The encouragement youve no doubt provided in helping him to get to this day. Our goal in conducting the hearing is to enable the committee to have a thoughtful consideration of the calls to be the next Inspector General of the cia. He is provided and written responses and this morning members will be able to ask any additional questions and hear the answer directly from the nominee. He spent 23 years as a federal prosecutor in the department of justice and assistant u. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of louisiana. The width of the National Security agency since 2011 hes been in a privat private practiw orleans where he has done dozens of trials that the federal and state level and litigated at the appellate level. In addition spent 20 years as an uncompensated adjunct professor at the Tulane Law School giving back to his alma mater in. The office responsible for independent oversight if confirmed he will conduct audit inspections and reviews of the programs and operations and play a very Important Role in shoring they carry out the mandate accountability and according to the law. For the transparency to you in your office we may ask difficult questions of units for staff. At the same time we would also want you to feel free to come to the committee for the situations that warrant our attention in partnership. I look forward to hearing from you today to ultimately supporting the nomination and to ensure consideration without delay and want to thank you for beingea here for your willingnes to resume the service and we all look forward to your testimony and now i recognize the vice chairman. Welcome its good to see you again should you be confirmed, you would hold onhe would hold t vital roles at the cia and the Intelligence Community. Because independent and impartial help ensure there is robust oversight of an agency and by necessity undertakes its most important and Effective Work in secrecy. We all know by statute the cia Inspector General is expressly mandated to report not only to the cia director but to this committee and specifically made accountable to congress. This is necessary to ensure we are able to conduct robust oversight of the cia and to be made aware of any significant problems and deficiencies. This committee relies on the inspectors genera general of the intelligence agencies to ensure the organization for using taxpayer dollars wisely, conducting the activities within the rules and the spirit of the law and supporting and protecting whistleblowers with waste fraud and abuse. Unfortunately, what we have seen from this administration convinces me that the independence of the Inspector Generals is under grave threat. We have seen the president attack without justification brave men and women of the icy. Simply because they were doing what americans expected them to do, telling truth to power. This is because the truth is very often welcomed. Acting dni fired, Intelligence CommunityInspector General fired. Fired for no reason other than doing his job and reporting to congress. As he was legally mandateds to o reporting the serious complaints of the whistleblower. Unfortunately, we have seen this go after other independent Inspector Generals as well at the state department, hhs and the Defense Department who have issued reports on welcomed in the white house or because they undertook investigations that were embarrassing to the president and his allies. But this precisely why we have alspectors general. Not many like to be cold in front of you but yourr independence is what helped keep the broad waste abuse and malfeasance in check. Im looking to explain why he ty can trust you to be independent and how you go about your responsibilities and how we ensure if they bring forward a complaint against using the ulegitimate channels, they will be protected against retaliati retaliation. What are your red lines if you become aware of abuse were undertaking actions that are not competing with your expectatio expectations. If confirmed he will be the first in s over five years. You will have a difficult shot show your independence, to reassure the whistleblowers and to take over the office that has been broken foror so long. Mr. Thompson, again, thank you for being here today and agreeing to serve in this critical role. I look forward to todays discussion. Us i understand we are actually in a pretty famou famous room it of important hearings have occurred in these holes, so its appropriate senator kennedy, whose name is on the ball will be one of your presenters so welcome, senator kennedy. They are always ready for you, sir. Thank you mr. Chairman. It is an honor to be in front of the Intelligence Committee. Ive never been in front of the Intelligence Committee. Im going to assume im being bugged so i will choose my words carefully. To recommend and enthusiastically and unconditionally mr. Peter thompson for this report by agree with so much of what senator warner said. We live in cynical times. People correctly or incorrectly government. The ive been in and out of government for 25 or 30 years, and i always tell my constituents on the occasion as bad as it looks on the outside, you ought to see it on the inside. And inspectors General Health balance that and both of them are important. Just recently, i had to sit on the judiciar judiciary committei was very proud of the work done by the Inspector General hurwitz in the Justice Department. I am convinced that we would have never known about the abuses of t