NSA nominee sails through second confirmation hearing

President Trump’s choice to lead the National Security Agency sat for his second confirmation hearing on Thursday, during which he faced a host of questions on NSA recruitment challenges, U.S. strategy in cyberspace and Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. 

The hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, which lasted a mere hour, was largely genial, a sign that Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone will be approved by the committee.

It frequently touched on Russian election interference, which the Intelligence Committee is currently investigating.

{mosads}Nakasone agreed with the January 2017 assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election and sided with other intelligence officials who have said they expect Moscow to meddle in future votes.

“Unless the calculus changes, then we should expect continued issues,” Nakasone said, citing previous statements from Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.

Trump nominated Nakasone, a career military intelligence officer, back in February to serve in the dual-hat position of NSA director and U.S. Cyber Command commander.

If confirmed, Nakasone will replace outgoing NSA Director Mike Rogers, who is expected to retire this spring.

The Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month held a hearing on Nakasone’s nomination and unanimously approved him. The Senate Intelligence Committee, which also has jurisdiction over the NSA, will also need to sign off on his nomination before he is considered by the full Senate.

In a key moment during Thursday’s hearing, Nakasone impressed Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a fierce hawk of the NSA’s surveillance practices, with his answers about oversight of the agency. 

Harkening back to Edward Snowden’s 2013 disclosures about the NSA’s now-defunct wiretapping program, Wyden asked Nakasone how he would address “a similar situation.” 

“If there was a form of surveillance that currently requires approval by the FISA court and you were asked to avoid the court based on some kind of secret legal analysis, what would you do?” Wyden asked, referring to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that oversees foreign intelligence surveillance requests. 

Nakasone answered that he would “consult” with the committee in the event of such a request. 

“At the end of the day, I think that one of the most important things is that we have the conversation between the National Security Agency and this oversight committee,” Nakasone said. 

“There are two things that I would do: I would follow the law, and I would ensure if confirmed that the agency follows the law,” he later added. 

Those statements pleased Wyden, who called them “encouraging.” 

In closing remarks, Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) called Nakasone “the right person at the right time” to lead NSA. 

“You’ve been nominated at a very pivotal time where technology, as the vice chairman pointed out, is changing annually the same way technology used to change, literally, decade to decade,” Burr said. “I think this is a tremendous opportunity and it is a tremendous challenge.” 

But Burr also made a point to emphasize the need for Nakasone, as NSA director, to provide documents to the committee that it requests for the ongoing investigation into Russian election meddling. 

“The relationship between this committee and that agency has never been better than it is right now,” Burr said. “The agency has provided us an unprecedented access to its products as we have worked for the last 14 months through a very difficult investigation.” 

“It is essential for this committee to do a thorough and a complete review of what has happened,” Burr said.