Special Tactical Unit

A special agent who rose through the ranks to lead the FBI, then was fired for refusing to purge agents as political retribution.

via Wikipedia: Brian Driscoll · see source

Brian J. Driscoll (born 1979 or 1980) is an American law enforcement official who served as the acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from January 20 to February 21, 2025. He was an FBI special agent from 2007 until his firing in August 2025, following the fallout from a disagreement with the Trump administration. Driscoll is a recipient of the FBI Medal of Valor and the FBI Shield of Bravery.

Quick Facts

Affiliation

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Primary role

Law enforcement official
acting FBI director
special agent

First appearance

2007 (joined FBI)

Operational status

Fired August 2025

Lore & Background

Driscoll joined the FBI in 2007 as a special agent, first assigned to the New York field office where he worked organized crime and joined the regional SWAT team. In 2011, he was selected for the Hostage Rescue Team, serving in Blue Squadron. He returned to New York in 2019 as a supervisory special agent, leading joint task forces on violent crimes, child exploitation, and human trafficking. In 2020, he was transferred to the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force to lead the North Africa international terrorism investigations squad.

He later became assistant special agent in charge of the Extraterritorial Terrorism Branch. In 2022, he was promoted to head of the Hostage Rescue Team and tactical section chief of the Critical Incident Response Group. As of July 2025, following his brief tenure as Acting Director, Driscoll serves as an Assistant Director of the FBI's Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG).

Reader's Guide

Driscoll's career shows a path from special agent to acting director, then to firing and a lawsuit. He joined the FBI in 2007 after earning a bachelor's degree in English from Villanova University and a master's degree in public policy and international relations from Pepperdine University. Prior to the FBI, he was a special agent at NCIS. His early FBI work included organized crime and SWAT in New York, then selection for the Hostage Rescue Team in 2011.

He later led joint task forces on violent crimes, child exploitation, and human trafficking, then the North Africa international terrorism squad. By 2022, he headed the Hostage Rescue Team and was tactical section chief of CIRG. As acting director from January 20 to February 21, 2025, he faced the order to fire eight senior executives and compile a list of thousands of employees tied to January 6 investigations. He refused, was fired on August 7, 2025, and filed a lawsuit a month later with two other former senior FBI officials.

Did You Know?

Driscoll served as acting FBI director from January 20 to February 21, 2025, after the White House website incorrectly listed him in that role and he swapped with Robert Kissane instead of fixing the error.
In 2013, Driscoll's Hostage Rescue Team unit saved a five-year-old boy taken hostage in a bunker in Alabama.
Driscoll was fired by President Trump on August 7, 2025, after refusing to endorse a purge of agents involved in January 6 investigations.