▶ 0:18:06>> this hearing will come to order. We are holding this hearing before president elect trump's direction -- inauguration. Procedurally the senate must receive a nomination before we can vote on will be reported out on the committee and therefore we are having this hearing an expectation that the nomination will follow on monday.
▶ 0:18:35When formally nominated by the president, the committee will vote on the nomination and report to the full senate. Committee rule 5.4 states that no confirmation hearing shall be held sooner than seven calendar days after receipt of the background questionnaire, financial disclosure statement and responses to additional questions unless the time limit is waived.
▶ 0:19:00While the committee received the background questionnaire and responses to additional questions more than seven days in advance, the committee received a financial disclosure statement on january 14. I ask for consent to proceed with the hearing. We have consent to proceed. I want to remind all those in attendance that while they are welcome to observe the hearing, I will not allow disruptions by the audience.
▶ 0:19:29Audience members may not distract from the hearing including by shouting, standing, raising signs or making gestures that blocks the view of other audience members. Those who do so will be removed. Our goal is to enable the committee to begin consideration of Mr. ratcliffe's qualifications and thoughtful deliberation. Mr. ratcliffe has provided written responses to more than 170 questions.
▶ 0:20:01Members will be able to ask additional questions and hear from Mr. ratcliffe in this session and closed sessions. I want to welcome everyone to this hearing on president trump's nomination of Mr. ratcliffe to be director of the central intelligence agency. Welcome back to the central intelligence committee. I want to welcome your wife and thank her and your daughters for the sacrifices they have made.
▶ 0:20:34The former attorney general is also back before the senate. I am sure being here makes you nostalgic for your own confirmation process. We look forward to your remarks. I want to acknowledge my predecessor vice chairman warner. We have worked together over the years even when we disagreed strongly. I expect this to continue not just between the vice chairman and me but across our committee.
▶ 0:21:05I want to thank senator rubio. He remains a member of the committee but he was detained at his own confirmation hearing. He is a trusted colleague and respected member for years. We will miss him and look forward to his distinguished service as the next secretary of state. I want to thank senior staff on both sides. They have put in yeoman's over the holidays to be sure we can move forward with the nomination.
▶ 0:21:36I want to begin with a few observations from my service on the intelligence committee. The men and women of the intelligence community performed work to protect our nation. They often served in squalid conditions. Their successes are seldom celebrated and even now. Unlike our troops, no one gets them beer in the airport. Sometimes their families do not even know what they do.
▶ 0:22:06Let me say on behalf of this committee and the nation, we respect you, appreciate you and thank you. We also need more from you. In these dangerous times are intelligence agencies have not anticipated major events were detected impending attacks.
▶ 0:22:27In the last few weeks the members of this committee and the president has no warning of the new orleans terrorist attack with the collapse of the tierney in syria. The same goes for the october 7 trustee against israel. I could give other examples. Too often we are in the dark.
▶ 0:22:55The problem is acute at the cia which remains the central intelligence angency. The cia needs to get back to its roots but must overcome several challenges to do so. The cia has neglected its mission, electing -- collecting intelligence, stealing secrets. It is the main effort.
▶ 0:23:25Every other job is a supporting effort. If you do not collect intelligence by handling spies or hacking computers, you should ask yourself how you support those who do or how you use what they produce. I have seen way too many reports over the years with phrases like reporting to, based on, judging by, followed only by diplomatic accounts and press reports. Not intelligence.
▶ 0:23:55It has gotten worse over the last four years. Those are not unimportant but without clandestine intelligence, we may as will be briefed by the state department, a think tank or read the newspaper. The cia has become too bureaucratic. I remember -- realize that dulles had the same complaint but this has also gotten worse in recent years in no small part thanks to the former directors so-called modern direction.
▶ 0:24:25Lines of authority are blurry peers talkers have replaced doers. Managers with no experience have taken over operational roles. Much like our military, the tooth to tail ratio is out of balance. The analysis and priorities have been politicized. Intelligence analysis all too often has aligned with the biden administration's policy preferences. The african army is strong and cohesive.
▶ 0:24:56Ukraine's army will collapse within days of russia's invasion. Israel cannot possibly destroy hamas or hezbollah. Iran's air defenses are mighty. Time and again the cia has produced an accurate analysis that conveniently justifies president biden's action or inaction. The cia misplaced priorities have yielded to committee reports on matters like the prospects for gay rights legislation in africa or climate change. These topics may have their place but not at the cia.
▶ 0:25:29I certainly hope to never again see another video statement or social media post from the cia about diversity or equity or inclusion. If you wonder why are intelligence agencies struggle to collect intelligence, consider this. The cia offered to pay diversity consultants three times as much.
▶ 0:25:53If you feel like you need a diversity consultant for an affinity group, maybe the cia is. Not for you this job is not about your identity or your feelings. It is about our nation's security. The cia dabbles too much in questions of political adjustment, even as it neglects the core mission of intelligence collection. Some of the blame lies with us.
▶ 0:26:19So hear questions about some nations about if these solidify, what will they do in response? These are matters of political judgment or prudence. The statement's supreme virtue. Lincoln and churchill did not have our vast moderate intelligence apparatus but they were pretty good wartime leaders because they were great statesmen.
▶ 0:26:49The cia has the responsibility to provide us with timely relevant secrets. For example, that russia has mobilized multiple divisions on ukraine's border at christmas time and sent perishable fresh blood supplies.
▶ 0:27:05It is our job is our job to use that information to discern the inherent logic of events, not to defer passively to the intelligence community's judgment that is a convenient conclusion that potent cash potent -- that putin had not decided to engage. The cia needs to become more innovative in covered action. I have seen successful programs. I have seen the bottles.
▶ 0:27:37The latter are usually ill advised constraints by political leaders or when a president uses covered action as a substitute for policy and not a supplement for policy. I will save more for the closed session. The committee incision that has characterized the biden administration's overt actions extends to its corporate actions. Mr. ratcliffe you have a big job ahead of you. The nation needs a capable and aggressive cia.
▶ 0:28:09The men and women you will lead want to serve in that kind of agency. The cia they joined -- they joined the cia. Not a church choir. They and the nation are counting on you to deliver reforms and on this committee to ensure that you do. I will recognize the vice chairman for opening remarks. >> first of all, congratulations on becoming chair of what I think is the most important committee in the senate.
▶ 0:28:40I look forward to working with you in the kind of traditions we have maintained for the close to 15 years I have been on this committee. Mr. ratcliffe, it is good to see you again. Congratulations on being named director of the cia. I think you brought a great introducer in the attorney general.
▶ 0:29:09I appreciated the opportunity to meet with you last month. You previously served on the house intel committee. You have an appreciation for the work done by the internal intelligence community and the cia.
▶ 0:29:29If confirmed, I believe you will be the first person to serve as both oni both ondni and at the ci. The agency is facing unprecedented challenges which require a great deal of leadership.
▶ 0:29:51Ranging from the conflicts of ukraine and gaza, competition with china especially with respect to ai and other advanced technologies. The persistent threat of international terrorist organizations and a constant theme on cyber threats from nationstates and their actors attacking our critical infrastructure. The run-of-the-mill criminal.
▶ 0:30:22Adding to all of this has been a focus of mine of the revolutions in technology from ai to advances in energy require fundamental changes in how we operate.
▶ 0:30:39Though it is in effect at the very fabric of warfare is changing, I believe strongly that national security is no longer determined by who has the most powerful ships and tanks but who also will lead in this technology competition from semiconductors to drones. I believe we have made progress but we have a long way to go that the I.c.
▶ 0:31:06Must continue to adapt and be better organized to collect on the development and use of advanced technology by our adversaries. That poses a dramatic threat to the united states leadership. The truth is if we are not staying ahead of that, the ability for these for nationstates to use technology to get us in a stranglehold could be a huge challenge.
▶ 0:31:37During such times it is vital that we recruit and retain the best possible talent for the I.c.. That starts with ensuring that the workforce feels respected and valued. I am very concerned that the president-elect has continued to engage in undeserved attacks on the professional men and women of our intelligence agencies.
▶ 0:32:07These affect the morale men and women of these -- of these men and women. They did not get the recognition. They have to toil on in anonymity. They are willing to defend our nation. Unsurprisingly, particularly public comments from our leaders have a negative effect on the recruitment and retention of the talent of these critical men and women of the I.c.
▶ 0:32:38Today is your opportunity to reassure the men and women of the cia that they not fear reprisal for being willing to speak truth to power. The most critical rule at the I.c. His speaking truth to power. I need your commitment that you will not fire or force out cia employees because of political views and that you will not ask them to place loyalty to a political figure above loyalty to country.
▶ 0:33:06I need to hear your plan on how you will reassure the cia workforce on these issues. Also I am concerned that we continue to hear from cia officers who have been victims of sexual assault at work as well as those suffering from the lasting effects of ahi.
▶ 0:33:29I want to hear your plan for ensuring that those who come forward about being hurt in the line of duty are taken seriously and provided the care and attention they deserve. Mr. ratcliffe if confirmed, you will be sitting at a critical intersection between intelligence and policymaking. Your job will be to give the president the best professional judgment of america's intelligence experts at the cia.
▶ 0:33:58Even when that judgment might be inconvenient or uncomfortable. I will need your public assurance that you will always seek to provide unbiased, unvarnished and timely intelligence assessments to the president, to the cabinet, his advisors and those of us in congress. I need your assurance that this intelligence will represent the best judgments of the cia regardless of political implications.
▶ 0:34:30Although we should not need to say it out loud, I will need your assurance that you will work to protect our intelligence community's sources and methods. Thank you for your service so far. Thank you for what will be a good testimony. I look forward to working with you. >> thank you Mr. vice chairman. The former attorney general kindly offered to introduce his former colleague.
▶ 0:35:00When he was nominated to be the director of national intelligence in 2020. Fortunately we will hear from him today. I am pleased to welcome attorney general ashcroft for his introduction. >> good morning chairman cotton and vice chairman warner. Thank you. Members of the committee, thank you for your consideration and attention to the responsibility of confirming high-ranking executive branch officials.
