Did Accused Spy Reveal Secret Tunnel?
W A S H I N G T O N, March 4 -- Federal investigators believe accused spy Robert Hanssen may have revealed to the KGB the existence of a secret tunnel under the Russian embassy in Washington, D.C.
The tunnel, built during the 1970s and '80s to eavesdrop on Russian activities, has yet to be publicly confirmed by the U.S. government.
Sources tell ABCNEWS, however, that the government knew years ago that the tunnel operation had been compromised but didn't know how.
They now think they know that Hanssen was likely responsible.
"I think that that type of revelation could have been a very serious damage to our nation's security. It interrupted a very expensive and a very valuable operation," said Sen. John Breaux, D-La.
Knowledge of the tunnel could have given Russian agents a crucial advantage.
"Once the Soviets and later the Russians were aware of the tunnel, they could have used it deliberately to feed us false information ," said Vince Cannistraro, the CIA's former counter-terrorism chief.
Latest Chapter in a Spying Tit for Tat
The revelation of the existence of the tunnel at the Russian Embassy is the latest example of a longstanding surveillance tit for tat which has cost both countries hundreds of millions of dollars.
The United States decided to tear down its new embassy in Moscow after finding listening devices in 1985.
Two years later, Soviet officials complained bitterly that their new embassy was crawling with bugs. They also discovered a tunnel beneath the Soviet Consulate in San Francisco.
At the time, FBI officials worried about how the Soviets seemed to know so much about where the American bugs were planted.
Hanssen, they say, may hold the answer.
Investigators already believe Hanssen may have compromised information about the U.S. satellite surveillance program, ongoing spy operations, and encryption coding programs.
ABCNEWS' Pierre Thomas contributed to this report.
Popular Reads
ABC News Live