Hanssen's Puzzling Profile
The public psychoanalysis of accused FBI spy Robert Hanssen has taken yet another turn. According to a BBC report, Hanssen was suffering from guilt over a lifelong obsession with pornography, when he allegedly started selling secrets to Russia, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart.
The BBC report cited as its source Dr. Alen Salerian, a psychiatrist who has seen Hanssen since his arrest. Salerian would only confirm to CBS News that Hanssen was "psychologically troubled."
"I can say that there is a 'Factor X' and that's a psychological problem that he had and that that affected his behavior," said Dr. Salerian.
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Hanssen's chief defense attorney Plato Cacheris fired Salerian for disclosing his medical findings to the media. Salerian says he did so, however, with Hanssen's permission, although family members disagree, and suggested the former agent was so desperate for help he repeatedly confessed his activities to a priest and deliberately gave the FBI reason to suspect him.
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The assertion that Hanssen was tormented by pornography is only the latest piece in a puzzling profile of the man. He also befriended a striptease dancer at a Washington club, belonged to a conservative Catholic organization and what leftover money from the Russians he didn't hide somewhere, he may have contributed to Mother Teresa.
If he were going to trial, all this would sound like the makings of a good psychiatric-based defense. But from all accounts the Robert Hanssen case is headed for a plea bargain, probably sometime this summer.
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