▶ 0:35:29It is an honor for me to participate with you by my appearance here today. Testifying and sharing my support for the nomination of the honorable john ratcliffe as a director of the central intelligence agency is something for which I am deeply grateful. Good national security decisions rosita from the combination of valid intelligence information will be considered judgment.
▶ 0:35:58Integrity is an indispensable imperative for intelligence, the best trend of national security. National security is the singular portfolio most allergic to the infection and devaluation that results from inaccuracy and distortion. For high quality sit -- decision-making, intelligence must never be contaminated by personal bias or political predisposition.
▶ 0:36:28John ratcliffe's record including his work in the intelligence field recommends him to serve america as the director of the central intelligence agency. I have known and worked with john for almost decades. I know of no person of a higher commitment to integrity. I have seen him speak the truth to those he works with and those he works for, whether senior government officials or corporate ceos.
▶ 0:36:58As a member of congress his career is an outstanding record of public service. He was consistently well prepared, tough and fair interrogator, focused on the constitution, never involving himself in personal attacks.
▶ 0:37:19He has served on the house intelligence judiciary ethics, homeland security committee and as chairman of the homeland security committee cyber security and infrastructure protection committee. He served as a federal prosecutor first as an assistant U.S. attorney and chief of antiterrorism for the eastern district of texas. Then as U.S. attorney for the eastern district of texas where he pursued more than 30 national security and terrorism related matters.
▶ 0:37:51After his service as U.S. attorney I had the privilege of working with john in the law firm where he focused on government and internal investigations, homeland security on foreign corrupt practices law. In professional moments public and private I have seen john's thoughtful, decisive and humble leadership.
▶ 0:38:15He is a careful listener, skilled at processing with different voices in complex situations. He is comfortable in being held to account and he will require those in the agency to be similarly accountable. Over the past 15 years he served in roles as both a developer and consumer of intelligence.
▶ 0:38:41John therefore brings to the office of the director of the central intelligence agency a relevant reservoir of experience as well as sound judgment on an array of issues national security related to -- related to national security. He understands that the agency exists to secure the liberties and freedoms of america that he holds in high regard.
▶ 0:39:04John has dealt with national security and terrorism related matters ranging from domestic international terrorism to drug trafficking, human trafficking and the transnational criminal organizations that threaten us in ways that we have previously not been accustomed to. During recent decades of our nation's most elevated concern regarding terrorism, he developed excellent relationships with the international intelligence sources to help america.
▶ 0:39:35The experience will serve him well in fostering cooperation with the intelligence agencies of o allies. Under john's leadership, he forged policies and statutes which will strengthen and to strengthen our nation's intelligence gathering capacity.
▶ 0:39:59He is conversant with a wide variety of topics with a focus on emerging and extending cybersecurity threats including investigating foreign cybersecurity interference, reviewing the department of homeland security's efforts to secure government networks, evaluating the cyber threat intelligence integration center, and the continuous diagnostic litigation and program together
▶ 0:40:29With the interagency coordination on cybersecurity. John enlisted bipartisan support to build a national cyber intelligence infrastructure to protect our country. President obama signed the significant cybersecurity bill that john co-authored the national cyber security protection advancement act, which passed the house of representatives with an overwhelming bipartisan vote.
▶ 0:40:53His record reflects a commitment to continue building a forward-looking intelligence community that is integrated and coordinated. His experience signals his possession of the skills necessary to lead the intelligence community and effectively addressing national security threats. John ratcliffe is capable of and committed to delivering the most insightful accurate intelligence and counter intelligence possible.
▶ 0:41:26She will supply decision-makers with excellent information upon which they can base sound judgments, safeguarding our national security. Mr. chairman and committee members, thank you for the privilege of communicating to you my endorsement of john l. Ratcliffe for director of the central intelligence agency. Thank you. >> thank you Mr. attorney general. I understand that Mr.
▶ 0:41:55Ashcroft will now step away. >> I will join the citizens and observe from the high perch of citizenship for the rest of the proceedings.
▶ 0:42:14I pray god's blessing on this committee and I am very pleased that the committee is seriously considering the statement of the vice chairman. We used to call that person the ranking member but I think is vice chairman now. Thank you for allowing me to be here. >> thank you, Mr. attorney general. Mr.
▶ 0:42:39Ratcliffe, before we move to your opening statement it is the custom of the committee to ask questions of all nominees. Nothing personal about you. Do you solemnly swear that you will give this committee your full and truthful testimony today and in? The future?
▶ 0:42:59Mr. Ratcliffe: I do. >> again, we have five questions. First, do you agree to appear before the committee here and in other venues when invited? >> yes. >> do you agree to send officials from your agency to appear before the committee when invited? >> yes.
▶ 0:43:21Mr. Ratcliffe: >> do you agree to provide documents and any other materials requested by the committee in order for it to carry out its oversight and legislative responsibilities? >> yes. >> fourth, will you ensure that your office provide such material to the committee when requested? >> yes.
▶ 0:43:44Mr. Ratcliffe: >> do you agree to fully brief all members of this committee of intelligence activities and overreactions rather than only the chairman and vice chairman? >> yes. >> thank you, Mr. ratcliffe. The floor is yours.
▶ 0:44:01Mr. Ratcliffe: Thank you very much chairman cotton, vice chairman warner and members of the committee for the opportunity to appear before you ask the president's nominee for the director of the central intelligence agency. I have enjoyed meeting with each of you individually and I look forward to answering your questions today. Thank you to my friend and mentor, former attorney general john ashcroft, for being here today and for his humbling remarks. I am grateful for your faith in me.
▶ 0:44:32Mr. Ratcliffe: Thank you to director burns and your team at the cia for your commitment to a smooth and professional transition. I would like to recognize my family, wife michelle, my two daughters, my five brothers and sisters and watching from above, my parents. I have no words to adequately express my gratitude to all.
▶ 0:44:56Mr. Ratcliffe: Of you thank you president trump for the honor of nominating me to lead the world's premier intelligence agency. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve under you once again. If confirmed, I will work tirelessly to help you protect the american people and advance america's interests. Today we face the most challenging national security environment in our nation's history.
▶ 0:45:24Mr. Ratcliffe: The chinese communist party remains committed to dominating the world economically, militarily and technologically. Transnational criminal organizations are flooding american communities with violence and narcotics. The russia-ukraine war rages on spreading devastation and increases the risk of the U.S. been pulled into conflict with a nuclear power.
▶ 0:45:48Mr. Ratcliffe: The iranian regime continues to export mayhem across the middle east and iran is closer to nuclear breakout than ever before. North korea remains a destabilizing force. Increasing coordination among america's rivals and adversaries threatens to compound the threats that they each pose to us individually.
▶ 0:46:10Mr. Ratcliffe: Numerous terrorist groups and other nonstate actors, some of which have crossed our southern border, still pose a persistent threat to our people and our homeland. These threats converge at a time of rapid technological change, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing will define the future of national security, geopolitical power and human civilization.
▶ 0:46:39Mr. Ratcliffe: Ubiquitous technical surveillance is presenting unprecedented challenges to one of the cia's core missions, collecting human intelligence. In short, the challenges are great and increase the necessity of confirming a director who is prepared on day one to take that head on. For roughly more than a quarter of a century I have devoted my life to U.S. national security. I served as the chief of antiterrorism and U.S.
▶ 0:47:08Mr. Ratcliffe: Attorney for the eastern district of texas. I was a member of the house intelligence, homeland and judiciary committee's. As director of national intelligence I had the privilege of working closely with president trump and oversaw the 18 agencies of the U.S. intelligence community including the agency I now have the honor of being nominated to lead.
▶ 0:47:31Mr. Ratcliffe: In each of these roles I served with fidelity to the constitution and strict adherence to the rule of law and I have always prioritized america's civil liberties, something I will continue to do if confirmed to serve again. Each of these experiences has shaped me as a leader and national security professional.
▶ 0:47:52Mr. Ratcliffe: They have prepared me to steer the cia through a tumultuous time and toward a future in which the cia's mission will be both more difficult and more indispensable than ever before. If confirmed, my leadership will focus on setting and communicating priorities and demanding relentless execution. Above all will be a strict adherence to the cia's mission.
▶ 0:48:21Mr. Ratcliffe: We will collect intelligence, especially human intelligence, in every corner of the globe no matter how dark or difficult. We will produce insightful objective analysis, never allowing political or personal biases to cloud our judgment or infect our products. We will conduct corporate action at the direction of the president, going places no one else could go and doing things no one else could do.
▶ 0:48:49Mr. Ratcliffe: To the brave cia officers listening around the world, if all of this sounds like what you signed up for, then buckle up and get ready to make a difference. If it doesn't, then it is time to find a of work. We must be the ultimate meritocracy.
▶ 0:49:09Mr. Ratcliffe: I will empower the most talented , hardest working and most courageous risktakers and innovators to protect the american people and advance america's interests. I will not tolerate anything or anyone that distracts from our mission.
▶ 0:49:30Mr. Ratcliffe: It would be inappropriate for me to discuss my views on intelligence collecting priorities but I am happy to do so in the classified hearing following this one. If confirmed, there are several priorities I plan to focus on. The first is talent. The cia has remarkably low turnover rates among its workforce.
▶ 0:49:56Mr. Ratcliffe: This slows success in finding public servants who find value in the unique work they are privileged to do each day but also suggests that complacency is tolerated. High performers hate nothing more than mediocrity and nothing poisons a high-performance workplace culture more than leaders who do not hold team members accountable when they do not meet expectations.
▶ 0:50:19Mr. Ratcliffe: The cia must be a place that incentivizes and rewards meaningful contributions to our nation's security and hold accountable bad actors who are not focused on our mission.
▶ 0:50:33Mr. Ratcliffe: It has been said that the cia's world war ii predecessor the oss described its ideal recruit as "a phd who could win a bar fight." this sentiment is the essence of what today's cia must recapture but we must find that talent and those background's are more varied than ever.
▶ 0:51:03Mr. Ratcliffe: I am working to create pathways for those who fill gaps in the agency's workforce and for cia officers to do rotations in the private sector that broaden their perspectives. I am committed to protecting and supporting cia's workforce. We will fully investigate workforce health and workforce issues including anomalous health incidents.
