Candidates Surface to Replace FBI Chief Mueller

Candidates to replace FBI Director Robert Mueller are beginning to emerge, with the FBI Agents Association pushing for Michael Mason, a former assistant director in charge of the Washington Field Office. Mason, who would become the first black to head the agency if he were appointed, now heads security for Verizon Communications, the Washington Post reported.

The agents association made its recommendation in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder. The 66-year-old Mueller’s 10-year term is up in September. He started in the post the week before the Sept. 11 attacks and led the agency’s transformation into an intelligence gathering operation designed to prevent further attacks, the Post said.

Other names under consideration include Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, known for his investigation into the leak of the name of former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson, New York’s top cop Raymond Kelly, and Transportation Security Administration head John Pistole. Vice President Joseph Biden is leading the search, the Post said.

Konrad Motyka, president of the 12,000-member FBI agents association, said the active and retired agents believe that, “throughout his entire career, [Mason] put agents first, had tremendous integrity and was very frank with everyone.’’ Mason spent 23 years with the FBI before leaving in 2007, the Post reported.