Andrew G. McCabe

Guest Author

Andrew G. McCabe, author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, spent 21 years in the FBI. On May 9, 2017 he became acting director of the FBI after the firing of FBI Director James Comey. Prior to this role, he served as the deputy director where he oversaw all of the FBI’s operations and intelligence collection activities. Mr. McCabe also previously served as associate deputy director, responsible for the management of all FBI personnel, budget, administration, technology and infrastructure.

Mr. McCabe began his career as a special agent with the FBI in 1996, assigned to the New York Field Office, investigating and supervising Russian organized crime cases. In 2006, Mr. McCabe shifted his focus to national security when he was promoted to FBI Headquarters in the Counterterrorism Division. In 2008, Mr. McCabe was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office’s Counterterrorism Division where he received the FBI Director’s Award for his work on the 56th Presidential Inauguration.

Mr. McCabe returned to FBI Headquarters in 2009 to build and oversee the High Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG), which was President Obama’s effort to transform the government’s interrogation of terrorists. In 2012, Mr. McCabe became the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division.

In 2013, Mr. McCabe was appointed as executive assistant director of the National Security Branch where he ensured the FBI successfully executed its mission to defend the United States from all national security threats. In that role, Mr. McCabe oversaw the FBI’s work in the Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, Intelligence, and Weapons of Mass Destruction divisions, as well as the Terrorism Screening Center and the HIG. In September 2014, he was named assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office where he was responsible for all programs in the nation’s second largest FBI field division.

Before entering the FBI, Mr. McCabe worked as a lawyer in private practice. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University in 1990 and Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law in 1993. In 2010, Mr. McCabe was certified by the Director of National Intelligence as a senior intelligence officer, and in December 2014, Mr. McCabe was awarded the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service. Mr. McCabe is married, has two children, and lives in northern Virginia.