▶ 0:51:30Mr. Ratcliffe: Our officers must embrace a culture of toughness and resilience but we must also be clear that when they put themselves in harms way, we will make sure they are taking care of. We owe that to america's men and women in uniform and those who risk their lives in the shadows as well. These will be borne in addressing another priority I will focus on, technology.
▶ 0:52:01Mr. Ratcliffe: Technology is both a tool and a target at the cia. Technology is baked into every facet of the agency from the spy gadgets imagined to be created by the director of science and technology and used by the director of operations and the cyber capabilities deployed by the director of digital innovation of the director of support using new technology tools to support our workforce and the ai-powered large language models used by the director of analysis.
▶ 0:52:33Mr. Ratcliffe: Over the decades as technological innovation has shifted more and more from the public sector to the private sector, the cia has struggled to keep pace. Technology is more important than ever, whether it is understanding our adversaries capability in quantum computing or the developments in emerging space technologies or innovations in counterintelligence and surveillance.
▶ 0:53:00Mr. Ratcliffe: The recent creation of the agency's transnational and technology mission center was an acknowledgment of that fact but much more has to be done. Because our adversaries and one in particular that I will discuss, understand that the nation who wins the race of emerging technologies today will dominate the world of tomorrow.
▶ 0:53:20Mr. Ratcliffe: Which brings me to the need for the cia to continue and increase in intensity the focus on the threats posed by china and the chinese communist party. As dni I increase the resources devoted to china. I openly warn the american people that from my unique perspective, I suggest that china is far and away our top national security threat.
▶ 0:53:52Mr. Ratcliffe: President trump has been a leader on this issue and it is encouraging that a bipartisan has emerged. The recent creation of the china mission center is an example of the good work that must continue . In closing, the agency must provide the president and policymakers with the best intelligence to inform their decision making in hopes of preserving peace and spreading prosperity.
▶ 0:54:22Mr. Ratcliffe: This is our once in a generation challenge. The intelligence is clear. Our response must be clear as well. I am honored for the opportunity and I thank you for my consideration to be the director of the cia. I look forward to answering your questions. >> thank you. We will move on to questions for five minutes each in order of seniority.
▶ 0:54:49Mr. Ratcliffe: When we conclude, we will have a 30 minute break and move into closed session. The director of the cia has four responsibilities. One, collecting foreign intelligence and counterintelligence. Two, disseminating the intelligence. Three, directing and correlating all human intelligence collection outside the U.S.. And four, performing other intelligence functions as director.
▶ 0:55:19Mr. Ratcliffe: The way I count those responsibilities, at least three of them, are about collecting foreign intelligence. I said in my opening statement that collecting foreign intelligence is the core mission of the cia. Do you believe it is the core mission of the cia to aggressively and unapologetically collect foreign intelligence which is duke say, steel the secrets of our adversaries?
▶ 0:55:45Mr. Ratcliffe: I do. That is why I said we will go to every dark corner of the globe no matter how difficult to do that. I know that, knows that on this issue with regard to the collection of human intelligence, we are not where we are supposed to be. Other agencies collect human but cia is the world's premier and must be the world's premier clandestine collector of human intelligence. There are challenges. We talked about some of those.
▶ 0:56:18Mr. Ratcliffe: Ubiquitous technical surveillance. Some of it is an issue of making it a priority and focus in execution. You mentioned in your opening, a former director once recently said that the cia does not steal secrets. I think that was demoralizing to the director of operations. If confirmed,, that is exactly what the cia is going to do. Good decisions are hostage to good information and good intelligence.
▶ 0:56:51Mr. Ratcliffe: The better we do at collecting human intelligence, the better decisions you all can make. The better analytic judgments analysts can make. The fewer lapses or failures that you highlighted will occur if we embrace that as a priority. >> thank you.
▶ 0:57:14Mr. Ratcliffe: With intelligence collection as the core mission of the cia, I presume you agree that the people who collect the intelligence are the main effort in the agency. Everyone else is a supporting effort. Important jobs, but a supporting effort, is that right? >> yes. >> is the ratio -- do we need to increase that ratio?
▶ 0:57:39Mr. Ratcliffe: To the point of what the core mission is, I have had the opportunity to go out to the agency a few times as a nominee but if confirmed, I want to spend time looking at that in terms of the ratios and how resources are being deployed, the structure in which those resources exist and whether or not that needs to change to improve our performance. >> thank you.
▶ 0:58:13Mr. Ratcliffe: Let's talk about analytic objectivity at the cia. That starts with you. You have a partisan background. We all have partisan backgrounds. We have thrown partisan punches as much as the next guy. It is also not without precedent, republican politicians have taken over this job before. George h w bush, mike pompeo, democratic politicians have taken it over. All three of them were good at the job.
▶ 0:58:44Mr. Ratcliffe: Can you assure your workforce and the american people that despite your partisan background in politics, you will set aside those partisan views and that you will be someone who can effectively leave the agency in delivering the intelligence and analysis that we depend on? >> I can.
▶ 0:59:13Mr. Ratcliffe: While I enjoyed my time in congress, I enjoyed more my time as dni and I look forward to continuing to do that. It is essential that the cia's leader be apolitical.
▶ 0:59:33Mr. Ratcliffe: When you walk in the building at the cia, on the wall is a quote, "ye shall know the truth and the truth will make you free." that is what we want people to know about collecting the truth so that american people can be free, freedom and liberty are dependent on the cia doing that job and doing it in an
▶ 1:00:05Mr. Ratcliffe: Eggpolitical way. I look forward to doing that. >> congress look forward to mandating the creation of the office of objectivity. It requires to conduct analytic objectivity among officers. Have you had an opportunity to review the results of the most recent survey of that office?
▶ 1:00:30Mr. Ratcliffe: >> I have had a chance to see a summary. I have not seen in detail the results of the congressionally mandated survey. I know that looking at it, what I can tell you at the top lines, the participation in the survey was not what it should be and it reflects that a significant percentage of the current cia workforce has concerns about the
▶ 1:01:01Mr. Ratcliffe: Objectivity of the products they are producing and even cited that in specific instances to include the president's daily brief that included some of those products that the workforce felt were not being objectively reproduced.
▶ 1:01:22Chair Cotton: I am glad you reached those conclusions. The office is a good way to communicate to congress what is happening. I am hopeful that, if confirmed.
▶ 1:01:34Vice Chair Warner: I appreciate your comments about technology. I appreciate your comments about the workplace. I want to come back to a couple of these topics because there is concern in the community.
▶ 1:01:52Vice Chair Warner: When we hear statements by incoming administration officials and occasionally even from the president-elect himself attacking the intelligence community and threatening to replace long-term career civil servants if they are deemed as not sufficiently loyal. You have addressed this. I want you to address it now.
▶ 1:02:20Vice Chair Warner: What assurances can you provide that you will resist efforts to fire or force out career cia employees because of perceived political views or views of loyalty to the president?
▶ 1:02:34Mr. Ratcliffe: The best example of that is if you look at my record and my record as dni. That never took place. That is something I would never do. I would approach this position very much the same way and provides the same assurance.
▶ 1:03:01Vice Chair Warner: A lot has happened these past four years. If you are asked to remove personnel based upon this kind of political litmus test, I ask that you keep the committee informed of those requests.
▶ 1:03:18Mr. Ratcliffe: I certainly will.
▶ 1:03:22Vice Chair Warner: The most important job, for you, for the cia, speaking truth to power. I want to reiterate and the question that senator cotton raised, you want to make sure that your analysis is objective and not politically influenced.
▶ 1:03:50Vice Chair Warner: We have to have this willingness to speak truth to power, even if it is uncomfortable. I would like for you to speak to that again.
▶ 1:03:55Mr. Ratcliffe: Vice chairman warner, I appreciated the opportunity to visit and this issue came up. I was grateful then and I will take this opportunity to talk about my record in terms of speaking truth to power.
▶ 1:04:12Mr. Ratcliffe: We talked about the fact that as a member of congress, I was the individual who was outside the judiciary committee in 2019 listening to the former fbi director jim comey say that my questioning was political, that the idea that the intelligence authorities being abused could not possibly happen.
▶ 1:04:40Mr. Ratcliffe: I have reviewed those applications will be I knew that I was speaking truth to power and the inspector general and subsequent fbi director later confirmed that under oath. To that point, director wray this weekend his exit interview said that china was the defining threat of our generation. I wrote that and said that four years ago and when I did I was accused of being political but I was not. I was speaking truth to power.
▶ 1:05:12Mr. Ratcliffe: I was not out sizing the threat to china. In 2020 one the chairman of an intelligence committee misrepresented that a laptop owned by then candidate biden's son was a operation. They used the premature of I.c. Authority to go along with that.
▶ 1:05:44Mr. Ratcliffe: I told the american people the truth about that. I think my record in terms of speaking truth to power and defending the intelligence community and its good work, is very clear. I can assure you that those types of instances if I am in that position as director and have to do that again, as uncomfortable as that can be, the truth will ultimately defend itself. I think that intelligence will as well.
▶ 1:06:14Vice Chair Warner: The truth will defend itself even if the truth is counter to the views of the current administration. At the end of the day, it has to be backed with the truth. One last question. As you know, our intelligence community is the best in the world but we receive benefit from our partners around the world. We have to make sure and the president has the right to declassify information.
▶ 1:06:42Vice Chair Warner: We have seen the willingness to declassify an advance of spoons attack on ukraine used effectively -- in advance of putin's attack on ukraine used effectively. Making sure that it is an asset to our allies, if you could briefly speak to making sure that we maintain that trust relationships with the valuable information that we see from our allies around the world.
▶ 1:07:11Mr. Ratcliffe: I agree completely. As dni I was able to experience the best enterprise intelligence around the world. We have great partners around the world that we work with to do great things to improve not just our posture, but there is.
▶ 1:07:33Mr. Ratcliffe: That is reliant upon mutual trust and respect for intelligence sharing between intelligence sharing agencies. Improving our national security posture and protecting the american people will be absolutely dependent upon maintaining those relationships will maintaining that trust.
