Open Hearing: Nomination of Irvin Charles McCullough to be Inspector General for the Intelligence Community

[Senate Hearing 112-309] [From the U.S. Government Printing Office] S. Hrg. 112-309 NOMINATION OF IRVIN CHARLES McCULLOUGH III TO BE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY ======================================================================= HEARING BEFORE THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION __________ SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 __________ Printed for the use of the Select Committee on Intelligence Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 72-745 WASHINGTON : 2012 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001 SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE [Established by S. Res. 400, 94th Cong., 2d Sess.] DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California, Chairman SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia, Vice Chairman JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine Virginia RICHARD BURR, North Carolina RON WYDEN, Oregon JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland DANIEL COATS, Indiana BILL NELSON, Florida ROY BLUNT, Missouri KENT CONRAD, North Dakota MARCO RUBIO, Florida MARK UDALL, Colorado MARK WARNER, Virginia HARRY REID, Nevada, Ex Officio MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky, Ex Officio CARL LEVIN, Michigan, Ex Officio JOHN McCAIN, Arizona, Ex Officio ---------- David Grannis, Staff Director Martha Scott Poindexter, Minority Staff Director Kathleen P. McGhee, Chief Clerk CONTENTS ---------- SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 OPENING STATEMENTS Feinstein, Hon. Dianne, Chairman, a U.S. Senator from California. 1 Chambliss, Hon. Saxby, Vice Chairman, a U.S. Senator from Georgia 2 WITNESS McCullough III, Irwin Charles, Intelligence Community Inspector General-Designate.............................................. 3 Prepared statement........................................... 5 SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL Questionnaire for Completion by Presidential Nominees............ 20 Prehearing Questions and Responses............................... 34 Letter from Don W. Fox, Office of Government Ethics, Dated August 23, 2011, to Senator Dianne Feinstein Transmitting Public Financial Disclosure Report.................................... 53 NOMINATION OF IRVIN CHARLES McCULLOUGH III TO BE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY ---------- THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Intelligence, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:37 p.m., in Room SD-138, Dirksen Senate Office Building, the Honorable Dianne Feinstein (Chairman of the Committee) presiding. Committee Members Present: Senators Feinstein, Wyden, Udall of Colorado, Chambliss, Snowe, Blunt, and Rubio. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DIANNE FEINSTEIN, CHAIRMAN, A U.S. SENATOR FROM CALIFORNIA Chairman Feinstein. The Committee will come to order. We meet today in public. So, ladies and gentlemen, you are our public today. This doesn't happen very often, so it's often a special moment when it does. And of course this moment is to consider the President's nomination of Charles McCullough to be the first Inspector General of the Intelligence Community. I want to welcome him here. I want to congratulate you on this nomination. I had the pleasure to meet with you, as I'm sure other Members have as well, and know that you are superbly qualified for this job. The position of Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, or IC/IG, as the techies would say, was created in the 2010 intelligence authorization bill after several years of trying to have the position enacted. I'd like to particularly recognize Senator Snowe. She was the drafter of the provision creating this position and the driving force behind it. And so I'm delighted that you're here today, Olympia. The reason to have a community-wide Inspector General is similar to the reason to have a Director of National Intelligence. The IG is intended to review and conduct oversight on intelligence activities across the 16 agencies that make up what we call the Intelligence Community, as well as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the DNI, instead of having every agency and their IG operate within its own stovepipe. So this further helps unify the community and break down stovepipes. We have seen over recent years how the agencies have worked much more closely together. That's improved performance, it's reduced duplication. But it also makes the oversight work of an individual agency's Inspector General more difficult. So this Committee felt the need to create an Inspector General with authority and oversight of the entire community and one who could look at issues that cut right across the community. This view was reinforced by the relative weakness of the Inspector General position in the Office of the DNI that was authorized as part of the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004. Until now, the DNI has had the power to hire and fire his Inspector General. In public testimony from 2009, the first IG in the DNI's office, Edward McGuire, said his office was, ``not independent vis-a-vis the DNI, because he can put us out of business. This is a substantial weakness,'' he said, ``in our ability to do work.'' So Congress created the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, to be confirmed by the Senate and given the statutory authorities and independence of other Senate- confirmed Inspectors General. The IG still operates under the supervision and direction of the DNI, but he has substantially more independence and authority under this new legislation. So it's our hope and our expectation that, if you are confirmed, Mr. McCullough--and I believe you will be--you will make full use of these authorities--I think that's really important--to ensure that the nation's intelligence activities are legal, that they are keeping with relevant guidance and direction, and that there is not waste, fraud, or abuse in the community. It's a big, big job, I think, of all of the IGs maybe the biggest, because this is a difficult community to surveil, so to speak. So I would just like to welcome you. I'd like to welcome your family here. And I'd like to recognize the distinguished Ranking Member, with whom I have the great pleasure of working with. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. SAXBY CHAMBLISS, VICE CHAIRMAN, A U.S. SENATOR FROM GEORGIA Vice Chairman Chambliss. Well, thanks very much, Madam Chairman, and likewise. Mr. McCullough, congratulations on your nomination to be the first Inspector General of the Intelligence Community. You have an impressive background in both intelligence and law enforcement, which I believe will serve you well in your new assignment. I also welcome your family here today and thank them for their support of you, which means their commitment to public service. Now, in many instances Inspectors General are the eyes and ears of agency leadership throughout the government and can be for Congress as well. Through critical oversight of executive branch operations, they can provide useful assessments of performance and identify areas for improvement. These assessments are even more important now, given the current state of the federal budget. It is clear the old ways of doing business are not sustainable, especially when it comes to expensive programs that seem to give us little in return. As we conduct our own oversight and look for wise cuts across national intelligence program budgets, this Committee will seek your opinion on programs in need of oversight, scaling back, or that can be cut altogether. We will also look for your input when it comes to promoting better accountability across the community. We are fortunate to have many solid performers among our Intelligence Community professionals, but there are occasions when those who exercise bad judgment or perform poorly must be held accountable. My sense is that the federal government does a mediocre job in removing underperformers, but the IC can and must do better. As the IC's Inspector General, much of your work will of necessity be classified. This means there will most often not be a public airing of your assessments. As a result, Congress and the American people must have full confidence that your findings are objective, independent, and entirely supported by the facts. We expect, too, that you will stay within your statutory mandate in promoting efficiency and preventing or detecting fraud, waste, and abuse. Mr. McCullough, you and I had a very good meeting earlier this week and I'm very confident that you're a person of high integrity and very well qualified for this job, and I look forward to further dialoguing with you today. Thanks, Madam Chair. Chairman Feinstein. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chairman. I just received a note that, Mr. McCullough, you're prepared to introduce your family before proceeding with your remarks. Would you do so, please? STATEMENT OF IRVIN CHARLES McCULLOUGH III, INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY INSPECTOR GENERAL-DESIGNATE Mr. McCullough. That's fine. Thank you, Madam Chairman. Behind me I have my mother, Barbara Jackson, and my stepfather, Terry Jackson, my son Chas and my daughter Victoria. And right here beside me is my wife of 18 years, Kathalyn. And I have my sister here, Anise, and I've got some very good friends of mine from throughout my career, my colleagues. Chairman Feinstein. Well, thank you, and welcome all of you. And I hope you're very proud of your father. So please go ahead, Mr. McCullough. Mr. McCullough. Madam Chairman, Mr. Vice Chairman, and distinguished members of the Committee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to appear before you today as you consider my nomination to be the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community. I especially want to thank Senator Snowe, who has been a steadfast champion for the establishment of an IC/IG for quite some time. I am deeply honored to have been nominated by the President for this position, and I am grateful for the support and encouragement I have received from Director Clapper. Over the past 20 years I have been privileged to serve in a leadership capacity in law enforcement, legal and intelligence positions. I'm currently serving on detail from the National Security Agency as the Deputy Inspector General at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Prior to that, I spent eight years as the Assistant IG for Investigations at the National Security Agency, where I supervised investigations involving intelligence programs and personnel around the world. I served as the senior counsel for law enforcement and intelligence at the U.S. Treasury Department, and I spent 10 years as a special agent of the FBI handling foreign counterintelligence, counterterrorism, violent crime, white collar crime, narcotics, and personnel misconduct matters. As a result of these experiences, I am well grounded in intelligence policy, management, and operations. The FY 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act provides the IC/ IG with the statutory authority to conduct IC-wide audits, investigations, and inspections. If confirmed, my primary goal will be to identify and address systemic deficiencies that cut across agency missions in order to positively impact IC-wide economies and efficiencies. Madam Chairman, I recognize that if I am confirmed you will have high expectations for my performance in this regard, especially given the difficult budget climate now facing the IC and the larger federal government. I want to express my commitment, if confirmed, to fully support the IC/IG's notification and reporting obligations to the intelligence committees. I am under no illusion that fulfilling the IC-wide responsibilities of this new position will be easy. I fully comprehend this job will take and require a great amount of independence, as well as diplomacy, discretion, and judgment. If confirmed, I pledge to do my very best to earn your trust and confidence. Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to appear before you today. I look forward to your questions. [The prepared ststement of Mr. McCullough III follows:] [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] 72745.001 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] 72745.002 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] 72745.003 Chairman Feinstein. Thank you very much, Mr. McCullough. When we visited the other day, we talked a little bit about contractors, and I wanted to ask you a few questions. I think this Committee believes that there are many too many contractors really doing inherently governmental work within the Intelligence Community. I mean, literally Dana Priest says in her book, 250,000. So it's hard to tell, you know, really what's fact and what's fiction. But I want to ask you how you view the use of contractors in the Intelligence Community. Mr. McCullough. Well, I think that that topic, the use of contractors and how much that's costing the IC in these tight budget times, and what they're doing in terms of whether or not they're performing inherently governmental functions is an extremely appropriate topic for this new position and this new office to undertake. I would envision and IC-wide review looking specifically at those things, and I think that would be a very appropriate topic to consider very strongly as we go forward with our work planning. Chairman Feinstein. How would you define ``inherently governmental functions''? Mr. McCullough. Well, it's normally defined as the decisionmaking ability in the government--if a contractor is performing certain functions that would normally be reserved for a government employee, such as sitting on a source- selection panel or doing something that we would normally expect a government employee to be employed doing. There are certain functions that OMB has listed, actually, and there are certain guidelines and regulations which actually set out lists of inherently governmental functions. And so we would want to check that and crosscheck that across the IC to see how endemic that was. Chairman Feinstein. One last question for me. In the event that you requested assistance from the DNI and the DNI determined against your assessment, that a particular audit or investigation should not proceed, what subsequent steps, if any, would you take? Mr. McCullough. Well, I would discuss that with the DNI. The DNI has been extremely supportive and encouraging with respect to this position. The statute itself, which created the IC/IG position does contain a provision which allows the DNI to impede or restrict an IG activity, but it's for a very narrow reason. The reason has to be a national security equity. So I would speak with the DNI about that first, but I would not hesitate to interact with this Committee and inform this Committee. If he sought to actually activate the procedures in the statute, it would require the Committee's involvement and I would follow through. Chairman Feinstein. I think that's very important and I'm very glad to hear that, that you would alert our Committee to that fact. Mr. McCullough. Yes, ma'am. Chairman Feinstein. Before recognizing the Vice Chairman, there are five standard questions. They just require a yes or no answer. If I might read them, if you would just respond and we'll get you on the record. Do you agree to appear before the Committee here or in other venues when invited? Mr. McCullough. Yes. Chairman Feinstein. If confirmed, do you agree to send officials from the Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community to appear before the Committee and designated staff when invited? Mr. McCullough. Yes. Chairman Feinstein. Do you agree to provide documents or any other materials requested by the Committee in order for it to carry out its oversight and legislative responsibilities? Mr. McCullough. Yes. Chairman Feinstein. Will you ensure that the Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community provides such material to the Committee when requested? Mr. McCullough. Yes. Chairman Feinstein. Do you agree to inform and fully brief, to the fullest extent possible, all members of this Committee of the activities of the Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, rather than only the Chairman and Vice Chairman? Mr. McCullough. Yes. Chairman Feinstein. Thank you. Mr. Vice Chairman. Vice Chairman Chambliss. Thanks very much, Madam Chair. Mr. McCullough, let me just add to what the Chairman said. If you ever--without suggesting you might be so inclined to-- come to this Committee and voice an independent opinion relative to an issue, I think you'll find we'll not only be receptive, but we'll be extremely supportive of you in that regard. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, there was a concerted effort to remove the barriers that prevented intelligence information from being shared fully within the Intelligence Community. Part of this effort involved statutory changes in the USA PATRIOT Act, which I understand you were involved in drafting while you were at the Department of Treasury. I'm concerned, especially after the Christmas Day attempted bombing, that some of the old stovepipes may be reappearing. You and I talked a little bit about this, but for the record I want to ask you: Has the Intelligence Community fully addressed the issues that concerned you most when the PATRIOT Act was drafted? And secondly, where do you think improvements need to be made? And is there a role for you as the Intelligence Community's Inspector General in this effort, as well as in the information-sharing effort? Mr. McCullough. Well, Mr. Vice Chair, thank you for that question. Yes, I concur that the old stovepipes that were there, from my perspective, are still there to a certain extent. This is something from an information-sharing standpoint that would be just an excellent and appropriate review, well within the ambit of the IC/IG's authorities and responsibilities pursuant to the statute. So I would certainly think that that would be something that we would strongly consider to add to our work plan very early. And, from my own experience, I've seen that even within the IC/IG community, we tend to criticize other government entities for being stovepipe, and we're fairly stovepiped ourselves. And so that's one thing I want to do with the IC/IG community also. I'm going to be dealing with that same issue in the IG community in terms of the integration of these various local IGs, the element IGs. Vice Chairman Chambliss. Is the PATRIOT Act working the way you intended for it to work? Mr. McCullough. Well, I think we have to look at that. Again, that would be a good topic, I think, for an audit or an inspection or review as to whether or not compliance with the PATRIOT Act, whether there were impediments to the PATRIOT Act and what those impediments were, and whether or not we can make recommendations to diminish them. Vice Chairman Chambliss. Okay. Unauthorized disclosures of classified information continue to be a big problem for the Intelligence Community, especially within Washington. While WikiLeaks garnered a lot of attention because of its scope, there continue to be other equally significant leaks of classified information, many of which go unpunished. Yet efforts by Congress to give the Intelligence Community more authority for addressing leaks of classified information have not been supported by the administration. Is there an appropriate role for inspectors general within the Intelligence Community in addressing the ongoing problem of leaks of classified information? And, based on your legal and law enforcement experience, what do you believe is the best way to deter leaks? Mr. McCullough. Well, the answer to the first question, Mr. Vice Chairman, is I do believe there's a very appropriate role for the IC/IG with respect to compromises or potential compromises and WikiLeaks-type situations. I think that there tends to be a thinking that this is only a security, a counterintelligence, or a law enforcement issue, but clearly this is something which the fundamental tenets of IG work are fraud, waste, and abuse, and this would be an abuse issue. And so I think from an IG perspective the greatest efficacy that we could offer would be focusing on access controls, focusing on what controls are in place to allow people to get to information, and again doing that on an IC-wide basis to determine whether or not there were systemic vulnerabilities and risks out there that we could devise recommendations to apply across the IC. And I would want to work very closely with you and with this Committee in pursuing that. Vice Chairman Chambliss. As you look at that--and I would hope that maybe that would be one of your first priorities-- this Committee has had dialogue with the DNI, with Director Mueller, with the various Directors of the CIA about this issue, and trying to find the one case that we can use as an example from a prosecutorial standpoint has been very difficult. We've talked with the Attorney General about it at length also. So I would urge you, coming in as somewhat of an independent voice to take a look at this. If you have some recommendations, I assure you again this Committee will be very receptive to hearing that because we're very cognizant of the fact that there is too much information getting out that shouldn't be getting out. And again, we appreciate your experience, your willingness to serve in public enterprises, and we look forward to getting you confirmed. Thank you very much. Mr. McCullough. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chairman. Chairman Feinstein. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chairman. The list is Wyden, Snowe, Udall, Blunt, and Rubio. Senator Wyden. Senator Wyden. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. McCullough, earlier this year, Senator Udall and I proposed directing an Inspector General to review the implementation of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to examine what kind of impact the law has had on the privacy of law- abiding Americans. Now, it seems to me that, if confirmed as the Inspector General, you could use an array of analytical techniques to provide a realistic assessment, a defensible assessment on the impact the law had on the privacy of law-abiding Americans. What's your reaction to that? Mr. McCullough. Well, if I am confirmed, I envision the IC/ IG as having a very strong intelligence oversight function-- intelligence oversight in the sense that we're looking at potential 12333 issues, FISA issues, regulatory issues from the elements, the implementing directives in the elements. And so I think that's a very proper role for the IC/IG and I would anticipate that we would have the expertise, and I anticipate obtaining the expertise to fulfill that function. Senator Wyden. So you would say--and of course, these are