to visit me. No, he was

26:34

here to get the card and see you

26:35

later. And what was that encounter like? Very

26:38

abrupt, very quick, and I really didn't understand why

26:40

he was so upset because it

26:42

really

26:43

wasn't

26:46

that much money at all. And

26:48

then everything went sideways

26:49

for Priscilla. A city truck

26:52

slammed into her Mercedes.

26:54

Priscilla was uninjured, but her baby Benz was totaled.

26:58

She didn't have insurance.

27:00

It had stopped everything. When the car

27:02

stopped, I stopped. And I was stuck. I

27:05

was in a deep depression, I started doing

27:08

drugs.

27:09

It was horrible. I didn't care. I did not care

27:11

anymore. My whole life was

27:12

gone. Yeah, it was bad.

27:15

Hanson was out of

27:17

her life and that created a deep

27:18

depression. Her life was in freefall.

27:21

It went from bad to worse really fast.

27:25

And I was so depressed at that point. I

27:29

didn't

27:29

care. I just did not

27:30

care. But I just did

27:32

not care. Depression hit like the big ship

27:34

coming

27:34

in.

27:37

Priscilla was eventually arrested on

27:39

a drug charge. She was in a drug

27:41

charge.

27:42

She was in a drug charge.

27:45

Coming in.

27:46

Priscilla was eventually arrested on

27:48

a drug charge.

27:50

Her mother, knowing all about Hanson,

27:52

called him,

27:53

looking for help.

27:55

He's like, she made her bed and she got a lay in it. He was

27:57

not going to help. He was done with me.

28:00

After being released from jail, she became

28:02

pregnant and the birth of her son gave her

28:04

a sense of purpose.

28:06

Priscilla is now 65 and still

28:09

in Columbus. Looking back on

28:11

it all now, 30 years after their emotional

28:13

affair, Priscilla faults herself

28:16

for being so naive.

28:18

I think he needed a place to put the money.

28:20

I think he was bored.

28:21

And I think he was looking for

28:24

that person to throw

28:26

away. He didn't care nothing

28:28

about me at all. I was

28:31

disposable.

28:33

I'm so sorry about that.

28:35

I really am. No, really. Me too. Really.

28:37

Because I really liked him. He was so good

28:39

to me. Do I hate him? No, I

28:42

don't hate anyone. And I'm always going

28:44

to be grateful. Always. And he always

28:46

was good to me. But his motive,

28:48

I would love to know what his true motive is so

28:51

I can get that out of me. So

28:54

I can actually, you know, kill

28:57

some kind of witch way or the other.

29:01

There's part of Priscilla that's glad their

29:03

relationship ended because she avoided

29:05

falling into what now feels like

29:07

Hanson's trap. I

29:09

would have been baked. That's what I was. It was

29:11

all for his doing. It was all for his benefit, I

29:13

think. Not the religious part, but

29:16

all the locations. Like, he would have sent me

29:18

and I would have went gladly. Not

29:20

knowing, not always

29:22

trusting him. I would have done anything he asked

29:24

me to do.

29:25

Maybe geared

29:28

toward either recruiting you

29:30

or using you in some way. Maybe.

29:32

There is no maybe to it.

29:35

It's a definite test. Everything,

29:37

yes, it was definite. There's no maybe in my

29:39

mind anymore. I figured it all out. Everything,

29:42

every conversation, every little tidbit.

29:45

All I know is he took my trust

29:47

and I

29:50

would have been the perfect guinea,

29:53

you know, here to take her. I'm going

29:55

to send her out. She's going to do whatever I tell her. And I

29:57

would have ended up dead or in

29:58

prison.

30:01

For as much attention as Hanson lavished

30:03

on her and as much as he revealed to

30:05

her about espionage, Hanson

30:07

kept something from Priscilla about

30:09

another hidden compartment of his life.

30:20

Hanson's courtship with Priscilla was surprisingly

30:23

chased. If anything, it was an emotional

30:25

affair or friends with

30:28

financial benefits arrangement.

30:30

More surprising than that, shocking, even,

30:33

was what transpired in his bedroom, at home,

30:35

with Bonnie, his wife.