▶ 1:07:59Sen. Collins: Thank you, Mr. chairman. For the past five years at least anomalous health incidents have been a serious and persistent problem within the intelligence community.
▶ 1:08:20Sen. Collins: At first there was a robust effort to investigate the cause of these incidents and to support the possible victims. Along with other senators on this committee, I was one of the authors of the havana act to ensure that there was funding available for those who had been afflicted.
▶ 1:08:48Sen. Collins: However, more recently, support for investigative analysis and for victims within the cia, have decreased. Then we have had some interesting developments.
▶ 1:09:03Sen. Collins: On december 5 the house committee on intelligence released a nonclassified report finding that there was an increasing likelihood that a foreign adversary was responsible for at least some of the reported ahi cases.
▶ 1:09:26Sen. Collins: On the 10th of january the odni released an updated assessment of ahi's that revealed that two intelligence agencies reported that they believed a foreign actor may have used some sort of novel weapon or proto-top -- prototype device to inflict ahi's on our personnel.
▶ 1:10:02Sen. Collins: This is very disturbing. It raises questions of whether dissenting voices were suppressed in earlier analyses. My basic question is what actions will you take to ensure that the cia aggressively and objectively investigates the causes of the ahi's including examining whether or not a
▶ 1:10:35Sen. Collins: Foreign adversary is responsible for harming the men and women who are serving our country?
▶ 1:10:43Mr. Ratcliffe: Thank you for the question. I enjoyed the chance to visit with you and we talked about this issue from my perspective four years ago when I was the director of national intelligence and you were concerned then as you are now about this issue. I asked the then-cia director.
▶ 1:11:18Mr. Ratcliffe: Having stepped away, I share your frustration that we are very much in the same place in terms of trying to make an assessment on the cause of this. I share your frustration in not being able to understand why but if confirmed, and have the opportunity to be briefed on the assessments, my pledge to you is that I will drill down and look carefully at that issue and work with you to see -- I read the un-classified version of the
▶ 1:11:54Mr. Ratcliffe: Intelligence community assessment. I have not had access to the very lengthy classified report but I look forward to drilling down on that. As I talked about in my opening, the workforce has been affected by this and it has affected their morale because of this. It is why I highlighted that.
▶ 1:12:16Mr. Ratcliffe: The cause of it is one point but the care of the cia being affected is another. They are equally important to me. My pledge is to look into it but to work with you. We need to know if we have an adversary that is using a weapon against our people. I look forward to my ability to look at that intelligence for myself.
▶ 1:12:46Sen. Collins: I look forward to working with you. I have very little time left. The chairman mentioned that the intelligence community for which I have the greatest respect has said some significant misjudgments lately.
▶ 1:13:07Sen. Collins: For example, there was a misjudgment for how long the afghan government would stand after the united states's hasty and ill-advised withdrawal, the assessments on ukraine's willingness to fight, projecting incorrectly how quickly the russians would be able to take kyiv. They did not warn or protect of the hamas attack against israel.
▶ 1:13:42Sen. Collins: The I.c. Was surprised at the war declaration in south korea. I know the I.c. Is not going to get it right every time. When there is a pattern or a miss, what should the I.c.
▶ 1:14:02Sen. Collins: Due to review why these major intelligence changes were not identified or predicted?
▶ 1:14:18Mr. Ratcliffe: Thank you, senator. It is what I talked about in response to chairman cotton. The intelligence community is not always going to get it right. We have had too many instances policymakers are finding out by watching news reports about some of these things that I think in some cases at least can be fairly characterized as intelligence failures or lapses.
▶ 1:14:47Mr. Ratcliffe: We talk about what can we do, what do we need to do. Part of it is a technical thing in terms of addressing ubiquitous technical surveillance. I have not been fully briefed on this but I am impressed by some of the things that for instance the director of science and technology is doing to help us solve for x with regards to operating as human sources in an environment of uts, but I think
▶ 1:15:20Mr. Ratcliffe: A bigger part I'm going to focus on is to look at what is happening in terms of the focus and execution on core mission. As I said, good decisions are hostage to good information. We all know the human intelligence collection isn't where it needs to be. While we have lost our focus.
▶ 1:15:44Mr. Ratcliffe: Some of those things are, if you have a politically motivated bureaucratically imposed social justice agenda that takes a part of your attention, that can distract from the core mission of collecting human intelligence that matters and providing it to you in a timely way. I pledge I am as every bit as concerned and I don't want those intelligence failures or lapses to happen on my watch and will do everything I can to make sure it doesn't.
▶ 1:16:12Chair Cotton: Thank you for the thorough answer. I know you would be thrilled to stay all day long to answer our questions. Let's try to move it along. I know there are four or five other hearings so let's try to move quickly and stick to the five-minutes. Senator king?
▶ 1:16:34Sen. King: I'm hoping quantum computing can help solve the problem of having to be three places at once at these hearings. I first want to acknowledge a new senator at the end of the dais, senator young. I am pleased he is joining us and we'll make a great contribution. Mr. ratcliffe, congratulations.
▶ 1:16:57Sen. King: It seems to me you have an initial task that is a little unusual but also very important and that is to restore the confidence of the president-elect in the intelligence community. Before you can deliver the information he needs to know, you need to get him to a place where he does have confidence in the judgments that are coming to him. He is notoriously skeptical of the intelligence community.
▶ 1:17:24Sen. King: It is not necessarily a bad thing but I hope that is one of the first things you can work with him on is to make him receptive to the information and the truth you will be providing as a result of your position.
▶ 1:17:36Mr. Ratcliffe: Thank you. I think one of the reasons I have this opportunity for you all to consider me for confirmation is because president trump knows and wants me to lead with integrity. Wants me to carry out the duties of the cia as director to follow the law and authorities as far as it will go and no further to protect america's national --.
▶ 1:18:07Sen. King: His confidence is an asset. I just suggest rebuilding his confidence. Everybody has talked about telling the truth to power. One of your predecessors at dni put it most succinctly and persuasively, he said the mission of the intelligence community is to find the truth and tell the truth. I think that is a good way to look at it. We haven't talked much today about why that is so important.
▶ 1:18:37Sen. King: I recently reread "the best and the brightest" about vietnam and it is heartbreaking about the intelligence failures, frankly, intelligence manipulation that led to a great deal of that tragedy. That is why it is so important. Skewed intelligence can equal lives lost.
▶ 1:19:05Sen. King: You have already committed and I won't make you say so again, but I think you understand how important this is.
▶ 1:19:10Mr. Ratcliffe: I do.
▶ 1:19:12Sen. King: I asked you a series of questions four years ago and I would like to run through them briefly. Would you ever ask, encourage, support and intelligence professional adjusting his or her assessment to avoid criticism from the white house or political appointees?
▶ 1:19:28Mr. Ratcliffe: No.
▶ 1:19:31Sen. King: Would you change or remove content for political reasons or at the behest of political leadership?
▶ 1:19:36Mr. Ratcliffe: No.
▶ 1:19:39Sen. King: Would you consider a political preference to include loyalty to the president in making a decision to hire, fire, promote an individual?
▶ 1:19:47Mr. Ratcliffe: No.
▶ 1:19:50Sen. King: Do you commit to exclusively consider affectional qualifications in ic without consideration of partisan or political factors?
▶ 1:19:58Mr. Ratcliffe: Yes.
▶ 1:20:01Sen. King: If you were to receive credible evidence as director of the cia that an individual was undermining objectivity and furthering a political agenda in the intelligence community, would you remove or discipline that person?
▶ 1:20:15Mr. Ratcliffe: Yes.
▶ 1:20:18Sen. King: Will you or any of your staff impose political litmus test for cia employees?
▶ 1:20:22Mr. Ratcliffe: No.
▶ 1:20:24Sen. King: If confirmed, will you reassure your workforce that loyalty tests are not allowed and not encouraged in the cia?
▶ 1:20:33Mr. Ratcliffe: I will.
▶ 1:20:37Sen. King: Those were exactly the answers you gave. Thank you. One other brief question. I believe -- you are the author of an important statute on cybersecurity and I've had extensive work in that area myself.
▶ 1:20:55Sen. King: I believe one of the great failings of national policy is a lack of its cyber deterrence strategy that our adversaries, particularly china, feel they can attack our telecommunication systems, electrical system, whatever, with impunity. Do you believe it would serve the national interest to develop a declaratory cyber deterrence strategy similar to the strategy that underlies the rest of our national defense posture?
▶ 1:21:20Mr. Ratcliffe: I do, senator, and I know we share similar view on the threat from cyber. There so much focus on the integrity, sovereignty of our territorial borders. But as you well know, it's inpatient drug digital borders from half a world away in a few seconds and keystrokes --.
▶ 1:21:43Sen. King: Happening every day.
▶ 1:21:44Mr. Ratcliffe: Deterrent effect has to be there are consequences to our adversaries when they do that. One of the things that I hope to do if confirmed as cia director is to work on the development of the types of tools that will be effective in allowing us to do those things. The deployment of those capabilities would be a policy decision for others to make.
▶ 1:22:11Mr. Ratcliffe: But I would like to make sure we have all of the tools necessary to go on offense against our adversaries in cyber means.
▶ 1:22:20Sen. King: Thank you. I hope you will advocate that the councils of the national security apparatus of the administration. Thank you for your testimony.
▶ 1:22:27Chair Cotton: Senator lankford.
▶ 1:22:30Sen. Lankford: Thank you for your leadership, your sacrifice, and what you've already done to serve the nation. We appreciate that. That is a tremendous sacrifice or serve the intelligence community. As my wife has said to me a couple of times, we share everything about everything and talked about life together, but there is now a portion of my life I can't talk about with her serving in the intelligence community. You have had even more of that. Thank you for your sacrifice to be able to serve.
▶ 1:22:59Sen. Lankford: I have several questions I want to run through quickly on this. There are a group of folks in oklahoma city, I can't name them because they are alive, but their lives were threatened on election day by an isis terrace in no, city that was discovered initially by a 702. That 702 authority is important. There are people in my neighborhood that are alive today because of that 702 authority. You have been outspoken on this. It is been maligned in many ways.
