William Evanina

William Evanina's official portrait

William R. Evanina (born 1967) is an American law enforcement official who is currently the NCIX, which is the executive officer of the United States Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive (ONCIX),[1] and who is also the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.[2] As NCIX he is the head of national counterintelligence for the U.S. Government.[3] Prior to his appointment to ONCIX, he was the chief of the Counterespionage Group for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He gained his initial law enforcement as an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).[1]

Early life

Evanina was born to John and Barbara Evanina in Peckville, a suburb of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he grew up. His father was a professional musician and founder of The Pennsylvania Merry Makers, a well-known polka band.[4] Evanina attended Valley View High School where he played football and baseball[5][6] followed by a stint at Keystone College where he continued to play baseball.[5] He then transferred to nearby Wilkes University and in 1989 received a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, magna cum laude.[7] While with the FBI he completed, in 2008, a master’s degree in Educational Leadership at Arcadia University which is just outside of Philadelphia.[3][1][8]

Career

After college Evanina went to work for the General Services Administration, where he was a project manager in the new construction division.[9] In 1996 he joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation where as a special agent he served in the violent crimes unit, the organized crime unit, and the Bank Robberies and Counterterrorism divisions.[7][9] He also later served in the FBI's National Security Branch and Counterintelligence Division.[7] He became a certified SWAT team member as well as a certified sniper.[9] During this time he was involved with the investigation into the hijacking of United Airlines Flight 93 on 11 September 2001, the mail-distributed anthrax attacks also in 2001,[5] and the Daniel Pearl kidnapping.[10]

In June 2004, he was appointed as a Supervisory Special Agent in the new Joint Terrorism Task Force.[10] While there, following a tipoff from Customs,[11] he led the investigation into the activities of an FBI intelligence analyst at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, who was leaking classified information to parties in the Philippines. Evanina's work led to the conviction of Leandro Aragoncillo for espionage, in appreciation of which Evanina received the FBI Director’s Award for Excellence.[7][10] In January 2006 he was appointed as Senior Supervisory Resident Agent (SSRA) heading the FBI's New Jersey office in Trenton. In March 2009, he was assigned to the Washington office, and worked in the FBI's National Security Branch, where he led both counterintelligence and counterterrorism operations.[10]

In September 2013, Evanina was put in charge of the joint FBI and CIA Counterintelligence Division/ Counterespionage Group, where he coordinated personnel from multiple intelligence agencies in countering foreign espionage.[10] In June 2014, he was appointed by James R. Clapper to head the office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, replacing Frank Montoya,[12] and since the reorganization of December 2014 now wears a second hat as the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.[3][13] His office is in the ONCIX offices in Bethesda, Maryland, but he also spends time at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) headquarters in McLean, Virginia.[14][15]

After the firing of James Comey in May 2017, Evanina was under final consideration as interim director of the FBI;[16] instead Andrew G. McCabe remained as acting director until the appointment of Christopher A. Wray in August 2017. [17] In February 2018, President Trump formally nominated Evanina to the directorship of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, as Congress had made the position subject to Senate confirmation as of 2015.[13][18]

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 3 "National Counterintelligence Executive: William Evanina". Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Austin, Gail (15 September 2017). "The Man Who Protects America's Secrets". National Public Radio (NPR). Archived from the original on 15 September 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "William "Bill" Evanina" (PDF). National Counterintelligence and Security Center. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016.
  4. ↑ Graham, Tom (30 May 2013). "Up Close: John Evanina". The 570. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Bolus, Kathleen (29 June 2014). "Midvalley resident rises in the ranks of FBI". Archived from the original on 2 July 2015.
  6. ↑ In his senior year of high school, Evanina made the Lackawanna League Northern Division baseball all-star team Myers, Marty (20 June 2015). "30, 20 and 10 years ago: A look back at sports headlines". The Scranton Times-Tribune. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Mayk, Vicki (23 October 2015). "National Counterintelligence Executive William Evanina Delivers Economic Espionage Lecture Nov. 12 At Wilkes University". Wilkes University. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Allabaugh, Denise (3 November 2015). "National intelligence exec, NEPA native, to discuss cybersecurity". The Scranton Times-Tribune. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 Bolus, Kathleen (30 June 2014). "FBI agent credits NEPA values for work ethic". The Citizens' Voice. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Bill Evanina". SINET (Security Innovation Network). Archived from the original on 12 May 2016.
  11. ↑ Associated Press (17 January 2006). "FBI Missed Signs of Espionage in Filipino Case". Fox News. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016.
  12. ↑ "DNI Appoints New National Counterintelligence Executive". Office of the Director of National Intelligence. 12 June 2014. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016.
  13. 1 2 Knauth, Dietrich (13 February 2018). "Trump Nominates Evanina To Stay On As Counterintel Head". WashingtonExec. Archived from the original on 3 May 2018.
  14. ↑ "U.S. counter-spy chief cuffs driver who rammed restaurant". Reuters. 6 May 2016. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016.
  15. ↑ Clark, Charles S. (15 August 2014). "Meet the Man Who's Gauging the Damage From Snowden". Government Executive (National Journal Group, Inc.). Archived from the original on 12 May 2016.
  16. ↑ Cameron, Peter (12 May 2017). "Blakely native in running to be interim director of FBI". The Scranton Times-Tribune. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017.
  17. ↑ Kutner, Max (2 Aug 2017). "Under New Bureau Head, Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe to Remain as Deputy, Despite Trump's Allegations". Newsweek.
  18. ↑ The Senate Select Committee for Intelligence held his nomination hearings on 15 May 2018, and an approval recommendation was sent to the Senate on 22 May. "PN1548 — William R. Evanina — Office of the Director of National Intelligence". United States Senate. ; "Senate Intel Unanimously Approves Evanina to Continue as NCSC Director, Nomination Moves to Full Senate". United States Senator Richard Burr. 22 May 2018. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018.

Further reading

  • Tucker, Patrick (18 September 2016). "Can the NSA Stop the Next Snowden? How the intelligence community learned to spy on itself". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016.
  • Evanina, William R. (25 February 2016). "Formation of the National Background Investigations Bureau and Security Clearance Reforms" (PDF). United States House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016.
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