An FBI Deputy Assistant Director who took over the bureau’s investigation into the deadly attack on Bourbon Street after a New Orleans official misidentified it as “not a terrorist event” is now the new head of the New York City field office, The New York Sun has learned.

Christopher Raia, a 21-year bureau veteran who most recently worked in its Counterterrorism Division in Washington, D.C., will succeed James Dennehy, who was forced into early retirement by President Trump’s Department of Justice after rallying his men to “dig in” and push back at efforts to identify agents who worked the January 6th investigation. 

Mr. Raia announced his promotion on his LinkedIn page. Spokesmen from the FBI’s New York City office did not respond to requests for comment.

In January, Mr. Raia earned national attention for commanding the investigation into the ISIS-inspired attack in New Orleans’ French Quarter in which a 42-year-old Army veteran drove a rental pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s Eve revelers, killing 14 people. Two coolers containing explosive devices were later recovered by FBI bomb technicians near the attack.

The assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans office, Alethea Duncan, was roundly criticized for telling reporters the attack was “not a terrorist event.” The suspect, Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, an American from Texas, posted on his Facebook page a video of himself saying he had joined ISIS and had wanted his attack to bring attention to the “war between the believers and the disbelievers.” Mr. Raia assumed control of the investigation the following day.  Ms. Duncan was eventually reassigned within the bureau.

John Keenan, who spent 25 years at the FBI, retiring as supervisor, recalled watching Mr. Raia on TV during those ensuing press conferences and being impressed by his command of the investigation into the New Orleans terror attack.

“My initial impression of him was ‘this is an FBI agent,’” said Mr. Keenan.

Mr. Raia joined the FBI in 2003, spending the bulk of his career in Texas and Washington, D.C., according to his LinkedIn page.

As the head of the New York bureau, Mr. Raia will now oversee a field office of over 2,000 agents and personnel that has been under fire by Trump’s Justice Department shortly after he returned to power in January.

Last month, Mr. Dennehy, a Marine Corps veteran who was respected among many active and retired agents, said in an internal memo that he was “not given a reason” for why he was told to resign after spending only two years as assistant director in charge, or ADIC, of New York City.

He had run afoul of Justice official Emil Bove – a former criminal defense attorney for Mr. Trump who was then acting deputy attorney general – for pushing back at a 12-question survey, sent to thousands of agents, asking about their role, if any, in the investigation into the January 6 demonstration at the Capitol.

“Today, we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the F.B.I. and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and F.B.I. policy,” he wrote in an internal memo.

At a hearing before a House Intelligence subcommittee this week, a former FBI supervisor, Stewart L. Whitson criticized Mr. Dennehy’s efforts to “dig in” as “a clear act of insubordination that deeply embarrassed the FBI and only further undermined public trust.”

Mr. Dennehy was given a celebratory sendoff, complete with bagpipe players and hundreds of applauding FBI employees, as he walked out of 26 Federal Plaza for the final time last month.

Tensions between NYC and FBI leadership have since eased. As Mr. Raia takes the reins of the FBI’s largest field office, Lew Schiliro, who ran the New York bureau from 1998 to 2000, says Mr. Raia has an incredible opportunity ahead of him. But first, he’ll need to obtain the trust and confidence of the men and women of the New York office and establish strong ties with every law enforcement agency in the city, said Mr. Schiliro.

“You will not succeed without having the support and cooperation of everyone involved in the public safety community. This is something (an assistant director) will have to work at,” said Mr. Schiliro.

Mr. Keenan said he spoke with Mr. Raia at a law enforcement event in New York City and left the conversation convinced the new assistant director was “the real deal.”

“He’s up to the challenge,” said Mr. Keenan.