News

Former prosecutor here named FBI chief of staff

Corey Ellis became chief of staff to the FBI director in January 2021.

By Lightning Reports, Published: February 17, 2021

Corey Frazier Ellis, who spent eight years as an assistant district attorney in Hendersonville, was named chief of staff to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray last month. Most recently, Ellis had served as acting director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, where he was the primary liaison between the attorney general, the deputy attorney general and all 94 U.S. attorney offices across the nation. Attorney General William P. Barr appointed Ellis to the position in September 2019.
Previously, Ellis served in several leadership roles in the Department of Justice, including as chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein. Ellis was also the first assistant in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina. While an assistant U.S. attorney, he handled a wide range of criminal investigations, including public corruption, white collar fraud, securities fraud and cybercrime. Ellis, who has tried more than 100 jury trials, served as a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office in Hendersonville from 1997 to 2005.
A graduate of Elizabethton (Tennessee) High School, Ellis earned his undergraduate degree from Brown University and his law degree from the University of Memphis School of Law.