Profiles · Oversight
- Type
- Person
- Role
- Oversight and enforcement
- Programs
- PPP
- Updated
The profile
Head of the DOJ Criminal Division after Kenneth Polite, through the later pandemic-fraud cases; later joined Cravath.
Identity and role
Nicole M. Argentieri served as Acting Assistant Attorney General and head of the DOJ Criminal Division (from August 2023; DOJ profile), and earlier as Principal Deputy AAG — leading the division when the Blueacorn founders were indicted in November 2024; the Kabbage False Claims Act settlement of May 2024 also fell in her tenure.
Biography / career arc
Principal Deputy / Acting AAG, Criminal Division → Cravath, Swaine & Moore (announcement of Dec. 9, 2024) (DOJ and Cravath profiles; earlier career items not all in the captures).
Pandemic-relief / PPP-EIDL role
Oversaw the Criminal Division's continued pandemic-fraud enforcement, including the Fraud Section's prosecution of the Blueacorn founders and the division's broader PPP docket.
She became Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in 2022 and served as head of the Criminal Division after August 2023, which placed her over the division as the Blueacorn prosecution and related PPP cases matured. Her predecessor as Criminal Division chief was Kenneth Polite; the Fraud Section that prosecuted Blueacorn was led by Glenn Leon.
Argentieri headed the division when the Blueacorn founders Nathan Reis and Stephanie Hockridge were indicted in November 2024; Hockridge's trial conviction (June 2025) and Reis's guilty plea (August 2025) came after she left the Department (see their profiles). James Flores was also prosecuted in the Blueacorn matter (see his profile).
Cravath's profile says she joined the firm's Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement practice after serving as Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division.
Where they are now (2025–2026)
At Cravath, in the Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement practice (firm profile capture).
Additional public-record notes
Lobbying & industry ties
No lobbying registrations. White-collar/investigations practice.
Sources held in this archive
Original source documents and archived captures
- DOJ CFETF 2024 annual report
- Cravath, "Nicole M. Argentieri, Former Acting Assistant Attorney General in DOJ's Criminal Division, to Join Cravath"...
- Cravath, Nicole M. Argentieri profile
- DOJ Criminal Division, former Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri profile
- DOJ Office of Public Affairs, Blueacorn conviction press release June 23, 2025
Sources
- DOJ Criminal Division, former Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri profile: DOJ Criminal Division, former Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri profile (original: justice.gov · stored capture)
- Cravath, Nicole M. Argentieri profile: Cravath, Nicole M. Argentieri profile (original: cravath.com · stored capture)
- Cravath, "Nicole M. Argentieri, Former Acting Assistant Attorney General in DOJ's Criminal Division, to Join Cravath" (Dec. 9, 2024): Cravath, "Nicole M. Argentieri, Former Acting Assistant Attorney General in DOJ's Criminal Division, to Join Cravath"... (original: cravath.com · stored capture)
- DOJ Office of Public Affairs, Blueacorn conviction press release (June 23, 2025): DOJ Office of Public Affairs, Blueacorn conviction press release June 23, 2025 (original: justice.gov · stored capture)