May 17, 2017 - Politics & Policy
The 4 FBI director candidates Trump interviewed
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Sean Spicer told reporters Wednesday Trump is interviewing four candidates to replace the vacant FBI Director role today: Joe Lieberman, Frank Keating, Richard McFeely, and acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe.
Joe Lieberman
- Former Senator from Connecticut who served as the Homeland Security Committee Chairman.
- This year he introduced Education Secretary Betsy DeVos at her confirmation hearing and is a member of the board of DeVos' American Federation of Children.
- He indicated in 2010 the NYT could be prosecuted for releasing WikiLeaks documents.
- You may remember Lieberman as Al Gore's running mate in 2000, although he endorsed Hillary Clinton for her 2016 run.
- Lieberman has no experience as an FBI agent, federal judge, or prosecutor, per The Hill.
Frank Keating
- Former Oklahoma Governor (1995-2003) who used to work as an FBI agent.
- You may remember him from the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil before September 11.
Richard McFeely
- Former top FBI official who retired from his more than two decade FBI career in 2014.
- He was Special Agent in Charge of the Baltimore Field Office, which means he served with — guess who — Rod Rosenstein, whose memo has been cited as the reason James Comey was fired in the first place.
- He served as Executive Assistant Director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch from 2012-2014
- He was a section head of the Criminal Investigative Division, and led an international investigation into an assassination plot on a foreign leader, and was the lead case agent for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
- Check out this 2011 photo of McFeely and Rosenstein where they're announcing the results of a federal corruption case. At the time, McFeely said, "The FBI will devote all available resources to bring corrupt public officials and their criminal associates to justice."
- In 2009 McFeely said this about a leaker in the FBI ranks: "As a trusted member of the FBI ranks, Leibowitz abused the trust of the FBI and the American public by using his access to classified information for his own purposes."
Andrew McCabe
- Currently serving as Acting FBI Director.
- He is the only one on this new list that has been on previous short-lists.
