Committee to consider mr. Sharplys qualifications and to allow for thoughtful deliberation by our members. Chris already has provided substantive, written responses to 85 questions presented by the committee and its members. Today, of course, members will be able to ask additional questions and to hear from mr. Sharply in this open session. Mr. Sharply earned his b. A. From American University and received his masters degree from the naval post graduate school. In 1981, he received a commission from the u. S. Air force where he trained as a special agent, and a counterintelligence officer in the air force office of special investigations. Chris continued to serve in the air force in a variety of posts, including as director of security, until he retired from the air force in 2002. Immediately following his retirement, chris joined the office of the Inspector General of the department of energy, as a civilian federal special agent. Since then, chris has worked as the deputy ig for investigations and inspections for the department of energy, and helped to build the new oig offices at the t. A. R. P. Program and the federal housing authority. In 2010, chris received the president ial rank award. In 2012, chris retired as a federal civilian Law Enforcement officer and started his career at the Central Intelligence agency. Chris, if you dont mind me saying, i dont think youre very good at retiring. From 2012 to 2015, chris served as deputy Inspector General at the cia. Since 2015, chris has served as both deputy and acting ig of the cia. Chris is independent and the Inspector Generals are critical to the efficient management of the Intelligence Community. And i trust that you will lead the cias office with integrity and will ensure your officers operate lawfully, ethically, and morally. As i mentioned to other nominees during this nomination hearing, i can assure you that this committee will continue to faithfully follow its charter and conduct realtime oversight over the Intelligence Community, its operations and activities. We will ask difficult and probing questions of you, your staff, and well expect honest, complete, and timely responses. Chris, i look forward to supporting your nomination and assuring its consideration without delay. I want to thank you again for being here today for your years of service to your country, both in Law Enforcement and in our military and i look forward to your testimony. I now recognize the vice chairman for any opening statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And welcome, mr. Sharply. Good to see you again. And welcome as well to your family. Congratulations to your nomination to serve as Inspector General of the Central Intelligence agency. I believe that the job of the Inspector General is critical to the effective operation of any agency. This committee relies upon the Inspector General of the intelligence agencies to ensure the organizations are using taxpayer dollars wisely, conducting their activities within the rule and spirit of the law. And supporting and protecting whistleblowers. Whistleblowers who report fraud, waste, and abuse. These ig functions are even more important in an organization like the cia, which by necessity does not operate in the public. I appreciate that youre the third ig nominee to come before this committee this year. I wish to express my hope that will soon receive from the president a nominee for the position of the ig for the overall Intelligence Community. This position has been vacant since february, and i know you cant effect this directly, but im very concerned about the number of changes occurring there. As i mentioned, i appreciate our meeting earlier this month. We talked about a number of important issues you will face as the cia ag. I want to reiterate some of our discussion and ask you system of these same questions that we had in private, address these questions in public. One, we discussed the importance of supporting and protecting whistleblowers. Today, i want to hear more about your plans to ensure all cia employees know their rights and responsibilities, as well as the processes for them to report waste, fraud, and abuse. I would like to hear a greater commitment from you on this issue. Your job, and we talked about this in our conversation, is to be hard headed, to find problems, uncover abuses and recommend fixes. And you must guard your independence fiercely. I would like to hear you reaffirm thats also your view of your role in this terribly important position. As you know as well, the committee completed a report on cias detention and enti interrogation program. You and i discussed how your office both lost and then found its copy, the copy of the report, and how you decided to return it to the committee. We talked about the fact that i disagreed with your subsequent decision to return it. Today and if public, please describe how the report came to be lost and why you made the decision to return it to the committee. Finally, i want to get your reassurances that you will support this committees investigation into russian interference in the 2016 u. S. President ideal election. Again, thank you for your service to our country, thank you for being here today. Thank you for agreeing to accept another opportunity to continue to serve our country. I look forward to todays discussion. