Dana Boente

Early life and education Boente was born in Carlinville, Illinois in 1954 to James and Doris Boente. He then attended the Saint Louis University School of Law, receiving his Juris Doctor in 1982. McDonnell's conviction was unanimously overturned by the United States Supreme Court on June 27, 2016, with Chief Justice John Roberts declaring that McDonnell's actions as governor were "tawdry", but agreed that instructions to the jury in his case about what constitutes "official acts" were so broad, they could cover almost any action a public official takes. The Justice Department, against the wishes of Boente's office, decided not to re-try either McDonnell and dismissed all charges.

He was nominated on October 8, 2015, and confirmed by the United States Senate on December 15, 2015, as the 60th U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and was confirmed by the United States Senate via voice vote on December 15, 2015. Boente was one of the 46 United States Attorneys ordered by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on March 10, 2017 to tender their resignation; Trump declined to accept his.

President Donald Trump appointed Boente as Acting Attorney General on January 30, 2017, after Acting Attorney General Sally Yates was dismissed by Trump earlier that evening. Upon Yates’ dismissal, Channing D. Phillips, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, served as Acting Attorney General for a few hours pursuant to Executive Order 13762 titled “Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice” until President Donald Trump signed an executive order appointing Boente to replace Yates later that evening. When Jeff Sessions was confirmed and sworn in as Attorney General on February 9, 2017, Boente became Acting Deputy Attorney General.

Sessions recused himself from all matters pertaining to American presidential campaigns because of revelations that he had communications with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 United States presidential election, Boente was designated to perform the functions of the Attorney General with respect to campaign issues until the permanent deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, was confirmed and sworn into office which took place on April 25, 2017.

On October 27, 2017 Boente announced his intention to resign as U.S. Attorney and as acting assistant attorney general for the National Security Division; he said he would remain in the positions until a replacement is confirmed.

On January 23, 2018, Boente was named general counsel to the FBI by Director Christopher Wray, filling the vacancy after James Baker's reassignment to another part of the bureau.

On May 29, 2020, Boente resigned from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, effective June 30.

Personal life Boente has lived in Northern Virginia since 1984.