Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.comMichael F. Paul has been appointed to serve as special agent in charge of the bureau’s Minneapolis Field Office after holding the active role since this summer.
Before the appointment, Paul also was serving as a section chief in the Counterterrorism Division at FBI headquarters.
Beginning in 1994, Paul was as an honors intern for the FBI before being hired as a management and program analyst for the Criminal Justice Information Services Division.
In 1999, he was tapped to be a special agent and began working in the Detroit Field Office to investigate health care fraud, drug diversion, and environmental crimes. For several years beginning in 2001, Paul handled counterterrorism cases and served on Detroit’s SWAT Team, Hazardous Materials Response Team, and as an operational medic.
In 2005, Mr. Paul became supervisory special agent in the Counterterrorism Division and was assigned to the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, coordinating investigations and intelligence-sharing about sensitive international weapons of mass destruction threats.
In 2006, he served as a senior detailee and unit chief under the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, where he oversaw FBI personnel detailed to the CIA, National Counterterrorism Threat Center, and the National Security Agency.
In 2008, Paul became the chief of the WMDD’s executive staff, and in 2009, he was chosen as a Joint Terrorism Task Force field supervisor for the Cleveland Field Office, a position he held until 2013.
After that, he was tapped as assistant special agent in charge of the Norfolk Field Office in Virginia, where he led the office’s counterintelligence, counterterrorism, intelligence, and crisis management programs.
Paul was promoted in 2015 to chief of the Domestic Terrorism Operations Section at FBI headquarters. In addition, he led the National JTTF and served as co-chair of the Department of Justice’s Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee.
Paul transferred within the Counterterrorism Division in 2018 to serve as chief of the Technology and Data Innovation Section.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, Paul earned advanced degrees from West Virginia University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