30:38

And the source of this information might

30:41

surprise you.

30:42

We introduced you to Jack in an earlier

30:44

episode.

30:45

My name is Jack Hoshower. I am

30:48

Robert Hanson's best friend. When

30:50

they were younger, they both worked at the state psychiatric

30:53

hospital where Hanson met his future

30:55

wife, Bonnie. Jack

30:57

and Hanson remained best friends. Jack

31:00

was an army officer who served in Vietnam

31:02

and spent much of his military career stationed

31:04

in Europe. He made regular trips

31:06

to the DC area and almost always stayed

31:09

with the Hansons. He'd share

31:11

things with me that

31:13

he probably shouldn't have. Jack

31:16

says it began in 1970, a couple

31:19

of years after Bonnie and Hanson got married.

31:21

Jack was serving in Vietnam. I mean,

31:24

never I was in Vietnam and I get this

31:26

mail and I said, holy cats, what's

31:28

this? It was an

31:30

envelope from Hanson with

31:33

a series of pictures,

31:35

all of Hanson's wife, Bonnie.

31:37

There's a picture of Bonnie and she's standing there in

31:40

her

31:42

dress or whatever. The next one, she's got

31:44

a little bit less on, a little bit less on.

31:48

He thought the photos had been sent by mistake,

31:50

but soon after, a letter from

31:52

Hanson arrived. I said, I hope you

31:54

like the little

31:56

morale booster.

31:58

And that was the impetus.

31:59

never ever imagined anything like that before

32:02

that.

32:03

That was the beginning.

32:04

The beginning of what would become

32:07

decades of voyeurism of his best

32:09

friend's wife, orchestrated

32:11

by Bob Hanson. And

32:14

by the way, we know these details from

32:16

Jack himself after hours of interviews.

32:19

We have no reason to doubt them,

32:21

but there's no way to know if we're getting

32:23

the full story.

32:25

We have also reached out to Bonnie and the Hanson

32:27

family for comment while reporting the story.

32:30

They have declined or ignored our

32:32

requests.

32:34

Jack told us of an episode many years

32:36

after Vietnam when the Hanson's were

32:38

living in Virginia.

32:40

I was staying

32:44

with them and Bonnie was in the shower.

32:46

And he says, come on, let's look in the shower.

32:49

And I said, no. He

32:51

said, come on. I said, no. He

32:54

grabbed my arm

32:55

and pulled me.

32:57

And I physically resisted them

32:59

too,

33:00

maybe because I was afraid she'd see me again. Jack

33:03

says Bob pressured him to participate.

33:06

I still have feelings

33:10

of responsibility and guilt for what I did.

33:13

I imagine shame is not too strong

33:16

a word. Not at all too strong a word. You

33:18

could even sort of multiply that a little bit.

33:21

But it went to another level. Hanson

33:24

regularly and obsessively invited his

33:26

best friend to watch him have sex

33:28

with his wife, Bonnie. He'd

33:30

say, uh, want to watch tonight.

33:34

I never looked without the, as an

33:36

express invitation.

33:38

At first, Hanson had Jack position

33:40

himself on the back deck of their home so

33:42

he could watch through a bedroom window.

33:45

Bonnie never knew.

33:47

So obviously there's some willingness there. You're, you're

33:49

going outside. You're standing on a deck.

33:53

Why does a guy like to look at a beautiful woman?

33:57

It's obviously something he wanted.

33:59

And

34:01

I was not opposed.

34:04

When Jack complained that it got cold

34:06

outside,

34:07

Bob wired up a closed circuit

34:09

camera and he connected it to a TV

34:12

in the house. Were

34:14

you conflicted about it at the time? Yeah.

34:18

But not enough. Not enough.

34:21

And sometimes I'd say yes and sometimes

34:23

I'd say no.

34:24

I said yes many too many times. So,

34:31

yeah, that's me.

34:33

Jack once asked Bob about all this,

34:36

about exploiting Bonnie for his and

34:39

Jack's amusement.

34:41

The voyeurism with Bonnie. Why

34:44

do you do this?

34:45

He says I'm weak.

34:47

That's it.

34:48

I'm weak.

