For Immediate Release
March 15, 2001

Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office

On December 28, 2000, Presidential Decision Directive (PDD) - 75 was enacted to improve the national counterintelligence organization and capability of the United States. Under PDD-75, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh serves as Chairman of the newly established Counterintelligence (CI) Board of Directors. The CI Board of Directors also includes the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and a Department of Justice official representing the Attorney General. The central feature of PDD-75 is the establishment of the Office of the Counterintelligence Executive which will be headed by a national CI Executive. The CI Executive will serve as the substantive leader of national level counterintelligence in the United States and will be responsible and report to the Counterintelligence Board of Directors.

Director Freeh stated: "I am pleased to announce that senior FBI Special Agent David W. Szady has been selected by the CI Board of Directors, with the concurrence of the Attorney General, the DCI, and the Secretary of Defense, to be the new CI Executive." Mr. Szady, who currently serves as the Special-Agent-in Charge of the FBI's Portland Field Office, is a 28-year FBI veteran with 25 years of counterespionage and counterintelligence investigative experience. Mr. Szady has served as the Chief of the CIA's Counterintelligence Center, Counterespionage Group, and has been assigned to counterintelligence matters at FBIHQ and in the FBI's San Francisco and Washington Field Offices. Director Freeh added: "I, along with the other members of the CI Board of Directors, believe that Mr. Szady's extensive counterespionage, counterintelligence, and managerial experience makes him the right candidate for this important and challenging assignment. He is a widely respected member of the intelligence community and has a track record of both leadership and accomplishment. Mr. Szady, and his staff of the Office of the CI Executive, will be well positioned to develop a national strategy for the protection of the nation's most sensitive national security information in coordination with the United States counterintelligence community."

Additionally, Director Freeh stated: "I wish to thank the White House and Department of Justice for their continued approval and support of this important counterintelligence initiative. I also wish to thank the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence for their input, deliberations, and recommendations regarding and unwavering support of this initiative. Early consultations with these committees about improving the Nation's counterintelligence effort was a major factor in the development of CI-21."