Operation Monopoly: Digging A Tunnel Underneath The Soviet Embassy
Wikimedia CommonsThe Russian Embassy (formerly the Soviet Embassy) in Washington, D.C.
In 1977, the embassy of the Soviet Union was moved to a new building complex in Washington, D.C., but this new location’s proximity to the White House and the Capitol Building made some intelligence operatives anxious. Could the Soviets use new technology to spy on the U.S. president and other prominent American officials now that they were so close?
These concerns culminated in Operation Monopoly, a plan that would allow the FBI to spy on the Soviets from beneath their very noses — literally. The bureau purchased a house across the street from the Soviet Embassy and then began digging a tunnel that led to an area beneath the embassy building. From here, the FBI planned to install surveillance equipment that would relay information from within the Soviet Embassy back to them.
Construction on the tunnel started soon after the new Soviet Embassy was complete, but it was clear from the start that things were going awry. The project was poorly planned out, and water constantly leaked into the tunnel. Most of the technology installed in the tunnel ended up failing, and it was more than likely that Soviets knew what the FBI was up to the whole time, especially since the FBI’s house across the street had cameras set up, the curtains were almost always drawn, and no mail was delivered to the home.
The tunnel construction continued on for more than a decade, only to produce, in the words of FBI assistant director John F. Lewis, “no information of any kind.” The project had cost the bureau hundreds of millions of dollars — and all for nothing. To make matters worse, an investigation in 2001 revealed that FBI agent Robert Hanssen had been a double agent and revealed details about the tunnel’s construction to the Soviets.
In the end, Hanssen was charged with 14 counts of espionage and an additional count of conspiracy to commit espionage, and he was eventually sentenced to life in prison. And today, Operation Monopoly is remembered as one of the biggest wastes of time in FBI history.