34:49

That was his whole answer. Do you think

34:51

there was some part of it that he was sharing her

34:53

with you? Like

34:55

in a psychological way? Yeah,

34:57

definitely.

35:00

Now, I don't know why. I mean,

35:02

he

35:05

often referred to me as a hero because

35:07

I had been in Vietnam. And I think it's

35:09

one of those things, well, the hero deserves to

35:11

get the pretty girl.

35:13

And I think possibly

35:15

in that sense he felt inadequate.

35:18

Jack cannot recall how many times

35:20

he watched Bob and Bonnie have sex.

35:23

It took place over years.

35:26

I knew what I was doing and I did it. You

35:29

never watched without an invitation?

35:32

Correct. You never asked Bob, is

35:34

there going to be a show tonight? No, never did.

35:37

Never crossed your mind? Well,

35:39

I wouldn't say never crossed my mind, but I

35:42

never bought

35:44

a ticket to the show, so to speak. And

35:47

sometimes I took a rain check.

35:49

Sometimes you'd say no? Yeah.

35:52

Not often enough, but I did.

35:55

That wasn't everything.

35:57

Hanson also wrote and posted... pornographic

36:00

stories about Bonnie on the internet and

36:02

did so under his own name, again,

36:05

without her knowledge. The

36:08

internet of the 1990s wasn't what it is today,

36:10

but still, think of that. A senior

36:12

FBI agent posting pornography about

36:15

his wife under his own

36:17

name. Years later,

36:19

after all this became public,

36:21

Jack reached out to Bonnie.

36:24

I said, I have sinned against you and

36:26

I am very sorry. And

36:29

you forgive me.

36:31

I was talking to her on the phone and

36:34

she said, I forgive you, Jack. Just like that.

36:37

Just like

36:39

that. Was that the purpose of the call?

36:42

Partly, yeah. Yeah. I

36:44

wanted to see how Bob was

36:46

doing and so on. We talked

36:49

and I

36:53

basically confessed and said I was sorry

36:57

about it and she just said, I forgive you just like that.

37:00

That kind of knocks me out.

37:03

She is an amazing woman.

37:06

Like I said, she's beautiful in the heart. And

37:10

have you ever talked about it since? No.

37:13

Yeah. Well, yes and no. I

37:17

offered once

37:19

upon a time,

37:20

if she wanted to know, I would tell her everything

37:24

Bob and I did.

37:26

And she said, no thanks. So

37:29

that was that.

37:30

What did that feel like?

37:33

It lifted a feeling

37:36

of intense guilt off of me.

37:43

I still have guilt over it, but I mean that

37:45

I was really down on that.

37:50

I must tell you that when I

37:52

got permission, also from Robert Hanson,

37:55

to talk about his case and every respect,

37:58

the one prohibition. that he put on me

38:01

was not to talk about that side

38:03

of his story. This

38:06

is Dr. David Charney. He's a psychiatrist

38:08

who evaluated Hansen for about a year

38:11

after his arrest. He worked for

38:13

Hansen's defense lawyers. Yes,

38:15

I'm aware of it. Did

38:17

I hear a little bit about it? Yes, actually

38:20

I did.

38:22

Much of what we know about Hansen's

38:24

inner workings are details gleaned

38:26

from the roughly 100 hours of interviews

38:28

that Dr. Charney performed, two

38:31

hours every week for a year.

38:33

When I came in,

38:35

Hansen started talking.

38:39

I didn't have to say anything.

38:42

I was there as his audience for

38:44

two hours. Dr.

38:46

Charney recalls that Hansen took control

38:48

of these sessions. He wanted to tell

38:51

his story his own way. You

38:53

could tell that he was always

38:56

protecting his reputation.

39:00

I was being taught to

39:03

understand Robert Hansen the way he

39:05

wanted me to understand him. Dr.

39:08

Charney is the person who told us about

39:10

the many sides of Hansen. It's

39:12

in a single word, compartmentalization.

39:16

I've never met anybody ever

39:19

as compartmented as Robert Hansen.

39:22

It goes on and on, these opposites

39:24

that coexist in a

39:26

way that you just

39:28

scratch your head and say, how does he do that?

