Joe Biden named former deputy CIA director David Cohen to reprise his role
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Friday named former Deputy CIA Director David Cohen to return to his role at the U.S. intelligence agency as he continued to fill out top roles for his administration.
Cohen served as the No. 2 at the CIA from 2015 to 2017 in the Obama administration. The position does not require Senate confirmation.
“Cohen is a national security, finance and legal expert,” Biden’s transition team said in a statement, noting his work leading “special projects on new technologies and how best to work with companies to advance the CIA’s mission.”
Earlier this week, Biden tapped veteran American diplomat William Burns to be the agency’s director. Since Burns would be the first leader in the CIA’s history whose experience comes from the State Department, Cohen, as Burns’ deputy, has the more formal experience in the intelligence field.
During his first stint as deputy CIA director, Cohen helped oversee the intelligence agency’s strategic modernization and led foreign intelligence collection. He ended his tenure in 2017 by being awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the CIA’s highest honor.
Before joining the CIA, Cohen served in the Treasury Department as the undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, where he played a vital role in combating illicit finance and developing economic sanctions against foreign governments, including Russia, Iran and North Korea.
His office also developed the Obama administration’s blueprint for targeting ISIS and other terrorist organizations in the financial realm, which earned him the nickname in the Obama White House the “financial Batman.”
In forming his administration, Biden has tapped many former Obama-era officials with whom he has worked closely or who have years of experience in government.
Biden’s transition team also said New York City’s emergency coordinator Deanne Criswell would lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees the federal government’s response to wildfires, hurricanes, and other disasters.
It also separately announced several more top leaders to help with Biden’s COVID-19 response, including former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler to lead the vaccine effort.
