FBI Director Christopher Wray announced the appointment of Michael McGarrity as the assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Mr. McGarrity most recently served as the special agent in charge of the Criminal Division of the New York Field Office.

Mr. McGarrity joined the FBI in 1996 and began his career in the New York Field Office, where he investigated violent gangs, Colombian drug trafficking organizations, and international money laundering networks. After the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, Mr. McGarrity transferred to the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, where he investigated international terrorism matters.

Throughout his career, Mr. McGarrity has held leadership positions as the FBI detailee assigned to the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, as the FBI’s deputy on-scene commander in Afghanistan, as the supervisor of the FBI’s extraterritorial investigation squad in the Washington Field Office, as the director for Counterterrorism on the White House National Security Staff, as the FBI’s legal attaché in Switzerland, and as the first director of the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, where he led national efforts to secure the safe recovery of U.S. nationals held hostage abroad.

Before joining the FBI, Mr. McGarrity was a prosecutor in New York City and an economist for the U.S. Department of Energy. He obtained his law degree magna cum laude and undergraduate degree in economics from The Catholic University of America. He also attended Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government Senior Executives in National Security program.

Mr. McGarrity will report to Washington, D.C. in February.