Brian McCauley

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Brian McCauley is a former United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) International Operations Division chief, special agent and first FBI legal attache in Afghanistan. He is known for creating and leading an innovative Joint Counter-Improvised Explosive Device task force that targeted IED cells in Afghanistan. Due to his networking ability that established a strong working relationship between the U.S. Intelligence Community and the Afghan intelligence and security agencies, his colleagues nicknamed him the “mayor of Kabul”.

Early Life

Brian McCauley was one of six children of Irish immigrants. Raised in Providence, Rhode Island, McCauley played basketball at St. Patricks Highschool. His mother had hoped to turn Brian to priesthood by sending him to Our Lady of Providence Preparatory Seminary, however, this is not the path Brian chose to take.

McCauley chose to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and his father and enlisted in the United States Marine Corp. After being honorably discharged from the Marine Corp. he joined the uniformed Secret Service. McCauley moved to Boston, taking a job with the United States Marshals so he could be closer to his father whose health was declining. While in Boston, Brian began taking classes at a satellite campus of Notre Dame.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

At the age of 36, and on his third career, Brian McCauley began working at the FBI on Saint Patrick’s Day in 1997. His first assignment was to the Joint Terrorism Task Force located in Washington, D.C. During this time at the Joint Terrorism Task Force he investigated an operation that raised funds for the Irish Republican Army out of the northeastern United States. While investigating the fund raising operation he became involved investigating the “Valhalla case”, which was a gun-running operation supported by Irish American mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger.

Afghanistan 2006-2008

In April of 2006, Brian McCauley was chosen to be the first FBI legal Attache in Kabul, Afghanistan. As the FBI legal attache, McCauley was the most senior FBI official in Afghanistan. While working at the United States Embassy in Kabul on September 8^th, 2006, McCauley, from his office, felt the massive overpressure from a vehicle born IED that was detonated nearby. The VBIED targeted a U.S. Humvee and when detonated, killed two U.S. service members, Sergeant First Class Merideth Howard and Staff Sergeant Robert Paul. The explosion also killed fourteen Afghan civilians and wounded more than 30 other individuals. The VBIED was packed with over 600 pounds of explosives. This attack prompted McCauley to contact the United States Ambassador in Afghanistan as well as FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. to begin the process to create a joint task force between the FBI and U.S. Special Operations Forces that would be the first of its kind. Brian McCauley initiated and led one of the largest investigations in the history of the FBI targeting the IED networks in Afghanistan.

Brian McCauley's tour in Afghanistan came to a close in May, 2008. The counter IED initiative led by McCauley had taken down four IED cells and led to the prevention of 43 different attacks in Afghanistan. The joint mission between the FBI and U.S. Special Operations, specifically 10^th Special Forces Group, removed over 150 IED facilitators and bombers. McCauley and his FBI team as well as 10^th Special Forces Group received the FBI Director’s Award for their efforts.

Post Afghanistan 2008-2015

McCauley was promoted to the position of FBI assistant deputy director for human intelligence and was also the senior FBI representative to the CIA from the National Security Branch of the FBI. By 2013 McCauley had been named FBI’s deputy assistant director for international operations. McCauley retired in July 2015 as the FBI International Operations Division chief.

Clinton Email Controversy

McCauley was identified by the Washington Post as the FBI official partaking in an alleged “quid pro quo” deal with the Department of State in spring of 2015. Patrick F. Kennedy contacted McCauley in order to get the FBI to agree to not classify an email regarding the 2012 Benghazi attack. McCauley initially offered the quid pro quo deal to Kennedy, asking for assistance in reinstating two FBI positions at the Baghdad Embassy the Bureau lost. McCauley stated he offered the deal before he knew why Kennedy was contacting him, he is quoted saying, “He said, 'Brian, this is Pat Kennedy. I need a favor.' I said, 'Hold on, I need a favor. I need our people back in Iraq and Baghdad and I need our footprint in Afghanistan to remain the same”. McCauley denies making the deal after discovering the emails were related to Benghazi. According to New York Times writers Eric LIchtblau and Steven Lee Myers, "F.B.I. officials said that while they had referred the quid pro quo accusation to their inspections branch for an ethics review as a matter of policy, the issue had become moot because Mr. McCauley left the bureau. State Department officials said they had not conducted an internal review because they had seen no basis for one."

Bibliography

• Kitfield, James. Twilight Warriors: the Soldiers, Spies, and Special Agents Who Are Revolutionizing the American Way of War. Basic Books, 2016.

References

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