director of this committee, is that correct? that s correct, senator. you said you were not a senior manager when those programs were created, is that correct? that s correct. was john brennan a member of the senior intelligence service and deputy executive director at the time a senior manager if your opinion? senator, i believe mr. brennan was the deputy of the agency at the time. you would consider that a senior manager position at the c.i.a. i believe it s the number four position. for john brennan, who was confirmed to be the c.i.a. director by the following members of this committee, senator warner, sen fine sign, collins, man muchin and wyden and rubio. let s talk about the tapes that were destroyed in 2005. did any lawyer at any time in any organization of the federal government say there was a legal prohibition to destroy those tapes? senator, they did not.
i take exception to what senator warren said the opinion of office of legal counsel that was a get out of jail free card. do you believe acting under the legal approval of the attorney general that you or any other c.i.a. officer should have gone to jail and yu needed a get out of jail free card? you can answer that one, please. senator, c.i.a. follows the law. exactly what i thought. let s turn to the circumstances of what the counter terrorism center was doing the days you were there. i think senator collins asked an excellent sequence of questions that got at many of these points. i want to tie a bow on some of them. these programs were to the best of your understanding approved by the commander-in-chief, legally approved by the attorney general and supported by the director of the c.i.a. who i point out at the time was the former democratic staff
i also have to take exception to what senator warner said when he called an opinion of the office of legal counsel that was signed off by the attorney general of the united states as a get out of jail free card. do you believe acting under the legal approval of the attorney general that you or any other cia officer should have gone to jail and you needed a get out of jail free card? you can answer that one, please. senator, cia follows the law. that s exactly what i thought. let s turn to the circumstances of what the counterterrorism center was doing the day you were there. i think there was an excellent sequence of questions that got at many of the points. i want to tie a bow on some of them. these programs were to the best of your understanding, approved by the commander in chief legally approved by the attorney general, and supported by the director of the cia who i point
record and examined it and said you d be a qualified leader that. that speaks well of your history and your leadership. we appreciate that very much. let me ask you a little bit about some ongoing threats coming at us. we haven t had much time to talk about today. let s talk about the very serious counternarcotics threat that s coming at us in some of the changing situation that s happening in our hemisphere. dealing with drug trafficking organizations and international drug trafficking in particular. what do you sense is a role the cia should have in the ongoing work to do counternarcotics work in our hemisphere? thank you for that question. and you ve been a big supporter of cia s counternarcotics work. when i return from my overseas posting in early 2017, i was, frankly, shocked at what i saw was happening in our country. particularly in places like my home state of kentucky where there s a real crisis, but i
out at the time was the former democratic staff director of this committee. is that correct? that s correct. you said you were not a senior manager when the programs were created. is that correct? that s correct. was john brennan a member of the senior intelligence service and the executive director and a senior manager in your opinion at the time? senator, i believe mr. brennan was the deputy of the agency at the time. and you d consider that a senior manager position? i believe it s a number four position. for john brennan who was confirmed to be the cia director by the following members of this committee. warner, feinstein, heinrich, collins, burr, manchin, senator widen and senator rubio. let s turn to the question about the tapes that were destroyed in 2005. did any lawyer at any time in any organization of the federal government say there was a legal