At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) questioned top Trump Administration DNI nominees.
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00:00Mr. Lucas, Congress created the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to eliminate
00:05stovepipes of intelligence and to ensure integration across the elements while working hand-in-hand
00:11with the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. That's the Director of Defense
00:16Intelligence and the Principal Advisor to the DNI on Defense Intelligence. To ensure that national
00:22and military intelligence needs are met, Congress also sought to ensure analytic objectivity
00:27standards were set and they were met. Will you commit to working with this committee to
00:32restore the ODNI to what it was originally intended to be?
00:36Yes, Chairman. If confirmed, I would commit to that.
00:41In your experience, is ODI on the path to becoming just a part of the bureaucracy that it was created
00:47to eclipse?
00:50Thank you, Chairman. As I said in my opening remarks, I have seen ODNI grow over the years,
00:56often without regard to its original mission. So yes, I would agree with that statement.
01:02As I said earlier, I believe ODNI has a very important role to play, but we need to ensure
01:08that it's focused only on that role and not engaged in business that is properly left to
01:12other IC agencies.
01:13Thank you. One point in particular is the relationship between the IC, the Intelligence Community, and
01:23the Department of Defense. I'm not aware of many processes or procedures, at least effective
01:29ones, for ensuring the needed collaboration between the DNI and the Under Secretary of Defense
01:34for Intelligence and Security. What are your thoughts on how we can improve that relationship?
01:38Well, Senator, I do agree that that is a critical relationship. The DOD brings a lot to the intelligence
01:45community, a lot of resources, a lot of individuals, a lot of power. My understanding is that currently,
01:52there is a weekly sync between the Director's Advisors for Military Affairs and OSD INS. If confirmed,
02:01I would certainly expect that I would also have regular communication with that same office,
02:07with the Under Secretary, and I would be willing to work with the committee to look at whether
02:12we need any sort of formal processes or procedures to put in place to ensure that that coordination
02:18is continuing as it should.
02:19Thank you. Let's turn our attention to China. This year's annual threat assessment stated,
02:25quote, China stands out as the actor most capable of threatening U.S. interests globally,
02:30end quote. There's, of course, bipartisan support in Congress for ensuring that the Chinese communists
02:38don't achieve their goals in replacing the United States as the world's dominant economic and therefore
02:44military superpower. What's your opinion on whether the intelligence community is currently properly
02:50postured to address the threat posed by communist China? Thank you for the question, Senator. I have seen
02:59over many years as an intelligence officer that the IC has assessed that China is a key adversary
03:06and has placed a high priority on collecting and analyzing information to provide to policy makers
03:13regarding China's plans and intentions. If confirmed, I would certainly look forward to working with the IC
03:21agencies themselves to ensure that they are adequately resourced and are placing those resources in the
03:29areas that they need to be vis-a-vis China. That's, of course, if I'm confirmed. I lack that bird's-eye view,
03:36quite frankly, right now about what each agency, but certainly that would be a priority for me if I'm confirmed.
03:42Thank you. Mr. Kent, I want to turn to the threat of terrorism. China is without question our most serious
03:52long-term threat. The only nation that has the size and the wealth and power to potentially replace the
03:58United States as the world's dominant power. But as you say in your opening statement, the threat of
04:06terrorism remains serious and ongoing. Borrow from a quote sometimes attributed to Trotsky,
04:15you may not be interested in terrorism anymore, but terrorism is still interested in you. Is that
04:21correct and something Americans need to understand? Thank you, Senator. I think that's 100% accurate.
04:27I mean, look, we have real threats that come from the Chinese Communist Party and other traditional
04:32state actors. However, terrorists want to kill us right now in this moment and tragically many of
04:37them are already here inside the United States and there's countless other adversaries we have that
04:42are terrorists overseas that are plotting to kill us right now.