John Roland reportedly had an unlikely side job during his two-decade tenure as anchor for New York Fox-affiliate WNYW. According to a recent report from The Smoking Gun, Roland served as an FBI informant in the early 90s, in addition to appearing on WNYW’s nightly newscasts.
A FBI memo obtained by The Smoking Gun includes details about the bureau’s employing of a “Fox network news anchor” to extract details about a source used by the tabloid show “A Current Affair” in covering Jimmy Hoffa’s murder. Staffers with “A Current Affair” refused requests from the FBI to give up the identity of their source so the FBI asked the Fox anchor, who worked in “adjoining office space to the ‘Current Affair’ productions,” to try and extract the identity from them.
Through a bit of deduction, The Smoking Gun concluded that the FBI informant was likely John Roland, who retired in 2004.
Reached for comment, though, Roland said that the incident “sure as heck doesn’t ring a bell.”
“I might have been asked,” he added, “but I can’t imagine I would have done it.”