Hi everyone and welcome to episode 31 of FBI retired case file review with

Jerry Williams. I'm a retired agent writing crime fiction inspired by actual FBI cases.

In this episode we get to speak to Mike Rochford.

Now Mike served in the FBI for 30 years, five years as a clerical employee, he went to language

school, learned Russian, and became a Russian translator, and then 25 years as a special agent. Prior to his retirement, Mike was

section chief of the espionage section at FBI headquarters. Based on his

language skills, Mike worked foreign counterintelligence are FCI cases for most of his

career.

While assigned as an FBI Supervisor at FBI headquarters and in the field, he oversaw espionage cases such as Aldrich Ames and Earl Pitts, and he worked to identify six unknown subjects, also known as Unsubs,

government spies that the FBI and CIA look for for years trying to uncover their identities. One of those unsubs was eventually identified

as FBI agent Robert Hansen. Hansen is considered to be the most damaging spy in the FBI's history.

Mike Rochford recruited the source, a Russian agent who provided the information that led to Hansen's identification.

For this effort Mike received the National Intelligence Medal of

Achievement from the CIA. The citation reads in part, it is no exaggeration to say that there has been few, if any, examples

of Soviet, Russian counterintelligence recruitments in the history of the FBI and CIA

that compare with this effort in the terms of complexity and significance. In addition to the actual recruitment, Mike

Rochford was fully engaged in all subsequent aspects of the case, including internal handling matters, internal briefings, and

resettlement.

Mr. Rochford's accomplishments reflect great credit upon himself, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Intelligence Community.

So what I'm telling you is he knows all about the Robert Hanson investigation, the FBI's biggest betrayal.

When I conducted this interview, I was so engrossed in our conversation

that I didn't realize how long we were talking.

...