From the Vault: “The Counterintelligence Chief” – with FBI Assistant Director Alan Kohler

Summary

Alan Kohler joins Andrew to discuss the FBI’s counterintelligence division. He is a recipient of the FBI Director’s Award for Outstanding Counterintelligence Investigation. 

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What You’ll LearnIntelligence

-Counterintelligence vs. Counterespionage

-How the FBI recruit’s foreign agents 

-Ideological motivations behind spying

-Effect of technology on counterintelligence

Reflections

-Staying grounded under pressure 

-The value of creativity

Notes

Alan Kohler (LinkedIn, Website) has been the FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence since 2020. Alan and Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) talk all things counterintelligence.

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*SpyCasts*

-The FBI & Cyber with Cyber Division Chief Bryan Vorndran, Part 1 (2022)

-The FBI & Cyber with Cyber Division Chief Bryan Vorndran, Part 2 (2022)

-My Global Career as a Female FBI Agent with Kathy Stearman (2021)

-The FBI Way with Counterintelligence Spy Chief Frank Figliuzzi (2021)

***FULL RESOURCES AVAILABLE HERE***

*Beginner Resources*

-What We Investigate, FBI (n.d.) [webpage]

-FAQ’S, FBI (n.d.) [webpage]

-US Opens Counterintelligence Investigation into China Every 12 Hours (Dir. Wray), MSNBC (2022) [video]

-What We Know About China’s Spy Agency, Bloomberg Originals (2019) [video]

-Hollow Nickel/Rudolf Abel, FBI (n.d.) [Article]

-NCSC Mission, Vision, and Goals, ODNI (n.d.) [Website]

Glossary: 

-Counterintelligence: Information gathered, and activities conducted to identify, deceive, exploit, disrupt, or protect against espionage or other intelligence activities

-FBI Attaché: a special agent assigned to a U.S. embassy or consulate overseas to liaise with local law enforcement and intelligence agencies. They pursue terrorist, intelligence, and criminal threats with international dimensions. 

-Occam’s Razor: a rule of thumb theory that states when you are faced with competing explanations for the same phenomenon, the simplest one is probably the correct one. Attributed to William of Ockham, a 14th century English theologian. 

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