the fisa process at the fbi committed by a small group, of people. So this is an important job. Senator rubio did as usual a superb job of welcoming peter and also patricia and their daughter. Peter green is a very unique background to this position. Right now he works in a law firm in new orleans. Im not going to tell you that its the best law firm in louisiana, but the list, they dont hired dummies and the list doesnt take very long. He has the white collar criminal defense practice there and is also involved in. He served for years and he has expertise in not just criminal defense extradition matters and these corporations with the foreign corrupt practices act he has litigated for civil matters and in administrative cases. But let me just say a personal note or to conclude he is a serious person and not an especially good politician. He exercises power intelligently and not emotionally. I think that that is what we want in an Inspector General particularly in the cia. So, again, it is my pleasure to be here today. And for what it is worth, mr. Thompson has my highest possible recommendation, and i appreciate your time. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator cassidy did send a letter recommending the nominee and asked me to read it if you would indulge me for just a few minutes. And then to consent to be made a part of the record. Record. They are churning rubio and vice chairman warner, im writing to express my strong support for Peter Thompson to become Inspector General of Intelligence Agency. Peter is a long distinguished career in food service. His 23 year career as a federal prosecutor in louisiana is ruling out fraud, waste and abuse and wrongdoing. His career includes a they worked on the task force and we witnessed this generosity of. Peter took time to teach as well. He spent 20 years as the associate adjunct assessor of law at Tulane University school of law where he mentor young people just starting their careers. Theyve shown the conduct we hope to see in all of our public servants. I ask for your support in the nomination of my fellows had friends feel free to contact me without objection that will be in the record. Please raise your right hand. To you solemnly swear to give the committee the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god. I want to ask the fisa standard questions the committee pose to assist each nominee that appears before us. They can be answered with a simple yes or no if you prefer for the record. Do you agree to appear before the committee or other venues when invited . If confirmed, did you agree to send officials from your office to appear before the committee and to designate when invited. Do you agree to provide documents or other materials requested by the committee on the responsibilities . Yes i do, sir will you ensure they have the material provided when requested . I do, sir. Do you agree to be informed of the extent all members of this committee of intelligence activities and covert actions rather than only the chairman and vice chairman . Yes, sir. We will now proceed to the Opening Statement which we will recognize for up to five minutes each. Thank you very much. Chairman rubio, vice chairman warner and distinguished members of the committee, i am honored to be here today as the president s nominee to be the Inspector General of the Central Intelligence agency. I would like first to thank the senators bill cassidy and kennedy for introducing me and their kind words. I also like to thank President Trump and the cia director haskell or the confidence they replace. Further, i appreciate and i am deeply grateful to those individuals who wrote or signed thee letters in support of the nomination. Last but certainly not least, joining me here today are my dear wife patricia and daughter kaitlyn and i wish to thank them for their patience and unwavering love and support throughout the process. Although i spent the majority of my government career in the u. S. Justice, i have always held a deep respect and profound admiration for the men and women of the cia and the important work they do in preempting threats to the nation. The cia has a critical responsibility of collecting, analyzing, evaluating and disseminating accurate, timely foreign intelligence to policymakers and consumers and as you know they have the responsibility of conducting covert actions when necessary. I believe the officers that served in the agency including those that serve at the office of Inspector General regardless of the background, regardless of political affiliation, regardless of philosophical beliefs are united at the corner by the deep love of our country it is truly a deep honor to be o considered for such within the cia and to be given the opportunity to lead a dedicated and patriotic office of the Inspector General i was blessed to have devoted loving parents that awfullygh important values which are foundational requirements of the Inspector General. Raised on the banks of the Mississippi River i grew up eating lots of italian food and spending time on the family fa farm. My mom had an exceptionally strong constitution for the right in the face of all. She tol taught me the importancf family and loyalty and how to pick your friends which had everything to do with character and she taught me the importance heof Standing Firm. I didnt know it then, but she was teaching me how to speak truth to power. My father was raised by his widowed mother in new orleans at age 21, following the