FBI: Hanssen suspected he was under surveillance

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Accused spy Robert Hanssen suspected he was under government surveillance, telling his Russian contacts "something has aroused the sleeping tiger," the FBI said in an affidavit released Tuesday.

The comment came from a letter that FBI officials said was encrypted on a computer diskette found in a package -- taped and wrapped in a black plastic trash bag -- that Hanssen dropped underneath a foot bridge in a park in Northern Virginia, immediately before his arrest.

The FBI decrypted the letter and described it in an affidavit filed in support of its search warrant.

Hanssen, a 25-year veteran in the FBI and a counterintelligence expert, was arrested February 18 and charged with spying for the Soviet Union and later Russia over a period of 15 years, dating back to the waning days of the Cold War. FBI Director Louis Freeh said Hanssen, 56, was paid $1.4 million in cash and diamonds for passing top-secret information to Russians.

Documents filed with federal court in Virginia said the search warrant turned up ammunition, an AK-47, plus 13 guns and pistols in Hanssen's suburban home. Authorities also recovered various computer equipment, classified documents, phony identification documents, including passports, financial papers -- some for international bank accounts -- and jewelry, which the affidavit described as "the proceeds of or assets derived from illegal espionage transactions."

The package and letter retrieved by authorities at the park were meant for his Russian handlers, FBI officials said.

"Dear Friends," the letter reads, according to the affidavit. "I thank you for your assistance these many years. It seems, however, that my greatest utility to you has come to an end, and it is time to seclude myself from active service.

"Since communicating last, and one wonders if because of it, I have been promoted to a higher do-nothing senior executive job outside of regular access to information within the counterintelligence program. It is as if I am being isolated. Furthermore, I believe I have detected repeated bursting radio signal emanations from my vehicle ... Something has aroused the sleeping tiger. Perhaps you know better than I."

The letter, which also referenced future possible contacts, was signed "Ramon Garcia," one of Hanssen's aliases, according to the FBI.

The package also contained FBI documents relating to ongoing counterintelligence investigations against Russian targets, the affidavit said.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is scheduled to hold a closed-door hearing on the Hanssen case Wednesday afternoon. Attorney General John Ashcroft, CIA Director George Tenet and Freeh are slated to testify.

If convicted of the espionage charges, Hanssen could face the death penalty or life in prison. He is scheduled to appear in federal court March 5 in Alexandria, Virginia, for a preliminary hearing.

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