The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday named the new head of its division tasked with overseeing the FBI probe of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Dana Boente, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was named as the new acting assistant attorney general of the DOJ’s National Security Division.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions hailed the federal prosecutor as “a dedicated public servant,” acknowledging Boente’s service as acting attorney general in the early days of the Trump administration. Rod Rosenstein was confirmed as the DOJ’s No. 2 on Tuesday, freeing Boente to head the department’s security division.
“In recent months, he has provided extraordinary leadership during the transition period,” Sessions said of Boente in a statement. “I am pleased that he has agreed to continue his service by leading our efforts to keep America safe.”
{mosads}Boente succeeds Mary McCord, who announced earlier this month that she would depart in May. She joined the National Security Division in 2014 and became its head after John Carlin resigned in October 2016. Sessions thanked McCord for her service on Friday.
The Department of Justice said Boente would continue serving as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Senate confirmed Boente to that role in December 2015 under former President Obama’s watch.
Boente’s office in Virginia has jurisdiction over the CIA, the Pentagon and other security agencies in the state. The office routinely handles espionage and leak and terrorism cases, much like the National Security Division.
Boente became the DOJ’s acting attorney general in January when President Trump fired Sally Yates after she ordered the DOJ not to defend his initial executive order temporarily barring citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the U.S.
The measure also temporarily paused refugee admissions into the U.S. and indefinitely halted letting in Syrian refugees, but it and a subsequent order have been blocked in courts.