WASHINGTON (CN) - The White House said Monday that 14 candidates will likely be interviewed before a new FBI director is chosen, and eight of those interviews have already taken place.
And President Donald Trump reiterated Monday that he could announce his selection before he leave the US to visit the Middle East and Europe at the end of this week.
The president first allowed that might happen while traveling with reporters on Saturday. He repeated it Monday morning following a meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Zayid al Nuhayyan.
According to the Associated Press, the fourteen candidates are:
SEN. JOHN CORNYN
Cornyn is the No. 2 Senate Republican and a former Texas attorney general and state Supreme Court justice. He has been a member of the Senate GOP leadership team for a decade and serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee. In the aftermath of Comey's dismissal, Cornyn said Trump was "within his authority" to fire him and said it would not affect the investigation of possible Russian ties to Trump's presidential campaign.
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FORMER REP. MIKE ROGERS
Rogers is the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He served Michigan in Congress for more than a decade before stepping down in 2015. Rogers worked for the FBI as a special agent based in Chicago in the 1990s and briefly advised Trump's transition team on national security issues. His name was floated as a possible replacement for then-FBI Director Robert Mueller in 2013, and he received support from an association of FBI agents before President Barack Obama chose Comey.
Rogers is the only candidate to be endorsed by the FBI Agents Association, or FBIAA.
In a statement over the weekend, the organization, which is comprised of more than 13,000 active duty and retired agents, said Rogers easily exemplified the qualities that the next FBI director should have.
“It is essential that the next FBI Director understand the details of how agents do their important work. Mike Rogers’ background as a special agent, veteran of the armed forces and former member of Congress sets him apart as someone capable of confronting the wide array of challenges facing our country,” the association said, adding that the former agent’s experience would be ideal for collaborative efforts between Congress and the FBI when it comes to tackling national security threats.
In an interview by email on Monday night, Josh Zive, senior counsel at the legal firm Bracewell – who represents the FBIAA – said that though they have “no basis” for predicting who Trump will appoint, they are confident that Rogers is the best candidate. Adding that he could not draw comparisons between Rogers and other nominees who share an FBI background, like Paul Abbate or Andrew McCabe, Zive said Roger’s experience working on “cutting-edge security threats while chair of the House Intelligence Committee” is what makes him stand out.
Zive also said McCabe, who serves as the FBI’s acting director is highly regarded by the FBI but is not the FBIAA’s perfect fit.