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NSA chief defends record at Halifax forum amid rumoured calls for his ouster

Nov 20, 2016 | 10:00 AM

HALIFAX — The director of the U.S. National Security Agency defended his record at the Halifax International Security Forum as rumours swirl about calls for him to be ousted from his current post and a potential promotion in president-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

At a panel Sunday, Admiral Mike Rogers refused to address media reports saying America’s top defence and intelligence officials recommended his dismissal.

“Just let me cut to the chase, because I’m interested in saving us all some time,” Rogers said in response to a question from the audience. “I am just not going to go down this road.”

The audience member referred to a report in the Washington Post saying Defence Secretary Ash Carter and National Intelligence director James Clapper wrote a letter to President Barack Obama advising that Rogers be relieved from his duties in his dual role as head of the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command.

Rogers name has been floated for a role in Trump’s administration, and he recently met with the president-elect, but his standing in the current administration remains unclear.

Rogers, who took over the NSA after documents leaked by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden in 2014 exposed the U.S. government’s widespread surveillance program, accepted accountability for later breaches of classified material under his leadership.

“I am proud of the fact that under my watch we caught these individuals,” Rogers said during the discussion on cybersecurity. “Even as I remain accountable for the fact that they were there.”

After Rogers took over the helm at the NSA, measures were imposed to tighten security, but more recently, the FBI arrested NSA contractor Harold Martin III, who they say had stolen enough classified material to fill roughly 200 laptop computers.

Rogers acknowledged Russian “effort” to sway the presidential election in Trump’s favour, but said he doesn’t think the foreign power achieved the effect “they had hoped that it might.”

He brushed off the debate about whether the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command should be run by two people rather than him alone, but said the question is worth reassessing in the future.

“I’m not going to get into this noise,” Rogers said. “I believe that in the long run, pulling (the agencies) apart but keeping them closely aligned is the right thing to do.”

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee has asked Carter and Clapper to testify in Congress on Monday to discuss “the veracity of press reports” regarding Rogers.

Rep. Devin Nunes, a Republican congressman from California, has said he plans to hold an open hearing soon to discuss how the intelligence community would be affected by a proposed separation of the NSA and Cyber Command.

 

The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly stated Rogers headed the NSA at time of Snowden breach. Rogers took over after the Snowden incident.