President Trump appointed Brian Driscoll on Monday to be acting director of the embattled FBI, pending Senate action on his nominee to lead the agency.
The appointment of Mr. Driscoll came after FBI acting Director Paul Abbate retired on Monday, minutes before Mr. Trump was sworn into office.
Mr. Driscoll became a special agent in 2007, worked in the agency’s New York field office and was a member of the bureau’s SWAT team.
Mr. Driscoll quickly announced that the acting attorney general asked Robert Kissane, the FBI’s current special agent in charge for counterterrorism in New York, to serve as acting deputy director.
“Our goal is to keep the focus on the bureau’s essential work, those we do the work with, and those we do the work for — the American people,” Mr. Driscoll said.
Former FBI Director Christopher B. Wray stepped down from his post on Sunday, and Mr. Abbate, who was Mr. Wray’s deputy for four years, only held the acting director job for a day.
“When the director asked me to stay on past my mandatory date for a brief time, I did so to help ensure continuity and the best transition for the FBI. Now, with new leadership inbound, after nearly four years in the deputy role, I am departing the FBI,” Mr. Abbate said in an email obtained by The New York Times on Monday. “I have complete confidence in you and in your ability as a team to continue to carry out our mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.”
Mr. Driscoll was originally to lead the FBI field office in Newark, New Jersey as its special agent in charge, when Mr. Wray tapped him last week for the post.
According to a Jan. 14 FBI press release, the FBI said Mr. Driscoll “most recently served as the commander of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) and Critical Incident Response Group’s (CIRG) Tactical Section chief.”
“In March 2011, Mr. Driscoll was selected as an operator for FBI’s HRT,” the press release noted. “Ultimately, he became an HRT team leader, responsible for the planning and execution of tactical solutions in furtherance of FBI global operations.”
Mr. Driscoll is expected to eventually hand the reins of the bureau over to Mr. Trump’s chosen FBI director nominee, Kashyap “Kash” Patel, when Mr. Patel is confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Mr. Patel held several jobs in Mr. Trump’s first administration, including chief of staff at the Defense Department, deputy director of national intelligence and senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council.
The FBI and Mr. Trump have a tense history.
In July 2016, under Director James B. Comey, the bureau launched Crossfire Hurricane, investigating the Trump campaign’s purported links to Russia.
Mr. Trump’s firing of Mr. Comey in 2017 raised suspicions in the Justice Department that the president was obstructing justice, leading to special counsel Robert Mueller’s long-running and costly investigation. Mr. Mueller found no evidence that Trump campaign officials conspired with or were connected to Moscow.
Senate GOP leadership has indicated there are enough votes to carry Mr. Patel’s nomination out of the Judiciary Committee and approved on the Senate floor.
To win confirmation, Mr. Patel will first face members of the committee led by Sen. Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican who has been at odds with the FBI for years and investigated the agency’s alleged abuse of power and politically biased investigations.
Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican on the Judiciary Committee, recently lauded Mr. Patel’s experience as a terrorism prosecutor in the Justice Department.
“Kash Patel has prosecuted more cases than Kamala Harris. Write that down,” he said on social media.
Congressional Republicans have scrutinized Mr. Wray and Mr. Abbate for the agency’s lack of transparency in investigations related to the pro-Trump Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, the FBI memo to probe the Catholic Church, the raid on Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida, and the pursuit of pro-life activists demonstrating at abortion clinics.
Sen. Rick Scott, Florida Republican, said the FBI has “lost the trust of the American people. The FBI needs to be shaken up & driven back to its mission.”
Mr. Scott said, “We must end the political witch-hunts, protect Americans & make sure President Trump can Make America Great Again! Kash will do just that.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.