always resource issues and you have to consider those kinds of factors--this is an area where you believe you could add some real value and some substantive analysis. Would that be fair to say? Mr. McCullough. Yes, it would, Senator. Senator Wyden. Okay. One other question, if I might, on the declassification issue, another area where Senator Udall and I have spent a lot of time. One of my concerns here is that it often seems that just plain old bureaucratic inertia gets in the way of declassifying documents that the public really has a right to know. In other words, it is information that's relevant to public debate in this country that doesn't compromise our national security. And the Public Interest Declassification Board pretty much agrees with that take. They issued a report several years ago, and I'll just quote from the report. They said, ``The latitude given departments and agencies to declassify information when the public interest in disclosure outweighs the risk of damage is not being seriously exercised.'' They basically said, you know, here's an opportunity to basically cut through the bureaucratic inertia, ensure that the public right to know is being satisfied without compromising national security. I'd like to hear your thoughts about what you think could be done to make the classification system work better. Mr. McCullough. Well, I think, if I'm confirmed and we stand up the IC/IG office, again, this is another topic, classification and the application of the classification guidelines IC-wide, that would be ripe for review. I think this is something that would clearly fall under the purview of the IC/IG pursuant to the statute and would be in the IC/IG's bailiwick. And I think doing it IC-wide, we would have the resources and the wherewithal to do that. Senator Wyden. I'm encouraged you want to take it on because I think it really comes at us two ways. I mean, the point of classifying documents is to protect national security. And often it seems that documents are classified to protect somebody's political security. And, by the way, this has gone on on both sides of the aisle for a long time to come. But the point that the Public Interest Declassification Board made with respect to this particular report is sometimes just plain old bureaucratic inertia that keeps documents that the public has a right to know from getting out. And the fact that you're willing to dig into this and try to make the system work better, to try to strike the proper balance between matters that do have to be kept secret in order to protect the safety of our people, and at the same time getting everything out possible, that the public has a right to know about, that doesn't compromise national security, encourages me. I'm glad you're willing to take it on. We've heard good things about you and I'm looking forward to supporting you when Chair Feinstein moves ahead with the vote. Thank you very much. Chairman Feinstein. Thank you, Senator. Senator Snowe. Senator Snowe. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I welcome you, Mr. McCullough. It's been seven years, so thank you for being here. And I want to thank the Chair and the Vice Chair and the members of this Committee for creating the IC/IG, because it is so crucial when we started this process back in 2004 to insert it in the original legislation when we were overhauling the Intelligence Community and the significant reform. You come with a comprehensive, extensive background in the area of Inspector General. And I think that that's going to add, I think, tremendous confidence and credibility to the process as well, especially as you're paving the way as the first Inspector General across the Intelligence Community. And your primary mission, obviously, is going to affect across agency accountability and management cooperation and collaboration. That's going to be infinitely important, as the Vice Chair was referring to, in terms of breaking down those barriers and the parochialism, the stovepipe, the failure to inform, as we discovered in the aftermath of the Christmas Day bombing, and what needed to happen and didn't happen. So you can be more on the front lines of preventing and averting any future crisis. Secondly, it's a question as well in terms of The Washington Post series that was done last year concerning the fact that the Intelligence Community had become too unwieldy, too large, too costly, too many employees, many of which we couldn't even discern the numbers. So I mentioned this article to Director Clapper during the course of his nomination in 2010 in terms of this is precisely how I envisioned the role of IC/IG in terms of evaluating and being able to assess many of the issues across the agencies in terms of cost, size, and also the failure to share information. I know in your prehearing questions you were asked about how you conduct an investigation inspection audit. And you mentioned that there's no single modus operandi that would be employed across the board. How will you maintain the complementary relationship, ensure that an individual agency will not assert itself in such a way to deter your ability to investigate, inspect, or to review any aspects, because Director Clapper said at the time, in response to my question, there will be a complementary relationship because there won't be significant resources. In fact, it would be limited resources. So how would your approach work in this instance so that it doesn't conflict, but at the same time you have to override, perhaps, even the interest of other Inspectors General? Mr. McCullough. My reading of the statute is that the IC/IG will have authority to conduct audits, inspections, investigations for any matters IC-wide which are under the responsibility and control of the DNI. I