39:31

I cannot answer that. It's

39:33

a thing that we do normally, but

39:35

he carried it to the end degree.

39:46

He also met with best friend Jack, but

39:49

won't comment on that encounter. That's

39:51

part of his ethical agreement not to discuss

39:54

Hansen's sex life.

39:55

Do you believe he is ashamed of that part

39:57

of his life? Yes.

40:02

People ask me if he feels guilty

40:04

and remorseful. About that particular

40:06

part? Well, that's

40:09

a good question and I'm not sure I

40:11

can answer that for the reason

40:14

that

40:15

he

40:16

kept it within a certain boundary,

40:19

talking about it at all. And

40:21

so I knew

40:24

not to ask a question like

40:27

that and I didn't hear that volunteered.

40:30

Although he couldn't comment on the specifics, Charney

40:33

explains Hanson's affinity for voyeurism

40:35

and insatiable ego in

40:37

three words. The shy

40:39

exhibitionist.

40:42

The fancy word is oxymoron. Something

40:47

that is contained in the same place

40:50

but is radically opposite yet

40:52

coexist. And that was

40:54

Robert Hanson.

40:59

Next time on Agent of Betrayal, the

41:02

calculated and compartmentalized Robert

41:04

Hanson turns reckless. Whatever

41:07

he envisioned himself to be, the

41:09

super spy, there were some

41:12

missteps that he took that

41:14

I can't explain. Cracks

41:17

in the facade. His colleagues at the FBI

41:20

couldn't help but notice. Folks

41:22

referred

41:22

to him as Dr. Death. There was

41:24

just something about him that as soon

41:26

as I met him I felt uneasy. His

41:29

behavior would endanger those around him. He

41:33

grabbed me from behind and

41:36

twisted me around and he

41:38

started dragging

41:39

me back towards his office

41:42

yelling the entire time, I told you

41:44

to get back in here. That's

41:46

next time on Agent of Betrayal, the

41:48

double life of Robert Hanson.

41:59

of reporters and producers also includes

42:02

Jamie Benson, Pat Milton,

42:04

Jake Rosen, and Nellie Watson. Our

42:06

producing partner is Neon Hum Media. Our

42:09

senior producer is Odelia Rubin. Zoe

42:11

Culkin is our associate producer. Original

42:14

music and sound design by Hans Dale

42:16

Shee. Additional music from Blue

42:18

Dot Sessions. Executive

42:21

producers for Agent of Betrayal are

42:23

Art Bari, Shara Morris, and me, Major

42:25

Garrett. Special thanks to Mark

42:27

Lima, Megan Marcus, Ingrid Cyprian-Matthews,

42:30

and Steve Races of CBS News, and

42:33

Jonathan Hirsch of Neon Hum Media.

42:36

We welcome you to contact us at agentofbetrayalatcbsnews.com.

42:41

That's agentofbetrayalatcbsnews.com.

42:45

Thanks for listening.

42:55

Hey, Prime members, you can listen to Agent of Betrayal,

42:57

the double life of Robert Hansen, ad-free

43:00

on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon

43:02

Music app today. Or you

43:04

can listen ad-free with Wondery Plus in

43:07

Apple Podcast. Our team of

43:09

reporters and producers also includes

43:11

Jamie Benson, Pat Milton, Jake

43:13

Rosen, and Nellie Watson. Our

43:15

producing partner is Neon Hum Media. Our

43:18

senior producer is Odelia Rubin. Zoe

43:20

Culkin is our associate producer. Original

43:23

music and sound design by Hans Dale

43:26

Shee. Additional music from Blue

43:28

Dot Sessions. Executive

43:30

producers for Agent of Betrayal are Art

43:32

Fari, Sharon Morris, and me, Major

43:34

Garrett. Special thanks to Mark

43:37

Lima, Megan Marcus, Ingrid Cyprian-Matthews,

43:39

and Steve Races of CBS News, and

43:42

Jonathan Hirsch of Neon Hum Media. We

43:45

welcome you to contact us at agentofbetrayalatcbsnews.com.

43:50

That's agentofbetrayalatcbsnews.com.

43:53

Thanks for listening.

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