The FBI Agents Association is pushing for Michael Mason, a longtime FBI agent and supervisor who is security chief for Verizon Communications, to replace Robert Mueller, 66, who faces a mandatory 10-year retirement in September, reports the Washington Post. Mason would be the FBI's first African American director.
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), wants New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly to get the job. Other possible candidates include U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago, John Pistole, administrator of the Transportation Security Administration; former deputy Attorney General James Comey, and Frances Fragos Townsend, a top terrorism adviser in the George W. Bush administration. The search for Mueller's successor is being led by Vice President Biden. Counterterrorism experience is considered especially important.