Carl M. Ghattas

The FBI announced that Director James B. Comey named Carl Ghattas executive assistant director of the National Security Branch at FBI Headquarters. The release states he most recently served as assistant director for the Counterterrorism Division; entered on duty with the FBI in 1997; was first assigned to the extraterritorial investigations squad at the Washington Field Office; and served in leadership positions in the Counterterrorism Division, the Directorate of Intelligence, and the Washington Field Office. He would assume the NSB role in late February 2017. That is an official appointment announcement. It is not a Crossfire Hurricane finding. It is not a crime.

Identity and office lock for NSB EAD. Not proof he opened Crossfire Hurricane. Not proof he is Strzok or Priestap. University/employer bios add education and later private titles — those are secondary to the FBI release for office dates.

N/A — appointment/selection by the FBI Director.

On June 8, 2017, former FBI Director James B. Comey testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The printed hearing record (S. Hrg. 115-99) quotes Comey describing the senior leadership group with whom he discussed Trump encounters, including “the deputy director, my chief of staff, the general counsel, the deputy director’s chief counsel,” and “in a number of circumstances the number three in the FBI, and a few of the conversations included the head of the National Security Branch.” Answering Senator Rubio: “more often than not the number three person at the FBI, who is the associate deputy Director, and then quite often the head of the National Security Branch.” The printed transcript in those exchanges uses the title, not the surname.

On June 9, 2017, Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein wrote Chairman Chuck Grassley. The official committee release prints her letter listing officials Comey’s oral testimony included: Deputy Director Andrew McCabe; Chief of Staff Jim Rybicki; General Counsel James Baker; Associate Deputy Director David Bowditch (the letter’s spelling); and “National Security Branch (FBI), Carl Ghattas.” Feinstein asked the committee to hear from “the witnesses identified by Mr. Comey during the June 8 hearing.” Being told about an encounter is not a finding that Ghattas opened Crossfire Hurricane or committed a crime. Comey’s written Statement for the Record for that hearing does not name Ghattas.

Documented: Comey title testimony in the printed hearing PDF; Feinstein letter naming Carl Ghattas. AP later attributed that Comey said those men were among officials with whom he shared concerns — secondary attribution. Free Beacon / Vox anonymous witness-list recaps stay Claims/reporting, not Fact findings here.

Testimony and a Senate letter — not a court finding of misconduct by Ghattas.

Chairman Chuck Grassley’s September 27, 2017 letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein states that the Committee first requested interviews of Carl Ghattas, Executive Assistant Director of the National Security Branch, and James Rybicki, Chief of Staff and Senior Counsel to the FBI Director, on July 11, 2017. The letter records two DOJ refusals to make them available voluntarily (August 25 and September 13), after which the Committee began drafting subpoenas. Only then, per Grassley, did DOJ agree to make them available voluntarily — conditioned on (1) a classified setting, (2) limiting scope to avoid questions “directly relating to, or interfering with, Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation,” (3) a DOJ representative attending, and (4) transcript access for the witnesses and the Department. Grassley pushed back on scope and setting, described intended topics (including Comey’s removal, Clinton-related activities, Trump associates, and Russian interference prior to Mueller’s appointment), and reserved compulsory process if terms could not be agreed. A scanned Grassley–Feinstein interview-request PDF is also archived. Oversight interest and interview conditions are not a finding of misconduct. This page does not invent a public full transcript of Ghattas’s interview content.

Primary: Grassley letter PDF naming Ghattas and detailing DOJ conditions. Contemporaneous AP/NPR reporting is secondary confirmation of the refusal fight. Interview request ≠ finding. Conditions ≠ crime.

AP later reported the Senate was able to interview the two officials under conditions. No criminal judgment against Ghattas from this oversight fight located for this file.

On June 11, 2020, the Senate Judiciary Committee authorized Chairman Lindsey O. Graham, after consulting the Ranking Member, to issue subpoenas related to Crossfire Hurricane / FISA oversight. The motion PDF lists individuals including “Carl Ghattas” among persons from whom documents, communications, and testimony at a hearing or deposition could be sought. The committee press release reprints the same named list. Authorization to issue subpoenas is not the same as a subpoena having been served on Ghattas, not a hearing appearance on this page, and not a finding of misconduct. Filing ≠ finding.

Primary motion PDF (June 11, 2020) includes “Carl Ghattas” in the enumerated name list. Committee Republican press release of the same day reprints the roster.

Name on an authorization list. Not proof he opened Crossfire Hurricane. Not proof a subpoena issued. Not a criminal finding.

Committee authorization (reported 12–10). Separate from any later compulsory process not documented on this page.

The FBI’s April 7, 2016 executive appointments release names Carl Ghattas among officials appointed, including as Assistant Director of the Counterterrorism Division (per the Bureau’s release text and later NSB release confirming he most recently held that AD CT role). The same career arc appears in the Feb 28, 2017 NSB release. This is a title. It is not a finding that he ran the Clinton email case, Crossfire Hurricane, or any named FISA. Those investigations had other named supervisors in later Inspector General reviews. This site does not move his name onto those decision lines without a primary that puts him there.

Office lock for AD Counterterrorism. WFO CT SAC career detail appears in the FBI NSB release’s leadership summary and later bios — do not invent Crossfire decision authority from the SAC title.

N/A — appointment.