The head of the FBI’s office in Chicago is among four veteran law enforcement and intelligence officials being interviewed to serve as interim head of the agency until a permanent director is named.
Justice Department officials identified the contenders as Michael Anderson, agent-in-charge in Chicago; Adam Lee, who runs the FBI’s field office in Richmond, Va.; Paul Abbate, who oversees the FBI’s criminal and cyber branch; and William Evanina, the government’s chief counterintelligence officer.
The interim position is currently held by Andrew McCabe, top deputy to ex-FBI Director James Comey, who President Donald Trump fired Tuesday evening.
McCabe met with Justice officials on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear how seriously he is being considered.
The interim chief would serve until Congress confirms a permanent director, which could take some time given the bipartisan fallout over Comey’s firing.
Anderson began his FBI career in 1995 in Miami, where he got his first taste of public corruption in the form of a bribery case involving the importing of 75 tons of cocaine into south Florida, according to the FBI.
In 2001, he went to Washington, where he helped supervise numerous investigations involving into public corruption, government fraud and civil rights.
By 2006, Anderson was the chief of the Public Corruption Unit at FBI headquarters, where he launched an initiative targeting Iraq reconstruction-related fraud and corruption, the FBI said. He later served as an assistant special agent in charge in the FBI’s Dallas division.
In Chicago, Anderson oversees about 850 agents, analysts and support staff.
Anderson received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Iowa and his law degree from Southwestern University in Los Angeles. He is a certified public accountant and attorney, according to the FBI.