believe that the plain meaning of that is a fairly broad meaning. So I would certainly, as the IC/IG, if I'm confirmed, I will also be the chair of the IC forum, which includes all of the element IGs. And I'm going to work with those IGs. And we've had these issues pop up in the past. There has been some effort to integrate this group in the past. I would work with those IGs in the forum to try to resolve that at that level so that if there were any issues about us coming in to do a review, we could iron those out at the forum, and actually the statute requires that. It requires some coordination level, as an advisory body at the forum. But there will really not be a--I don't think that I see this as a one-size-fits-all situation. So there may be investigations where we have to go in as a singular entity into an agency and conduct an investigation because of the circumstances of it. There may be other situations where we would create sort of a task force type concept, where we'd be leading a review within the IC and we would have members from each of the component IGs on our task force for this particular topic. And I do believe that there's receptivity to that. I know and have worked with, for quite some time, the other IGs in the IC and I do believe there's receptivity to that kind of construct. Senator Snowe. Do you visualize the IC/IG forum to be the mechanism by which you resolve these disputes? Mr. McCullough. I would. I think that it would be the exception that we couldn't, frankly. This is a group of IGs from the Intelligence Community. And so my hope would be and my anticipation is that these types of disputes we'll be able to work out, or these types of negotiations we'll be able to work out within the forum. Senator Snowe. You have notification requirements in here, in the event that you do decide to override, if there's overlapping jurisdiction and you decide to do an investigation within a specific agency. So are those notifications sufficient? Are there limitations to that as far as it is laid out in the statute? Mr. McCullough. Senator, from my read of them, they appear to be sufficient now. It may be that when we stand the office up and start operating that there may be something else we need legislatively. And I certainly wouldn't hesitate to keep a close dialogue with you and with the Committee and approach you if that was the case. Senator Snowe. All right. I thank you. Thank you, Mr. McCullough. I look forward to working with you. Chairman Feinstein. Thank you very much, Senator Snowe. Senator Udall. Senator Udall. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon. It's a treat to see your family here. Thank you, Mr. McCullough, for your service to the country in so many different capacities and agencies over the years. You clearly have been able to operate in both the civilian and the military sectors which will, I think, prove to be a very valuable set of experiences, if you're confirmed. I want to just follow up with Senator Wyden's questions related to the FISA Amendments Act and our interest in learning as to its effects on Americans' privacy. As Senator Wyden explained, we've been told that it isn't ``reasonably possible'' to count the number of Americans whose communications have been reviewed under this law. So he and I propose that the Inspector General review the FISA Amendments Act to examine its impact on Americans' privacy. Senator Wyden asked you earlier whether a review of this kind is something you would be able to do in your role. I want to thank you for your positive response and I look forward to working with Senator Wyden and you on this issue. So I did want to have a follow-up conversation with you on this matter. Which IG do you think would be best positioned to conduct such an audit? Would it be you or the DOJ IG, the NSA IG, another IG, or perhaps a combination of IGs? Mr. McCullough. It would depend. It would depend upon how we decide to scope the review, whether it was an audit, whether it was an inspection, whether there were reasons to actually conduct an investigation, perhaps, and would depend upon how broad the review was going to be. So it may be something, again, that the IC/IG, if I was confirmed as the IC/IG, that I would need to send a team in there as the objective outside force coming in to take a look at this. Or it may be, if we scoped it in such a way that it's going to be a very narrow set of objectives that we're seeking in the review, that we wouldn't need to do it ourselves, but that we would actually marshal forces within the IC and appoint, again, a sort of a task force team to look at this. But the topic is something that I think is very appropriate for the IC/IG to look at and I really believe it falls within the ambit of the statute. Senator Udall. I appreciate hearing that, and the distinction between an audit and inspection investigation, the scoping process, very legitimate. I know Senator Wyden and I look forward to working with you as that proceeds. Let me go back to FISA. As you know, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 required the inspectors general of elements of the IC that participated in the President's surveillance program to conduct a review of that program, tracing its origins and implementation, analyzing legal questions about its development. This is an example of the IC/IGs working together on a crosscutting issue, but doing so at the behest of Congress. I think Senator Chambliss asked about the PATRIOT Act. But with regard to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, especially because of the crosscutting nature of the issues, I assume that you intend to review these issues carefully in your new role. Is that a fair assumption? Mr. McCullough. Certainly we're going to go through, as we