Justice Dept. top national security official to leave post

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department's top national security official is leaving his position next month.

John Carlin, who has led the department's national security division since 2014, will be leaving government on Oct. 15.

The department announced his departure Tuesday. It did not announce what he's doing next.

Carlin's exit leaves the Obama administration without one of its most vocal advocates for publicly identifying and blaming foreign government hackers for cyberattacks on American institutions.

It comes as the administration weighs a response to a Democratic National Committee cyber breach that U.S. officials believe was done by the Russians.

During his tenure, the Justice Department brought indictments against five Chinese military officials accused of hacking into American corporations and also accused Iranian hackers of intrusions on banks and a New York dam.