Tom Cotton Raises Concerns Of Threats Posted By CCP, Terrorism When Grilling Trump DNI Nominees

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At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) questioned top Trump Administration DNI nominees.

Transcript

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.

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