stand up the new office, a very robust work planning process. And my intention for that work plan process is to coordinate closely with you and with this Committee. And so those are the types of issues, IC-wide reviews, that we're going to be looking for, IC-wide deficiencies, if there are things like that, misapplications going on. That is something that we're going to want to take a very strong look at. Senator Udall. The joint IG review that I referenced, that review was driven by statute. To what degree do you intend to be forward-leaning in terms of taking on such reviews under your own initiative as opposed to being prompted by Congress to do so? Mr. McCullough. Well, certainly we would ask for congressional input, but I would go through the IG forum-- again, this is a dual hat; as the IC/IG you're also the chair of the IC forum--and I would liase with my counterparts and my colleagues at the IC/IG forum. There's value in obtaining their input on this. And they all have their own individual work plans also. So it's a matter of coordinating resources. And, again, this would be a risk-based type of analysis that we would go through, looking for areas of greatest risk, looking for areas of greatest vulnerability, looking for areas of greatest potential economic savings and returns, redundancies, and things like that. So that's the type of analysis we would do, and this would be something that would certainly be considered in that analysis. Senator Udall. Thank you for that answer. I'd like, Madam Chair, to submit a further question for the record on the independence of the IG, but I would add one final comment. I think Senator Chambliss talked about stovepiping, and I think he was implying, if not directly suggesting, that when you do your job and do it as effectively as I think we all believe you will do it, that stovepiping can be broken down in the process of what you do, as well as what the heads of the various Intelligence Community agencies do. So I think you could play a key role in that regard as well. And in fact, function can follow form. Sometimes we've got to come after the form to make sure that it fits what we need to do to gather this intelligence and then disseminate it. Mr. McCullough. Yes, Senator. Senator Udall. But thanks again for your commitment to serve. And it's great to see your wonderful family here. Mr. McCullough. Thank you. Senator Udall. Thank you, Madam Chair. Chairman Feinstein. Thank you. Senator Blunt. Senator Blunt. Thank you, Chairman. Just a couple of questions, Mr. McCullough. On the IC Inspector Generals forum, you'll chair that? Is that how that will work? Mr. McCullough. Yes, sir. Senator Blunt. Will you vote on that as well? Mr. McCullough. Yes. Yes. Senator Blunt. And what happens to the current group you're working with, the ODNI IG? Does that continue also as a functioning group or does the new IC/IG supplant, replace that? Mr. McCullough. The amendment to Title 50, which created the IC/IG, contains a provision that the authority which is in Section 8(k), I believe, of the Inspector General Act, is repealed. And Section 8(k) is the authority which called for the existence and allowed the existence of the ODNI IG So when the IC/IG is confirmed, the law says that the ODNI IG is going to--the authority for that office will have been repealed. Senator Blunt. Right. Okay. And having worked in the ODNI IG for a while now, you mentioned redundancies among the agencies. Do you see some potential to eliminate redundancies among the IG community in the IC? Mr. McCullough. Yes, Senator, I absolutely do. And I've said to other people during this process that we are a group, the IC/IG forum, we are a group that many of our reports criticize others for being stovepipe and we're a fairly stovepiped group ourselves. So that's one of my primary goals, is to integrate this group and to do that by bringing--this group has working groups, sort of subcommittees--to bring those subcommittees together to do this risk-based analysis, but not just doing it agency by agency. We're looking at the forest, not just the trees. So to encourage all of these IGs' offices to look for IC- wide deficiencies, the systemic deficiencies that we can develop IC-wide recommendations to address. Senator Blunt. And waste, duplication, that sort of thing, would be one of your major targets in making the IG an IG for the IG community that you're dealing with as well. Mr. McCullough. Yes, Senator. Fraud, waste, and abuse are the fundamental tenets of the IG's office, and certainly that's where we would start. And just about everything we've talked about here today falls within one of those categories, whether it's fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement. Senator Blunt. Those are exactly the answers I hoped you had and the mission I hope you're on, and I wish you well with it. And thank you and your family for the commitment you've all made to public service for a long time now. Mr. McCullough. Thank you, Senator. Chairman Feinstein. Thank you very much, Mr. Blunt. It would be my intention, unless someone has additional questions, to end it with this round. We'll leave the record open for 48 hours. Hopefully, you'll respond to any questions very quickly. We will aim a markup for our first meeting, assuming we come back a week from Monday, and it's an assumption because we don't know if we're going to be out yet. But the Tuesday meeting, as a first order of business we will mark this up and get it out of our Committee. So I want to thank you, and I want to thank your family for being here. And I think he's a shoe-in. [Laughter.] In any event, thank you. And the hearing is adjourned. [Whereupon, at 3:19 p.m., the Committee adjourned.]

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