FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ODNI News Release No. 26-14
June 12, 2014
DNI Appoints New National Counterintelligence Executive
Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper has appointed William “Bill” Evanina to serve as the National Counterintelligence Executive.
Evanina, a career FBI special agent, most recently served as the chief of CIA’s Counterespionage Group, where he led efforts to identify, prevent and neutralize the espionage related activities of foreign intelligence services.
“Bill is a career FBI agent with 18 years of experience working in the areas of counterintelligence, counterterrorism, insider threat and security-related programs,” said Clapper. “The Intelligence Community will rely heavily on Bill and the entire Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive team as we continue to make swift advances in the areas of counterintelligence, damage assessments, security clearance reform and insider threat programs.”
Evanina replaces Frank Montoya whom the FBI selected to serve as the special agent in charge of the Seattle Field Office. “Frank provided steadfast leadership during one of the worst intelligence breaches in our nation’s history,” said Clapper. “He and his leadership team worked tirelessly to provide scope, perspective, and direction on vital issues such as security clearance reform, insider threat initiatives, and damage assessments.”
The 2002 Counterintelligence Enhancement Act established the NCIX as the head of the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive and made the NCIX responsible for counterintelligence and security for the United States government. The 2004 Intelligence and Terrorism Prevention Act aligned the NCIX and ONCIX with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The NCIX sets the priorities for counterintelligence collection, investigations, and operations, and conducts in-depth espionage damage assessments. To ensure the effectiveness of these programs, the NCIX also performs periodic reviews of all U.S. counterintelligence programs, evaluates progress against strategic and budgetary goals, and makes fiscal recommendations to the DNI.
Evanina joined the ODNI on May 22.
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Bill Evanina Career Highlights
Bill Evanina has 25 years of service in the U.S. government, 18 in the FBI. Prior to his selection as NCIX, he served as the chief of CIA’s Counterespionage Group where he led personnel from multiple Intelligence Community agencies in an effort to identify, prevent and neutralize espionage related activities by foreign intelligence services.
Prior to his CIA assignment, Evanina served for two years as the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, where he led operations in both the Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Divisions.
In 2010, Evanina served as special assistant in the FBI’s National Security Branch where he oversaw policy formulation, training, and finance of the National Security Branch. Prior to this role, he served as assistant section chief of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division.
Evanina began his FBI career in 1996 and was assigned to the FBI’s Newark, N.J. Division where he investigated organized crime and violent crime matters. Subsequent to 9/11, he was assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force investigating counterterrorism matters and participated in the Flight 93, Anthrax and Daniel Pearl investigations. Mr. Evanina was selected as a supervisory special agent within the JTTF in 2004 and led the espionage investigation of convicted spy Leandro Aragoncillo.
In 2006, Evanina served as the senior supervisory special agent of the FBI’s Trenton, N.J. Resident Agency.
Evanina was born and raised in Peckville, Pa. He holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Wilkes University in Wilkes Barre, Pa. and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Arcadia University in Philadelphia, Pa. Evanina is married and has one child.