By Steve Neavling
Michael F. Paul, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office, has been named assistant director of the Operational Technology Division (OTD) at the bureau’s headquarters.
OTD uses technology to enable and enhance the FBI’s intelligence, national security, and law enforcement operations.
Paul began working for the FBI as an intern in 1994, and a year later was hired as a management and program analyst for the Criminal Justice Information Services Division.
He became a special agent in 1999 and worked in the Detroit Field Office.
In 2005, Paul became supervisory special agent in the Counterterrorism Division at headquarters and was detailed to the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center.
In 2006, he was a senior detailee and unit chief under the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, where he oversaw bureau employees detailed to the CIA, National Counterterrorism Threat Center, and the National Security Agency.
In 2008, Paul was named the chief of the WMDD’s executive staff, and a year later was selected as a Joint Terrorism Task Force field supervisor for the Cleveland Field Office.
In 2013, he was named an assistant special agent in charge in the Norfolk Field Office in Virginia, leading counterintelligence, counterterrorism, intelligence, and crisis management programs.
In 2015, Paul became chief of the Domestic Terrorism Operations Section in the Counterterrorism Division at headquarters.
In 2018, he began to serve as chief of the Technology and Data Innovation Section.
In 2020, Paul became special agent in charge of the Minneapolis Field Office.
Mr. Paul received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He also received advanced degrees from West Virginia University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
