John S. Pistole (born June 1, 1956) is the former administrator of the United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and a former deputy director of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

. He is currently the president of Anderson University.

Education

Pistole was born on June 1, 1956, in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

, Maryland. He is a graduate of Anderson University and the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, a division of

Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th st ...

. Pistole practiced law for two years before joining the FBI in 1983.

Public service

Since the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, John Pistole has been involved in the formation of terrorism policies during the Bush and Obama administrations.

9/11 Commission

On April 14, 2004, Pistole testified before the

9/11 Commission The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks", includin ...

at its 10th public hearing on a panel, ''Preventing Future Attacks Inside the United States''. On June 16, 2004, Pistole testified before the 9/11 Commission at its 12th public hearing. The page on the 9/11 Commission website does not include Pistole's name, and the PDF transcript does not list him as a participant, but he testified on June 16, 2004, as a panelist. He discussed threat levels of a possible attack by

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

in 2004, as well as other topics. On August 23, 2004, Pistole testified before Congress about changes the FBI made in response to the 9/11 Commission.:wikisource:Statement Of John S. Pistole Executive Assistant Director Counterterrorism/Counterintelligence Federal Bureau Of Investigation Before The House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, Statement Of John S. Pistole Executive Assistant Director Counterterrorism/Counterintelligence Federal Bureau Of Investigation Before The House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, August 23, 2004. Pistole and Valerie E. Caproni were the two FBI officials who approved a :wikisource:Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees, memo laying out the FBI's policy on the limits to the interrogation of captives taken during the United States' war on terror. The memo was from the FBI's general counsel, to all offices, explaining that FBI officials were not allowed to engage in coercive interrogations; FBI officials were not allowed to sit in on coercive interrogations conducted by third parties; FBI officials were required to immediately report any instances of suspected coercive interrogation up the FBI chain of command.

FBI

Pistole served as deputy director of the FBI from October 2004 to May 2010. As deputy director, Pistole was second in command within the FBI and pivotally involved in the formation of terrorism policies. Obama Napolitano and Pistole

TSA

Pistole was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as administrator of the Transportation Security Administration on May 17, 2010, and was unanimously confirmed to serve in that position by the United States Senate on June 25, 2010. On November 16, 2010, Pistole defended his agency's new extensive pat-down procedures and Advanced Imaging Technology (A.I.T) as necessary. On November 21, 2010, Pistole again justified the new search policies on CNN saying "We know through intelligence that there are determined people, terrorists who are trying to kill not only Americans but innocent people around the world." On November 21, 2010, Pistole acknowledged that new TSA screening procedures are "invasive" and "uncomfortable" but said they were necessary. Many questions raised by American citizens regarding this policy remain unanswered and Pistole has remained silent regarding significant constitutional objections. After a February 2011 attempt by a TSA VIPR team in Savannah to search passengers disembarking from an Amtrak train, the TSA was banned from Amtrak property by Amtrak Police Chief John O'Connor. On October 16, 2014, Pistole announced that he would retire as TSA administrator effective December 31, 2014, and take a position in academia. On October 27, 2014, he was elected to be the fifth president of his alma mater, Anderson University in Anderson, Indiana. On May 30, 2017, news broke that President Donald Trump contacted Pistole about an interview to fill the opening created by the firing of FBI Director James Comey.

Anderson University

On March 2, 2015, Pistole began his presidency as Anderson University's fifth president. Students of Anderson University commonly refer to him as "PJP" (President John Pistole).

Book

On February 3, 2021, a biography about John was released called ''John S. Pistole: Searching for Integrity & Faith''.

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pistole, John 1956 births Anderson University (Indiana) alumni Deputy Directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law alumni Living people Obama administration personnel Politicians from Baltimore Transportation Security Administration officials