▶ 1:23:27Sen. Lankford: It has been vital for intelligence collection around the world. What is your position on 702 authority?
▶ 1:23:33Mr. Ratcliffe: Thank you for the sentiment and for the question. Fisa, particularly section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act, is an indispensable national security tool. There is no other way to get around that.
▶ 1:23:53Mr. Ratcliffe: I say that not as a matter of opinion but as an informed judgment, in my role as the director of national intelligence being the president's principal intelligence advisor, advising the president and the oval office, and understanding a significant percentage of -- sometimes more than half of the actionable foreign intelligence that we provide to the president as a policymaker to act as commander-in-chief, comes from pfizer-derived or 702-derived
▶ 1:24:23Mr. Ratcliffe: Action. I will say I have supported it in that regard but I also as I outlined earlier understand it is important for independence -- indispensable tool but one that can be abused and we must do everything we can to make sure it has the appropriate safeguards because it can't come at the sacrifice of american civil liberty. I have called out those abuses when they have taken place.
▶ 1:24:50Sen. Lankford: I think the best way is enforcing those that have used it, that they are called out and accountability is held for those individuals so everyone knows this is an indispensable tool, don't abuse it. I think that becomes clear. You have mentioned in your testimony we cannot ignore cis critical to narcotics and counterterrorism missions in support of border security efforts. I think few americans understand it is one of the most violent areas of the world south of our border.
▶ 1:25:19Sen. Lankford: Today there are murders, beheadings, aerial bombardments with one cartel fighting within itself for leadership right now. It is an incredibly violent area just south of our border, not to mention the thousands of americans that die of the narcotics they pump into the united states and destabilize our economy and our families. That is a critical role for us international security -- in national security.
▶ 1:25:45Mr. Ratcliffe: It also ties into your question about the importance of fisa. So much of what the cia has done and can do to support the U.S. government efforts to interrupt the drug trafficking rings and the places from which the precursor chemicals for those drugs come from our disruptions
▶ 1:26:16Mr. Ratcliffe: Are often as a result of chair
▶ 1:26:17Cotton: -derived information -- fisa-derived information. We talk about the threats from china and russia another adversaries overseas. I think we all know and understand and acknowledge that the failures and not the integrity of our border has turned my home state of texas not only a border state but every state into a border state.
▶ 1:26:49Cotton: We have to make sure, and one of the things if confirmed I want to talk about and pledge, is the understanding that in addition to drug trafficking, I made a point about terrorists coming across our border. That we not lose sight of counterterrorism is something that the cia needs to be focused on as we talk so much about the threat from china and russia and the great power competition.
▶ 1:27:18Chair Cotton: Senator bennet.
▶ 1:27:21Sen. Bennet: I will take his 12 seconds. I'm just kidding. I want to congratulate you Mr. chairman on taking this role. And I want to think the vice chairman for your leadership of this committee. I hope it will continue with the standard that you set for all of us in terms of politics. Congressman radcliffe, thank you for your visit to the office.
▶ 1:27:46Sen. Bennet: I know you know you are a student of our history and a student of this committee, you know this committee came out of a series of reforms that congress put together because to deal with a really dark chapter in american history. Senator king from maine talked about that intelligence during vietnam.
▶ 1:28:13Sen. Bennet: There were instances of the cia engaging in assassination plots abroad. It is hard to imagine today that is even true. That provoked bipartisan outrage. The reason this committee exists in part is not just to make policy that you have been talking about and others this morning, but also to provide oversight on behalf of the american people and our colleagues who come senator lankford was just saying, don't
▶ 1:28:44Sen. Bennet: Have access to the intelligence people on this committee have. I would ask you to talk a little bit about your views on what the purpose of that congressional oversight is and what if you are confirmed for this position, what your responsibility to this committee will be?
▶ 1:29:01Mr. Ratcliffe: Thank you, senator bennet. I have enjoyed the chance to visit with you and talk about a number of issues. As you know from my background, I came from congress. I was on an oversight committee. The house permanent select committee on intelligence. So I think it gives me unique perspective.
▶ 1:29:26Mr. Ratcliffe: I brought that over as dni and if confirmed as cia director, I have the perspective of both the executive branch and the legislative branch. And I will confess that one of the things I was disappointed in was the fact despite being on a congressional oversight committee over the intelligence communities, there was so much intelligence that I learned for the first time as dni that I knew that no member of congress was aware of.
▶ 1:29:56Mr. Ratcliffe: And I think that sort of speaks to my approach and understanding that I take seriously the obligation that I will have come if confirmed as cia director, to keep this committee fully and currently informed on intelligence issues.
▶ 1:30:16Mr. Ratcliffe: It is not that this committee or any intelligence committee or any oversight committee congress needs to know everything, but you should at least of the topic exists.
▶ 1:30:27Sen. Bennet: Let's talk a little bit about that. The president gets his presidential daily brief every day. Very high standard for veracity for what is in that because he has to obviously make the most significant decisions that any human has to make about deploying our defense assets and the other things that a president does. We don't have anything like that.
▶ 1:30:55Sen. Bennet: A lot of times it seems like we are often come as you said, finding ourselves fishing around in headlines and sort of less well organized intelligence materials that we are provided with no assurance it is a complete picture of anything.
▶ 1:31:17Sen. Bennet: I wonder what your conclusion about that is and what the obligations of the cia or any intelligence agency is with your leadership to be able to provide a fuller picture, what you're talking about, that a member of congress who is on these committees should actually know rather than be guessing about?
▶ 1:31:34Mr. Ratcliffe: My perspective as you have highlighted all of the things that sort of reveal our national security posture is impacted in a negative way when we are not communicating well between the branches of government and particularly on sensitive national security matters. So I think I better informed congress will allow for better national security decisions and keep the american people safe.
▶ 1:32:07Mr. Ratcliffe: I am open to a continuing dialogue about how -- I won't stay in on traditions come this is traditionally what the cia does or shares. I am open to at the end of the day we talk about the core mission of the cia, it is to provide a decisive, strategic advantage to you and to the president as policymakers. I don't view it as just informing the president.
▶ 1:32:34Mr. Ratcliffe: I view it as interval iv informing you to provide the same strategic decisive --.
▶ 1:32:43Sen. Bennet: I am out of time. I want to state it is real easy for politicians to accuse the intelligence agencies of politicization. It is important we do that when it is an appropriate thing to do, but this is the place where that oversight is supposed to be provided. These are the people that are supposed to fix that problem.
▶ 1:33:07Sen. Bennet: And it can only be done if we have people with integrity that are working at the heads of these agencies that can help us fix the problems, not just complain about it. I hope we will be able to work together to do that. Thank you, Mr. ratcliffe.
▶ 1:33:21Chair Cotton: Senator rounds.
▶ 1:33:25Sen. Rounds: Thank you. Mr. radcliffe, thank you for your service to our country are ready enter michelle, thank you for the sacrifice which you also offer and allowing him to do this particular job in the future. I want to go back to the fisa section 702 a little bit. We are in an open session. One of the opportunities we have is to perhaps share with the american people with a little more clarity what 702 is all about. And what actually happens.
▶ 1:33:55Sen. Rounds: Could you describe in an approach -- it is coming up for renewal again in april next year . Between now and then, we are going to have to convince the american people and other members of congress that we have made significant improvements in the protections but also we have done our best to try to explain why this is such an important part of a tool in our collection .
▶ 1:34:22Sen. Rounds: Can you talk a little about the mechanics so as those who listen to you today, they understand what fisa 702 is and how it fits into the collection process?
▶ 1:34:33Mr. Ratcliffe: Sure. Senator, thank you. I enjoy the chance to visit with you. I know we are like minded in terms of the importance of 702. An indispensable tool. It is one I used as a prosecutor, general ashcroft talked about national security and terrorism related investigations.
▶ 1:34:59Mr. Ratcliffe: So I have it as a practical matter they are and you, like a legislator come have seen it. In the unique perspective as dni and if confirmed here, the importance of it in fulfilling the core mission --.
▶ 1:35:17Sen. Rounds: Let me --.
▶ 1:35:18Mr. Ratcliffe: Collecting foreign intelligence on foreign persons, not on U.S. persons. The controversy, why some people think fisa is a four-letter word come and open intended, doing collection on foreign persons in foreign intelligence to make good decisions to keep our country safe, that sometimes U.S. persons are incidentally collected. In other words, they're having a conversation with a foreign person.
▶ 1:35:48Sen. Rounds: Look, we eavesdrop, don't we? We are not eavesdropping on americans. We are eavesdropping on people that are not american citizens. And we are doing it outside of our country.
▶ 1:36:00Mr. Ratcliffe: That's right.
▶ 1:36:03Sen. Rounds: In the middle of it, we have americans that are caught up in it, be having a conversation with someone outside the country.
▶ 1:36:08Mr. Ratcliffe: That's right.
▶ 1:36:11Sen. Rounds: In that sense, there may have been something collected inadvertently. Can we use that?
▶ 1:36:16Mr. Ratcliffe: When for instance the cia collects intelligence, it is allowable to do a U.S. person query where you are looking for someone that might be communicating with some foreign person to do something bad to the united states. What you can't have is accessing that were making a query for political reasons or for some reason other than protecting our national security.
▶ 1:36:41Mr. Ratcliffe: So we have to have the safeguards to make sure those kinds of abuses can't take place and be misused. My pledge to you is, if confirmed as cia director, that won't happen. I will point out I haven't been briefed on everything but I am impressed with the cia's compliance rate with regard to U.S.
▶ 1:37:04Mr. Ratcliffe: Person queries is 99.6%, meaning doing a really good job of making sure the americans who are swept up incidentally are not having their civil liberties violated. Is it perfect? No.
▶ 1:37:18Sen. Rounds: But there were reforms made based on practices that were not appropriate several years ago? But they've already been addressed now.
▶ 1:37:26Mr. Ratcliffe: Correct.
▶ 1:37:32Sen. Rounds: Perhaps our additional considerations but at this point, it is critical we get it renewed.
▶ 1:37:36Mr. Ratcliffe: It is critical. It is indispensable. And for critics of it, no one has offered a replacement. If for instance half of the actionable foreign intelligence comes from fisa 702, what are we going to replace that with? The critics have not provided any alternative to that.
