Liam Conner
washington — Top U.S. counterterrorism official Christy Abizaid will step down next month as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, or NCTC, after three years in the role, U.S. officials confirmed Wednesday.
She will be replaced by Brett Holmgren, current director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, or INR, the State Department’s intelligence arm. Holmgren will serve as interim director.
In a statement, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said of the measures: “Christy Abizaid is an extraordinary leader who is not only incredibly effective, but also principled, courageous and kind. We will miss her, but we are very lucky to have Brett Holmgren assume leadership of the NCTC – another truly exceptional leader in the field of counterterrorism and a distinguished member of the IC leadership team.”
Abizaid became the first woman and first openly gay person to lead the NCTC after being confirmed for the role in June 2021. She began her career with the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Joint Counterterrorism Intelligence Task Force and held senior analytical roles in Afghanistan-Pakistan. Division and Division of the Middle East, unfolding several times in the region.
Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Housed in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the NCTC serves as the government’s primary counterterrorism analysis center, storing data on known and suspected terrorists and working across U.S. agencies including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
“Our primary role is to connect the dots, live at the seams, and examine the information we have to be able to discern when a threat is coming our way,” Abizaid said in a 2022 report. interview on CBS News’ “Intelligence Matters” podcast, now produced by Beacon Global Strategies. “And so transnational linkages, looking for transnational linkages, finding ways to disrupt those transnational linkages – that’s our bread and butter.”
The NCTC rose after 9/11 and celebrates its 20th anniversary in August. Abizaid said last month at a security conference in Doha, Qatar, that the center was more relevant than ever as it operates in a “high global threat environment”.
Holmgren was a counterterrorism analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency early in his career, then worked as a senior analyst at the CIA and served as director of counterterrorism at the National Security Council during the Obama administration.
At the Department of State, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Lisa Kenna, who most recently served as U.S. Ambassador to Peru and joined INR in September 2023, will serve as the Bureau’s acting director.
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