July 21, 2021

Michael J. Driscoll Named Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office

Director Christopher Wray has named Michael J. Driscoll as the assistant director in charge of the New York Field Office. He most recently served as the special agent in charge of the Philadelphia Field Office.

Mr. Driscoll has served in New York several times since becoming a special agent in 1996, including his first assignment working counterterrorism cases. He was part of the team that investigated al Qaeda conspirators, including those responsible for the 1998 bombings of U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the attacks on 9/11. In 2003, he was appointed as the FBI’s representative to the al Qaeda Department of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center.

In 2005, Mr. Driscoll was promoted to supervisor and returned to the New York office, where he led the squad responsible for extraterritorial investigations in Africa. He also led the FBI’s counterterrorism efforts in the New York Hudson Valley region and was later promoted to the coordinating supervisory special agent for New York’s counterterrorism program.

Mr. Driscoll was named assistant legal attaché for London in 2013, overseeing the cyber program and working closely with United Kingdom counterparts. In 2016, he was appointed assistant special agent in charge of Philadelphia’s counterintelligence and cyber programs.

He returned to FBI Headquarters in 2018 as the chief of the Violent Crime Section, which leads the FBI’s Crimes Against Children program and efforts to reduce violent crime. Mr. Driscoll was promoted to special agent in charge of New York’s Criminal Division in 2019 and was later transferred to lead New York’s Counterintelligence and Cyber Division.

He was appointed special agent in charge of the Philadelphia Field Office in 2020.

Prior to joining the FBI, Mr. Driscoll worked in commercial litigation as an attorney. He graduated from the State University of New York in Albany and received his law degree from Hofstra University School of Law.

With more than 2,000 special agents, professional staff, and task force members, the New York Field Office is the FBI’s largest in terms of personnel. It is one of three field offices to be led by an assistant director in charge instead of a special agent in charge.