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator warner. Mr. Sharply, would you please stand and raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear to give this committee the truth, the full trout and nothing but the truth, so help you god . I do, sir. Please be seated. Chris, before we move to your statement, it is practice of this committee that i ask you five standard questions that the committee poses to each nominee who appears before us. Just a simple yes or no answer for the record. Do you agree to appear before the committee here or in any other venue when invited . Yes. If confirmed, do you agree to send officials from your office to appear before the committee and designated staff when invited . Yes. Do you agree to provide documents or any other materials requested by the committee in order for it to carry out its oversight and legislative responsibilities . Yes, i do. Will you both ensure that your office and your staff provide such materials to the committee when requested . Yes, i will. Do you grow to inform and fully brief to the fullest extent possible all members of the committee of intelligence activities and covert actions rather than limit that only to the share and the vice chair . Yeshgs, i do. Thank you very much. Well now proceed to your opening statement, after which ill recognize members by seniority for fiveminute question times. Chris, the floor is yours. Thank you, chairman. Members of the committee, i want to thank you for affording me the opportunity to appear before you today. As you consider my nomination to be the Inspector General of the Central Intelligence agency. Im honored and humbled that President Trump has placed his confidence in me to tackle the challenges of this important position. Chairman, if i may, at the risk of being redundant, i would like to speak to my background and experience that i believe qualify me to serve as the cia Inspector General. Im grateful to have served our nation for the past 36 years, a journey that began after receiving a commission in the United States air force in 1981. My initial training was as a special agent counterintelligence officer. The skills that i acquired prepared me for a challenging assignment during my ten years of active duty service. And also prepared me for my service for another ten years in the air force reserves. My assignments included commander and director of security, leading teams of counterintelligence and Security Specialists in support of highly classified Access Programs. I retired from the air force reserves in 2002. I then began my employment as a civilian special agent at the office of the Inspector General. I rose through the ranks to become the depp tip Inspector General for investigations and inspections, with responsibilities covering the Nations Nuclear weapons complex and system of national laboratories. I was privileged to have been asked by two new inspectors general and the federal Housing Finance agency to assist them in Building Brand new offices of Inspector General. Focused on detecting and countering fraud in the efforts of the federal government to stabilize u. S. Banking, securities and Financial Markets during the economic crisis of the 20082012 time frame. In 2010, i received a president ial rank award for Meritorious Service for my leadership in building investigative programs that identified billions in fraud, and supported successful prosecutions that often returned significant dollars to the u. S. Treasury. In 2012, i retired from federal service as a civilian special agent Law Enforcement officer. That is when my experience at cia began. I was asked by then cia Inspector GeneralDavid Buckley to compete for his deputy Inspector General position. He informed me that he hoped i would bring the best practices i gleaned from other roles to be applied at the cia office of Inspector General. I answered that call and entered back into federal service in 2012, where i served as mr. Buckleys deputy until his retirement in january of 2015, and where i have served as deputy and acting Inspector General until now. Mr. Chairman, i strongly believe in cias mission, to preempt threats to our nation. I stand firmly behind the outstanding work of the cia office of team of auditors, inspectors, investigators, and support staff. As acting Inspector General, i have issued over 100 classified reports and have made nearly 250 recommendations to cia leadership to strengthen key programs and operations. And promote economy and efficiency across the cia mission. I have further strengthened the processes and procedures within the office of Inspector General by incorporating special standards and best practices yut lizzed by offices of the Inspector General across the community. I have endeavored to establish a reputation within cia as an independent and honest acting Inspector General who does not hesitate to tack it will hard issues and trusted by cia officers around the world and by the director and the senior team. And it is my hope as it certainly has been my objective to gain the trust of this committee. If confirmed, i will continue to keep the Committee Informed after Office Inspector general work. Is right now with National Security risks. And with keen attention. The cia appropriately response and that classified highrisk mission that those classified activities received. That is why a capable Inspector General is needed. With that Mission Integrity and efficiency so those skills that have been acquired and that has prepared me to fill the cia Inspector General. Thank you for this opportunity to testify and i will answer any questions you may have. It is my intention that for planning purposes we will encourage members to have additional