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."