A former Defense Intelligence Agency officer who spied for China worked secretly as a Beijing agent for five years and revealed in an intercepted phone call he was motivated in part by hatred for President Trump.
Ron Rockwell Hansen, a DIA operations officer until 2006, was arrested June 5 and pleaded guilty on Friday in Utah to attempting to sell national defense secrets to China. He faces 15 years in prison under a plea deal. Sentencing is set for Sept. 24.
Court documents in the case reveal Hansen was motivated by both money and an affinity for China. In seeking to recruit a DIA coworker as a fellow Chinese spy, he voiced fears that Trump would start a war and said that was a reason to cooperate secretly with several Chinese intelligence agencies or branches in providing information and trying to penetrate U.S. defense and intelligence agencies to obtain secrets.
Hansen admitted in the plea agreement he met frequently with Chinese intelligence agents beginning in early 2014.
“During those meetings, the agents described to me the type of information that would interest Chinese
Intelligence,” Hansen stated in the pleading. “During the course of my relationship with Chinese intelligence, I
received hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation for information I provided them, including information I gathered at various industry conferences.”
Hansen also agreed to disclose details of his contacts with Chinese intelligence as part of the plea deal. He also agreed to turn over all electronic devices, including laptop computers and flash drives.
U.S. Attorney for Utah John W. Huber said the case was damaging. The plea agreement convicted Hansen of the most serious charge in the original indictment, he said. Fourteen other counts will be dropped.
“A former United States intelligence officer engaged in a multi-year relationship with Chinese intelligence operatives where he sold them information they wanted,” Huber told the Washington Free Beacon. “That statement, in and of itself, helps us appreciate the damage that Hansen has caused.”
Huber said Hansen admitted that the military secrets he obtained were to be used to injure the United States and advantage a foreign power.