questions for the record. I will also remind members for those that they should of that fact. And the cia Inspector General of whose work in most cases but the work of the ids office and employees had you planned to continue your efforts that the employees and contractors are fully aware of the function of the ig . With then cia there is an Awareness Program to see on an annual basis. Making a complaint in that training. With that significant effort soever those opportunities arise. Beyond that and extensive damage sure Whistleblower Program and i have had the opportunity to build two whistleblower hotline programs and to make improvements for energy and here at cia per gram very proud of the practices we put in place with those contractors with the ability to make confidential and anonymous and any given time those process to put him place that every complaint or concern that is received is given a review by then senior staff by the office of Inspector General slow those skills sets are able to look at the issue to say they think the complaint or concerns should be handled. The biggest challenge ended it is of recruitment with those systems in place with of cia with the on boarding process to recruit our fox. In my opinion and to put very strongly about and for every person to identify the individual but i have to give three conditional offers of employment. I know that statistically to out of three and will lose over the period of time from the time i give it to the time they go on board and for every offer of of prime and i have to conduct five interviews ago to fill 10 slots but is perceived of by a turnover we have other Mission Areas would like a the services of my people have to offer 30 offers of employment and then 150 interviews that is the anonymous process so the process of on boarding is the most prominent. I want to go back to follow up on those whistleblowers. So with these Whistleblower Programs talk about what else you can do on the hot line it in the answers to the written questions that youd try to beef up to bring in those experts to help devise you and to take us through your commitment have particularly with increased retaliation of reprisals basis of the whistleblower. Whistle blowing and the programs of the Inspector General is essential to the success of any Inspector General of any program whether confidence of whistleblowers that they feel and comfortable to provide information if they are not they will not come to you if you cannot fulfill your mission of exploring fraud waste and abuse. So in particular to everything is compartment it scattered around the world that the first thing that i did to approve the of Whistleblowing Program is with the robust of Reach Program about what that program is about so the main thrust of that reaches to ensure where the cia officer is located around the world to make a confidential anonymous complaint or sharing of concern. Diane very comfortable the we know from the type of work that they are in with the effectiveness of the various programs we know the even though i am comfortable with the program it would be appropriate and prudent to invite others. Then the ig Community Better known to have very solid programs when i refer to this in the questionnaire a lot my chief of staff to reach out to these individuals with individual assessment with the education effort. And then as it comes into a timely fashion. And then to address those issues. And that can be prevented calmly and quickly. But what did come up was how the report was lost and with that explanation that you offered we in the process. And if anybody was held accountable . I would be happy to discuss those issues and i understand it is an important issue. So we received a copy of the committees study december 2014. That the reporter be uploaded and that was done. When we receive guidance they should not be placed into any system with the freedom of information act so that organization in that uploaded to delete the report to take the desk to put in a classified safe to delete that from the system from the right to administrator responsible to handling the media but the process is in place an order to control the classifieds is to destroy a the diskette. And then to request we got the desk to the best of my knowledge i asked where was but nobody could find a desk. I informed the committee we could not find it. And then to insure there is no way to find out what happened. So with that itea administrator is that it had been shredded and they were unaware of the deletion of the document and had shredded the desk. Several munch months later the individual departing going through the classified safe and they found the disk it was the embarrassment to me and the litigation to cease at that time part of the conclusion of that litigation was a congressional document to inform the of committee we found a the disk and opened the investigation with what happened. How do we find testimony it was shredded when it wasnt . The bottom line was we found the individual who had since left from the office of the ig and california did not remember actually shredding the disk but they felt because they shredded others they shredded that as well. It is embarrassing and i have apologized. Also around that time to the chair of the committee that produced the study that i made the independent jump to return the desk disk it is not a reflection of what the quality of the report or the effort it was a fiveyear effort and i understand the value to the committee. I do have an uncla