By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Michael McGarrity, who most recently served as special agent in charge of the Criminal Division in the New York FBI division, has been named assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division at FBI headquarters in Washington.
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, according to a press release. After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorism attacks, McGarrity transferred to the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, where he investigated international terrorism matters.
Throughout his career, he has held leadership positions including:
- FBI detailee assigned to the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center
- FBI’s deputy on-scene commander in Afghanistan
- Supervisor of the FBI’s extraterritorial investigation squad in the Washington Field Office
- Director for Counterterrorism on the White House National Security Staff
- FBI’s legal attaché in Switzerland
- 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, he was a prosecutor in New York 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.