▶ 1:37:59Sen. Rounds: I agree. I just thought it was important in this open setting that there be a better understanding or at least a better clarification. How critical it is and what it really is. It is basically looking at things overseas, not in the united states.
▶ 1:38:12Mr. Ratcliffe: I think it will be an ongoing discussion that needs to be, as it comes up for reauthorization again, and it will be incumbent upon me if confirmed both within the administration and outside distress this things you and I are talking about and make sure people understand and to dispel false narratives about how fisa is being misused or can be misused.
▶ 1:38:37Sen. Rounds: Thank you.
▶ 1:38:38Chair Cotton: Senator gillibrand.
▶ 1:38:41Sen. Gillibrand: Thank you for your service. Thank you for meeting with me. We had an excellent conversation about a number of our priorities on the committee but mine specifically, pandemic preparedness was one issue, ahi that senator collins covered very effectively, and sexual assault and harassment in the military. I want to address though so you can talk about them publicly.
▶ 1:39:07Sen. Gillibrand: As we discussed, we need to do a better job in detecting and preventing and knowing the intelligence to prepare for the next pandemic. We did not have the type of collaboration we needed to prepare for covid. We had disagreements about how covid began. And we never really got resolution on that, which is a concern for me.
▶ 1:39:33Sen. Gillibrand: But this idea of a one health proposal is creating essentially a fusion center for the cia, nsa, dod, department of agriculture, and hhs. So that you are in real time working collaboratively to detect this information. Because agriculture and science, they often share data and information and we know with regard to the mulan lab, there were publishing information about the test they were doing.
▶ 1:40:04Sen. Gillibrand: The scientific community had access to that. The cia on the other hand was looking into other intelligence they might have been able to get the details about illnesses quicker than anyone else. But none of these groups were talking so the data was not shared in a timely basis. So we did not really have the information we could have had if the cia -- the cia was talking to the medical community, scientific community, and the agricultural community in terms of research.
▶ 1:40:31Sen. Gillibrand: I just want your commitment you will work with me on this very important issue because the cia can play such a meaningful role in protecting our nation from such other threats such as pandemic or any use of a biological weapon or any use of that kind of harm to the united states.
▶ 1:40:48Mr. Ratcliffe: I really did enjoy the chance to visit and talk about these issues. I agree completely. I do pledge to work with you on that. We go back to one of the worst incidents in our nations history 9/11. It was a failure of communication. We had the intelligence, we just weren't sharing it in a way that would prevent that.
▶ 1:41:13Mr. Ratcliffe: You brought up covid as a more recent example where maybe as many as 25 million people died worldwide, at least a million americans come as a result of that. One of the things when I came in as dni, to your point, was surprised at the lack of coordination between, for instance, the intelligence community and health agencies like the cdc and the nih and the ability -- the channels were not open to share information like you are talking about.
▶ 1:41:46Mr. Ratcliffe: So many of these things can be, if not prevented, mitigated quickly if we are communicating and sharing intelligence better. I completely agree with the sentiment you have expressed and look forward to working with you to make sure that we are doing those things if I'm confirmed as cia director.
▶ 1:42:05Sen. Gillibrand: I want to associate myself with the comments of senator collins's's in regard to ahi. It is essential you collaborate with the department of defense, with their intelligence agencies, to understand what the nature of these effects are, what causes them, and what type of adversaries could be using technology in a way to actually harm our service members.
▶ 1:42:35Sen. Gillibrand: I really appreciate that you will commit to delving deep into this issue and really trying to limit the siloing of information between cia and dod on this very topic.
▶ 1:42:46Mr. Ratcliffe: I will. I look forward to it. The cia is the premier intelligence agency in the world. I am not saying it should always be able to make an assessment about cause, but over time, that is typically something we should expect, in some cases demand for instance, covid. You brought up that. Ahi's another issue.
▶ 1:43:16Mr. Ratcliffe: I am curious and look forward to reading the classified version of ahi in terms of the assessments that were made or the inability to make an assessment on causation. And if I'm not satisfied, will continue to look at that.
▶ 1:43:31Sen. Gillibrand: My last question, the scourge of sexual assault is problematic in every area of society. We want to make sure the cia is a safe place to work and that people who are being harassed or assaulted can come forward and demand justice. I ask your commitment you will work with this community to make sure all of our members of this community can work in a safe environment.
▶ 1:43:57Mr. Ratcliffe: I will. I appreciate your leadership on this issue. I know it is something you have highlighted and we talked about in our meeting. Over the course of my career, I am grateful for what my record reflects in leadership positions I have had, organizations I have had in terms of not tolerating sexual assault and sexual abuse. When I was U.S. attorney, when I was dni, when I was in congress, all of those. I make that pledge to you.
▶ 1:44:26Chair Cotton: Senator young.
▶ 1:44:30Sen. Young: Thank you. It is great to serve with you and other members of this committee. Mr. radcliffe, had a nice visit with you in the office. He answered many of my questions . What I will ask you today will be familiar to you and will build on that meeting. Thank you for your willingness to serve your country. You are prepared I think for this step, this position. You are qualified. I anticipate supporting your nomination, so we will begin with that.
▶ 1:45:03Sen. Young: You spoke in your testimony to the growing role of emerging technology and to advances being made by our adversaries. If confirmed, how you direct the agency to analyze and respond to foreign threats that undermine, often overlooked but critical areas of our security and economic well-being such as the food and ag sectors? >> >Mr. ratcliffe: thank you for te question.
▶ 1:45:32Sen. Young: I did enjoy our visit and enjoyed serving with you and the house of representatives. If confirmed, look forward to working with you from this perspective. We were just talking with senator gillibrand about covid-19, the origins of that and the things the intelligence community needs to do to be better.
▶ 1:45:55Sen. Young: Part of that is, to your point, embracing emerging technologies and making sure that one of the things that the cia does is adapt to the technology curve. For instance, when we talk about utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning.
▶ 1:46:17Sen. Young: There is so much data out there in this great technological age that we live in that sometimes the intelligence community spends so much time sifting through the data that they can't find the signal through the noise. One of the things that technology allows us to do is to find the signal in all of that noise.
▶ 1:46:44Sen. Young: In other words, so we can find the intelligence, spend more time using the intelligence and less time looking for it. You brought up different issues where data can be valuable. Where that could be helpful. One of the things that I know you are interested in and we have talked about was the bio security and bio intelligence issues and how the cia needs to expand its authorities in that regard.
▶ 1:47:15Sen. Young: And its relationships with scientists and researchers to be on the leading edge of information as it is coming out. And develop early warnings to some of the problems we are talking about in that space.
▶ 1:47:30Sen. Young: I am encouraged you are thinking critically about this topic. It is clear to me you are. You should know as you are likely aware, but all others are watching this should know, there has been mentioned by congress a national security commission on emerging biotechnology.
▶ 1:47:52Sen. Young: And that commission is charged with looking at the national security implications of our current biotech leadership, but also making recommendations to make sure the united states can stay ahead of our adversaries, in particular, china. So we will produce those recommendations in the spring time frame. I am chairman of that commission currently.
▶ 1:48:20Sen. Young: Some of those will implicate very directly our intelligence community. So I would ask you and your staff review that report when it is published and work with this committee and others on some of its recommendations. Do you commit yourself without having seen the report but to be attentive to its recommendations and findings?
▶ 1:48:49Mr. Ratcliffe: I absolutely do. I appreciate your leadership on that issue. And as we talked about and we'll talk about more, I look forward to supporting and collaborating your efforts in that regard.
▶ 1:49:02Sen. Young: Thank you. Time is winding down. I am the new guy, but one other quick question here, would you like to volunteer any particular approaches that you might want to lead the agency into delay or degrade the threats posed by foreign nations using emerging technologies like ai or biotech?
▶ 1:49:25Mr. Ratcliffe: I think we can talk about some of those things in the classified session, senator. What I would say in this setting is that when it comes to technology, we have so much concern about china and russia in our adversaries and what they are doing and how we need to counter them, I have absolute confidence we can and will --
▶ 1:49:57Mr. Ratcliffe: You know, there's only one country in the world that can parallel park a 200 foot rocket booster. The chinese can't do it. The russians can't do it. We do it and we do it in part because of the great collaboration we have and can have a need to deepen between the private sector where there so much innovation and ingenuity in this space of emerging technologies.
▶ 1:50:25Mr. Ratcliffe: I am committed as cia director, if allowed to expanding upon that.
▶ 1:50:29Chair Cotton: Senator ossoff.
▶ 1:50:32Sen. Ossoff: Thank you. Congratulations on your nomination and congratulations to your family. I enjoyed our engagement a few weeks ago. Useful opportunity for me to learn more about your views and plans for cia. I want to begin with georgia.
▶ 1:50:53Sen. Ossoff: On election day 2024, there were a series of bomb threats issued against polling places indekalb county, georgia, predominately black, predominantly democratic-leaning. Disruption of folks to vote on election day.
▶ 1:51:18Sen. Ossoff: Our state election officials attributed those threats to russian actors most of what insurance can you give my constituents in georgia that cia will sustain collection identify threats to voting rights and election administration in the united states?
▶ 1:51:34Mr. Ratcliffe: Thank you for the question. I enjoyed our visit as well. I can give every insurance. As you know, the cia does not have domestic authorities when we talk about election security issues, the fbi and dhs are the agencies that provide that protection.
▶ 1:52:00Mr. Ratcliffe: Where the cia plays a role is if we have bad actors who want to influence or impact our elections, as you have related in this case -- I have not seen that specific intelligence, for instance russia, russian actors were behind those threats.
▶ 1:52:18Mr. Ratcliffe: Those are the kinds of things the cia not only should do but must do, frankly, do better in terms of collecting intelligence on how our adversaries intend whether it is through physical means or cyber means of disrupting or influencing elections. The cia's role should be to identify those threats over there before they come over here.
