appointed Acting Director of the FBI by Attorney General John Ashcroft, and served in that capacity two months until the new Director took office. Pickard retired in November of that year. The FBI's bureaucracy, and Pickard in particular, has been implicated as an opponent of FBI agent John P. O'Neill who led the FBI's investigation into Osama Bin Laden prior to the September 11 attacks. A leak to The New York Times in August 2001 regarding a security breach by O'Neill resulted in O'Neill leaving public service. Pickard has been alleged to be the source of the leak. O'Neill took work as the director of security at the World Trade Center, where he was killed on September 11, 2001. References External links 1950 births American accountants Deputy Directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Living people Florida Democrats People from Woodside, Queens People from Jacksonville, Florida St. Francis College alumni St. John's University (New York City) alumni