attack on pearl harbor, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was trained to be a pilot. He flew 35 missions over germany and sliding fortunes which is named old blood and guts. After beating audibly discharged with the hope that the g. I. Bill graduated with high honors and became a successful attorney. My father taught me the same values as home and also sparked an interest in law and talked about the rule of law and why it must be respected. Without a doubt, my strong sense of patriotism the riot rides fry office sacrifices during world war ii. I tell you this to offer a glimpse into my roots in order to give some insight as to how i will perform as Inspector General of the cia. If i am confirmed i feel the principles and values instilled in me by my appearance honesty, integrity, patriotism, speaking truth to power and rule of law and Standing Firm in ones convictions together with my faith will serve the intelligence oversight committees and the American Public will. Its my belief that those principles absolutely must guide the work of the Inspector Generals office. There is another central requirement is probably the most important of the office. It is independence and reports to it is fully accountable to congress. The igs office must dependably plan and execute in all of its work with regards to the agency. The cia enabling statute requires it. Independents in my view means work of the Inspector General must be performed in an unbiased and impartial manner free of undue influences. By law, no one can force the Inspector General to alter its product. Should i be confirmed, i can say with absolute confidence that doing the work of the ig in an unbiased and impartial manner will be my top priority. Although independence is crucial to the functioning of the office and is central to its integrity, the Inspector General must also strike a balance between that independence on one hand and on yhe other, working cooperatively and productively with Agency Leadership in this committee. In my view, in addition to all of the people reporting requirements, a Collaborative Team approach within the agency and with congress, working together to make the agency matter is as important to the proper functioning of thehe Inspector General as is the requirement of independence. Even so, to be clear, the buck stops at the door of the ig. Together with my character and values, i believe my professional background and corresponding skill set have thepared me for this. During my 23 year career with the u. S. Department of justice, i obtained broad investigative and prosecutorial experience handling a wide variety of cases including investigations involving fraud, National Security, violent crimes, and domestic and International Drug trafficking, racketeering and political corruption. I held the top security clearance for approximately 15 years which allowed me to work on some sensitive matters. I also coordinated many Multiagency Task force investigations. Worked with a myriad of federal, state and local agencies including offices of Inspector General and countless confidential increments and cooperating individuals with a wide variety off contexts. I had the opportunity to work on the detail in the National Security agency where as a part of my duties wast to provide guidance on certain signals for intelligence and Information Assurance operations. Paafter retiring from the justie department, i entered private where theyice continued to handle criminal matters as well as civil matters and internal investigations involving fraud including most recently a case involving a 1 billiondollar tank failure. My experience as a federal prosecutor has a direct impact on how i would approach the job is the Inspector General. But perhaps none more important than my extensive work with numerous confidential informants hid cooperators throughout my career. Based on this experience i have a deep understanding of cia employees and contractors who report wrongdoing. I believe one of the most important if not the most Important Program of any Inspector Generals office is the Whistleblower Program. As Inspector General, if confirmed, i will work with Agency Leadership to maintain and strengthen a culture of confidence and trust for Agency Employees and contractors who have information exposing fraud, waste, abuse, violation of law or other problems that should be corrected inn the agency. Finally, i will conclude with a solemn promise before the committee andmn the American Public. If confirmed, i will protect the independence of the cia Inspector Generals office and approaches work with honesty and integrity i want to begin where you finished your comments we have to have timely access to intelligence it is just crucial to having meaningful oversight. So if confirmed, and i think youve answered this already in the five questions, but i want to ask a different way. If confirmed, can we be assured that any such epic and complains thaattempt complainsthat you rer office . Absolutely, senator. Will you provide the interview subject and methodology behind the finished report assessment . If asked by the committee if you inform us of such a significant complaint, but you also provide the interview subject and methodologies behind the finished products and assessment . Yes, sir, to the extent it meets the standards we will provide this committee with everything we are allowed to provide you with. We have historically viewed the role youve been nominated for not as