▶ 1:52:46Sen. Ossoff: I want to give you the opportunity to provide some clarifying information about events that have attracted some scrutiny in september 2020 when you sent a letter to the chairman of the senate judiciary committee which declassified certain intelligence about russian analytic products that have been collected by the intelligence community and which pertained to events four years past 2016 election and the controversy over legends between the trump campaign and the
▶ 1:53:18Sen. Ossoff: Russian government. My purpose is not to interrogate, relitigate that ancient history from 2016, but to understand why you chose to send that letter to the senate judiciary committee to classifying intelligence on that day september 29. You will no doubt recall that was the same day as the presidential debate. Yes?
▶ 1:53:40Mr. Ratcliffe: I don't recall it was that date but --.
▶ 1:53:45Sen. Ossoff: Your testimony is you are not aware that letter was sent to the judiciary committee on the same day as their presidential debate?
▶ 1:53:52Mr. Ratcliffe: I did not recall it was on that date. I will take you at your word most of the dates will reflect what they are. To your question --.
▶ 1:54:01Sen. Ossoff: I want to drill down on that. My purpose is not to suggest some kind of political intent but you have made it very clear that avoiding the politicization of the intelligence community's activities is a high priority for you. Correct?
▶ 1:54:16Mr. Ratcliffe: Correct.
▶ 1:54:18Sen. Ossoff: It strikes me releasing politically sensitive intelligence that you would think carefully about the timing of that, that you might consider doing so on the day of a presidential debate when this was intelligence collected four years in the past might reasonably draw the question of whether or not there were some political tests on politicization?
▶ 1:54:42Sen. Ossoff: It is reasonable for you --.
▶ 1:54:45Mr. Ratcliffe: It is reasonable free to ask that. If I can clarify, let me do that. You're correct, it was my decision but it was not my process. To your point, that effort was actually a request of this committee during my confirmation hearing as dni, was to go back and look at the intelligence from 2016 and 2017 intelligence community assessment.
▶ 1:55:17Mr. Ratcliffe: I also received separately a request from the attorney general and the special counsel to declassify certain intelligence relating to that in support of what would be a public report from the special counsel. In addition to that, I received what I would call requests or even demands from other senate committees include the judiciary committee and the house -- senate homeland security and government accountability -- whatever the title of that committee is, for information
▶ 1:55:49Mr. Ratcliffe: Related to that. That took place over the course of several months. In the process, just so you are clear, was in iterative, collaborative process that included the attorney general, the cia director, the director of the nsa commit myself as dni -- in iterative process that resulted in a highly redacted product to protect sources and methods but yet to respond to
▶ 1:56:21Mr. Ratcliffe: These requests or demands to put that information out.
▶ 1:56:28Sen. Ossoff: That is useful information in my time is running short. We can discuss further in a closed session if we need to. I appreciate.
▶ 1:56:38Chair Cotton: Senator cornyn.
▶ 1:56:41Sen. Cornyn: Mr. ratcliffe, I think I had the distinction of having no new longer than anybody else on this committee -- no new longer than anyone else on this committee.
▶ 1:56:51Mr. Ratcliffe: They call that misfortune.
▶ 1:56:55Sen. Cornyn: When you were in heath texas. How many people live there?
▶ 1:57:00Mr. Ratcliffe: Around 7000. I say hi to all the heathens out there.
▶ 1:57:12Sen. Cornyn: Absolutely. I have every confidence that you will do an outstanding job as the next director of the cia. I say that advisedly because as I said, I've known you for a long time and watched your career from the private sector to U.S. attorney -- acting U.S. attorney for a while to member of congress.
▶ 1:57:36Sen. Cornyn: And I had the privilege of introducing you to the committee at your previous confirmation hearing as director of national intelligence. So I don't really have any doubt about your qualifications. I do want to talk about a couple of subjects. One is I know people have heard the discussion of fisa in section 702 and I appreciate the clarity with which you have explained how essential this tool is.
▶ 1:58:06Sen. Cornyn: I think part of the problem we have had with reauthorization is people don't trust the people actually implementing that tool because they have seen the abuses ic by members of the, including the fbi to trump administration. They figure everybody must miss use these tools. I thought you had a great analogy when we discuss this on the phone. You said, probably have a bunch of steak knives in your kitchen.
▶ 1:58:38Sen. Cornyn: And they can be used for useful and beneficial purpose, but they can also be misused. And I think that was a pretty good analogy. I want to ask you about one of the "fixes" that some people have suggested to the current state of the law. And that is to require a warrant to query lawfully collected fisa information.
▶ 1:59:04Sen. Cornyn: You have identified the fact this is directed at people overseas, foreigners, overseas, not americans, but you are former U.S. attorney and a pretty good lawyer and you understand what probable cause requires to be able to establish probable cause in front of a judge, you need to have evidence.
▶ 1:59:29Sen. Cornyn: If all you have is a fisa query of a foreign target that happens to mention an american citizen or U.S. person, is there any way for you to go to court and establish the requirements of a warrant for probable cause in order to query that data?
▶ 1:59:51Mr. Ratcliffe: Senator, you know the answer to that better than I do because you are a better lawyer and were attorney general. But the answer is no because the danger there is you really don't have the information to obtain a warrant.
▶ 2:00:11Mr. Ratcliffe: And the process of obtaining the warrant, we are talking about national security issues where sometimes minutes matter in the ability to disrupt or interdict the bad actors or to act upon the intelligence that you can gain from that. So the process of even getting a warrant, the time it takes, much less the fact, as you say, you won't have a probable cause basis to get there, --.
▶ 2:00:41Sen. Cornyn: I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about how fisa works. Admittedly, I have to go back and refresh my own memory because it does get to be fairly convoluted sometimes. The fact of the matter is, it is illegal to use this tool to spy on american citizens. And there are protocols in place to lessen the likelihood that that could ever possibly occur.
▶ 2:01:06Sen. Cornyn: Again, I think what has happened is there has been a lack of trust in the people who had access to the tools in the recent past. And I hope you will help restore that trust. I also think you are going to need to share your experience and your wisdom with the nominees for fbi and director of national security because we have had these conversations as well.
▶ 2:01:34Sen. Cornyn: I think there is some confusion about whether a warrant should be required or not. I think you're absolutely right. That is, I think, -- is not the answer.
▶ 2:01:47Chair Cotton: Senator kelly.
▶ 2:01:51Sen. Kelly: Thank you. Congratulations on your new job. Look forward to working with you on this committee. Mr. ratcliffe, congratulations to your nomination for this position and congratulations to our family as well. I want to follow up on what senator ossoff was referring to, the intelligence that was released prior to the 2020 election.
▶ 2:02:19Sen. Kelly: That intelligence was rejected -- first of all, it was before I was on the committee but my understanding as it was rejected by democrats and republicans on this committee as having no factual basis. An input russian disinformation into the public sphere -- and it put russian disinformation into the public sphere.
▶ 2:02:43Sen. Kelly: I just want to understand, in hindsight, knowing what you know now, four years removed from that and we have had another election and obviously we have got challenges we face with russian and chinese, iranian disinformation in our politics. So in hindsight, are there any changes that you would make to the way you handled that information?
▶ 2:03:07Mr. Ratcliffe: Well, I appreciate the question. I certainly, looking back, having an opportunity to change certain things, might do that. I don't know in this case, for instance, senator ossoff raised the point the declassification occurred on the day of her presidential election. I don't recall that. Obviously, that is when it did.
▶ 2:03:39Sen. Collins: Really --
▶ 2:03:44Sen. Kelly: I think he said debate.
▶ 2:03:46Mr. Ratcliffe: I certainly did everything -- I don't think I did everything perfectly in terms of making decisions about every issue that relates -- I'm talking generally -- but I talked about my record in terms of how I approach these things and how in terms of speaking truth to power, which sometimes includes classifying information , most of the things I've done, senator, aged very well.
▶ 2:04:17Mr. Ratcliffe: And I think others will continue to. For instance come on covid origins, you know, I think ultimately I believe there will be an assessment that is consistent with the position that I have taken.
▶ 2:04:34Sen. Kelly: It is hard to get the stuff exactly right. I get that. It is complicated. In this case, it did become rather political and I appreciate your willingness to
▶ 2:04:45Look Mr. Ratcliffe: Back. The other thing I want to say, because part of my answer to your question is classified. I look forward in the classified session to talking about one of the things this committee asked me to do that did influence my decision was to look at the 2017 intelligence community assessment.
▶ 2:05:09Look Mr. Ratcliffe: Not only looking at that, what I did -- to be clear, I requested a briefing from the cia, from some members of the team that were involved in that. And I'm not sure that information or that intelligence has been shared with that committee.
▶ 2:05:25Sen. Kelly: Lets follow up on that. I have a few more things than I have about 90 seconds. In your written response to the committee, you indicated -- this is a different topic. You agreed with the trump administration's 2018 assessment that the al-assad regime used chemical weapons. Including in douma, killing hundreds, injuring hundreds more. The U.S. intelligence community had a similar assessment that these weapons were used.
▶ 2:05:56Sen. Kelly: If you are serving or when you are serving as the director and the dni asks you to explore evidence that the douma or other attacks were staged or that analysis indicating the use of chemical weapons is incorrect or there are some similar situation, what would you do?
▶ 2:06:16Mr. Ratcliffe: Look at the intelligence. You are right, I did include that. That was based upon the intelligence that I was able to review during my time as dni. And I think intelligence was clear. I think the assessments were -- I forget if they were with high confidence, but I believe they were. What I have not seen is any intelligence in the last four years that I would not have had access to. So I would look at that.
▶ 2:06:47Mr. Ratcliffe: But I would be surprised if there is intelligence that would change my initial assessment, but I would certainly go back and look at that.
▶ 2:06:56Sen. Kelly: Can I briefly have just a few more seconds? I want to get your commitment to work with me focusing on transnational criminal organizations on the other set of the border. It is a big problem. It affects my state in a big way.
▶ 2:07:10Mr. Ratcliffe: And my state. I absolutely make that pledge and look forward to working with you to discuss that threat.
▶ 2:07:17Chair Cotton: Senator moran.
