James Comey To Be Next FBI Director: White House

U.S. President Barack Obama will formally announce Friday the appointment of James Comey as the next head of the Federal Bureau of investigation.

Comey was the deputy attorney general in George W Bush's administration. There were strong indications that Comey was set to succeed the outgoing Director Robert Mueller but a formal announcement was not made hitherto.

An official from the White House told USA Today that the Obama administration nominated Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as he had two decades of experience as a prosecutor and national security professional.

The appointment comes weeks after Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee, leaked National Security Agency's surveillance programs of monitoring movements and communications of people.

Earlier, Human Rights groups had criticized the former deputy attorney general for his alleged support of a couple of controversial Bush-era national security policies including indefinite detention and detainee treatment programs.

"As the second-highest ranked Justice Department official under John Ashcroft, Comey approved some of the worst abuses committed by the Bush administration," Anthony D. Romero, American Civil Liberties Union executive director, said in a statement last month.

Romero said "publicly available evidence" shows that the former deputy attorney general approved interrogation techniques "that constitute torture" including water boarding.

According to the law, Robert Muller who was appointed by Bush in 2001 must vacate his position by September.

The outgoing director of the FBI said that it would take a month of briefing to "get one's feet on the ground."

"We'll start briefings as soon as the person is sworn in. It is a learning experience,'' said Mueller.