WASHINGTON — As expected, President Obama has nominated acting head of the DEA Michele Leonhart to take on the post on a permanent basis.
The announcement came in a White House press release issued on Monday. She had been one of four candidates being considered for the job. Ticklethewire.com first reported last year that she was expected to get the nod from Pres. Obama.
One of the other candidates, John Pistole, deputy director of the FBI, had been considered the lead candidate for a while, but that changed.
Leonhart, a former Baltimore cop, joined the DEA in 1980 and rose through the ranks to become deputy administrator in 2004. In 2007, she became acting administrator, the top post in DEA, after Karen Tandy resigned.