▶ 2:07:20Sen. Moran: I appreciated our conversation in the office. I particularly appreciated the indication of your transparency with this committee, or forthrightness, telling us the truth. It is been difficult from time to time to know what the true story is and there certainly are opinions about truth but we ought to be trying to find the truth. I want to ask you about statements that you have made.
▶ 2:07:48Sen. Moran: I agree with you that china is the greatest threat facing our country. I rate russia as our second greatest threat and believe it is the most acute threat today. Would you describe the scope of the threat as you see it and the importance of countering the criminal?
▶ 2:08:06Mr. Ratcliffe: The question -- the threat from russia?
▶ 2:08:11Sen. Moran: The threat from russia.
▶ 2:08:14Mr. Ratcliffe: Russia is very clearly any adversary of united states. The threat of course is a country with a very large nuclear stockpile.
▶ 2:08:32Mr. Ratcliffe: The thing that separates the threat from russia from china, in my mind and why I put them, even though we include them in the great power competition, is that united states is the largest economy in the world. China is the second largest. Russia has an economy roughly the same size as my home state of texas.
▶ 2:08:53Mr. Ratcliffe: What that means is the russians have to decide where they're going to compete with the united states, and so they have chosen areas like hypersonics and other areas. At that comes at a cost. I think we saw some of the cost in terms of their troop readiness as they engaged in their aggression against ukraine.
▶ 2:09:18Mr. Ratcliffe: A dangerous, lethal adversary who in many respects is, because of the limitations I've talked about, is focused on areas where there are great equalizers. One of those is cybersecurity.
▶ 2:09:37Mr. Ratcliffe: Countries that can't compete with the united states in terms of kinetic firepower across the board, which can do so through cyber means -- in other words, we see that with iran and north korea and other countries that cannot compete with us kinetically focus on cyber means to cause us harm. Russia falls into that category as well in terms of where a lot of their focus is in my assessment of them in terms of the malign activities that they take across -- against the U.S..
▶ 2:10:12Sen. Moran: Certainly, an invasion of another country is significantly affected our allies. I point out you are the first texan I've ever met that belittled the state of texas.
▶ 2:10:27Sen. Moran: Used state regarding russia that you believe that we cannot let our adversarial relationship boil over into an unintended wars and going to say I advise the president when their opportunities to work toward mutually beneficial outcomes with russia, but did not make a similar commitment for china, iran, north korea. What is the difference?
▶ 2:10:51Mr. Ratcliffe: I don't recall the context of the question, why there would be a difference. For instance, I think what I was referring to there, senator, was for all of the things that I talked about in terms of russia as a threat and that things were they challenge us with malign activity, there are areas where we, for instance, countering terrorism -- some of the same threats we face from terrorist
▶ 2:11:22Mr. Ratcliffe: Groups are threats they face. And so there are occasions where information or intelligence can be shared or things can be done in our mutual -- to the mutual benefit of our countries in those types of things. That would be true with china as well.
▶ 2:11:42Mr. Ratcliffe: I think president trump's approach from a policy standpoint is to not look for conflict with anyone, including our adversaries, but to provide a strong deterrent effect to their malign activities through america's strength, peace and string. I think iran may be different in the sense it is a terrorist's date, terrorist regime -- terrorist state, terrorist regime as designated by the trumpet administration.
▶ 2:12:11Mr. Ratcliffe: I would put that in a different category.
▶ 2:12:15Sen. Moran: In addressing the importance of analytical objectivity and speaking truth to power, you state as the dni you represented the ic's analysis to policy makers faithfully including dissenting views, even when the few dishes full view was -- full he was unpopular. Can you give me an example?
▶ 2:12:35Mr. Ratcliffe: In connection to the 2020 presidential election, assessment was made as to whether china was trying to undermine president trump's reelection efforts. There was a split between the community -- a majority opinion was that china was not doing that, would not do that for a number of reasons. The minority opinion was they were.
▶ 2:13:03Mr. Ratcliffe: I agreed with the minority opinion. But what I did was not try to substitute my judgment for the community, I wrote a dissent that would be public and people could see the reasons for that. And in the process, supported a whistleblower, one of our leading cyber officers, in support of that position.
▶ 2:13:28Mr. Ratcliffe: I will say that 15 months later, the fbi director ray held a press conference talking about the exact things I was saying china had engaged in that they were doing. And so the opinion that china would never engage in those kinds of activities proved to be false. I think my dissent aged well.
▶ 2:13:51Sen. Moran: Not only did he speak out against majority, but you turned out to be right. Thank you.
▶ 2:13:56Chair Cotton: Senator heinrich.
▶ 2:14:01Sen. Heinrich: Thank you, chairman. On july 21, 2020, you sent a letter to this committee stating that while you agreed to appear at the committee's open hearing as dni, that you would not take any questions in open session. You wrote that letter despite committee twice in your confirmation hearing that you would appear and answer questions.
▶ 2:14:32Sen. Heinrich: Obviously, this position is one that requires congressional oversight. I don't think any of us would ask you to answer questions in a way that revealed anything that was classified or was more appropriate for closed sessions. I want to ask why he thought that was appropriate and today can you commit that if confirmed you will appear at this committee's annual open hearing on worldwide threats and take questions from the committee itself?
▶ 2:15:02Mr. Ratcliffe: Thank you for the question. I think there was a slight mischaracterization. I did not refuse -- I made a proposal about how to handle the worldwide threats hearing. I did that for a number of reasons.
▶ 2:15:19Mr. Ratcliffe: First of all, at that time as dni, which as you know the dni speaks for the entire intelligence community, my proposal was actually a reflection of multiple leaders across the intelligence community who shared my opinion that other countries don't hold public hearings like that where we discuss national security information.
▶ 2:15:49Mr. Ratcliffe: The problem is not in terms of you asking questions about classified material, the issue comes up in terms of being put on the spot to provide an answer or sometimes you might inadvertently provide information that is classified because you don't recall at what level or if it is classified at all. So that is the danger. And that has happened. That explains how I approach that issue. What I would say is this.
▶ 2:16:19Mr. Ratcliffe: I am being considered for the cia director, just not the head of the intelligence community. And I understand notwithstanding my opinion about how the worldwide threat assessment hearing should take place that the committee -- and I learned from that -- did not want the proposal so that would not be an issue if I'm confirmed as cia director.
▶ 2:16:49Sen. Heinrich: So you will take appropriate questions.
▶ 2:16:51Mr. Ratcliffe: Yes.
▶ 2:16:53Sen. Heinrich: You answer this in writing but I think it is important for the american people, frankly, for the world to hear your answer in an open hearing as well. Prohibit use of techniques not authorized in the army field manual. We abide by this law?
▶ 2:17:20Mr. Ratcliffe: Yes.
▶ 2:17:23Sen. Heinrich: You wrote the cia must come and this is from you come the ci must help rebuild public confidence in the intelligence community. In the wake of prior abuses. You referenced it in a number of different occasions in your answers. I've never been one to shy away when I felt it was appropriate.
▶ 2:17:53Sen. Heinrich: I think most of us agree on the whole the cia's men and women produce the finest intelligence in the world with a great deal of objectivity and integrity. If there is a lack of public confidence companies because it has become too easy for some elected officials to throw around terms like "the deep state." if you're confirmed, what precisely would you do to help rebuild public confidence in the
▶ 2:18:24Sen. Heinrich: Agency and where do you see that necessary and appropriate?
▶ 2:18:29Mr. Ratcliffe: Thank you for the question. I think it is the things we have talked about already. Some of it may not have been present for. In terms of leading by example, if confirmed as the cia director, I would do a series of examples where I talked about speaking truth to power and the importance of that and setting the right example in connection
▶ 2:19:01Mr. Ratcliffe: With that. So I think that is essentially how I would go about it is to lead by example.
▶ 2:19:07Chair Cotton: I believe the vice chairman has a follow-up question.
▶ 2:19:11Senator Warner: I also want to mention quickly, I appreciate your answer to senator heinrich's question about appearance. I think we have a unique situation in america where we have public congressional oversight. It is important to restore that trust. This topic I'm going to raise in closed but I want to at least get you on the open and I think you will concur.
▶ 2:19:42Senator Warner: Senator cotton pointed out a number of times the ic did not get it right. I'm not sure we will ever get an all seeing ic, but one area I am particularly concerned about is the belief the ic to monitor technology advancement. Historically, that is not been the case. We told our spies to spy on the military or foreign governments.
▶ 2:20:06Senator Warner: We see repeatedly as we think about this technology competition with china, can cite chapter and verse from cia getting it wrong, semiconductors, area after area. Director burns, we have moved the enterprise some. I think we still have a lot more to do.
▶ 2:20:33Senator Warner: I didn't want you in this public setting to weigh in on your thoughts about how it is absolutely critical to cia is able to not only look at our adversaries in terms of government and military presence but clearly in this technology competition and how we have to up our game in terms of collection.
▶ 2:20:51Mr. Ratcliffe: I agree 100 percent completely. You talked about it, senator, earlier in terms of military threats are one thing but as you know, I believe, for instance, the nsa, get the best code makers and code breakers in the world but if china gets to quantum computing before we do, that causes a real problem.
▶ 2:21:17Mr. Ratcliffe: We have got to win the race on technology, stay ahead of the technology curve. Part of that is when we talk about technology as a tool and a target is we have got to disrupt -- the cia has to play really important role in disrupting our adversaries technologies in terms of trying to get ahead of us. You mentioned semiconductors.
▶ 2:21:44Mr. Ratcliffe: We all know the issue that relates to taiwan and 95% advanced semiconductors are there and we are trying to address those supply chain issues, but we can do things and the cia must do things to disrupt how our adversaries are dealing with their supply chain issues in regard to that. That is just one example.
▶ 2:22:09Senator Warner: Thank you.
▶ 2:22:11Chair Cotton: Thank you. We intend to hold a committee vote on Mr. ratcliffe's nomination as soon as possible, most likely on monday afternoon. Any member who wishes to submit questions for the record after today's hearing, do so by close of business tomorrow. Mr. ratcliffe, I presume we can expect you to provide your replies even more promptly. Thank you all. The open session of his hearing is adjourned.
▶ 2:22:39Chair Cotton: We will reconvene in closed session at 12:37 p.m.