The Department of Justice has shaken up leadership at its Criminal Division as it prepares to welcome a new, permanent director.
Acting Fraud Section Chief Daniel Kahn has been promoted to acting deputy assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division. He replaces Robert Zink, who has left the agency for a job with an unnamed private firm, a Justice Department spokesperson confirmed.
In his new post, Kahn will oversee the agency’s fraud and appellate sections. Joseph Beemsterboer, a veteran healthcare fraud prosecutor, has been named to fill the position Kahn left behind.
Zink was named acting deputy assistant attorney general in September 2020. He served under Nicholas McQuaid, who remains the acting head of the Criminal Division.
Kenneth Polite was nominated by President Joe Biden in April to lead the Criminal Division on a full-time basis. Polite appeared at a nomination hearing before the Senate in May; he encountered little resistance from senators from either party, according to a story on NOLA.com.
Polite is currently a partner at Morgan Lewis, focusing on internal investigations and corporate compliance. Prior to joining the law firm, he worked as vice president and chief compliance officer at Fortune 500 electric power company Entergy.
Polite, who is originally from New Orleans, served as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 2007-10 and as the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Louisiana from September 2013 to March 2017.
Polite’s nomination is currently before the Senate.
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