Your day and we are grateful for the encouragement in helping him to get this day and this is a professional achievement that you should take pride in. Our goal is to enable this committee to have thoughtful consideration to be the next inspector germ of the c. A. And he has responded to questions and this morning, members will be able to ask additional questions they have and hear from the nominee. Mr. Thomson is a law degree in 198 and spent 23 years as a federal prosecutor for the department of justice for the Eastern District of louisiana. Nd during his time at d. O. J. And special assignment with the National Security agency. And he has been in private practice in new orleans where he has had tried and litigated at the a. M. Ate. Years as add junk professor and giving back. Mr. Tom somebody you have been asked. They will irmed, conduct audits, investigations and reviews of c. I. A. Programs and operations. You will ensure that the d. I. A. Carries its mandate accountable and always according to the law. The mandate will require transparency and responsive from you and your office. And will ask you difficult questions and we ask you timely answers. At the same time, we want you to feel free to come to the committee to situations that warrant our attention and partnership. I look forward to hearing you from today to support your nomination and ensuring its nomination and i thank you for your years of service to our country and willingness and we look forward to your testimony and i recognize the vice chairman. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And welcome, mr. Thomson and good to kind of see you again in is large room and let me add congratulations to serve as inspector germ of the c. I. A. The job is critical to the effective operation of any agency, should you be confirmed, you will hold one of the most vital roles in the c. I. A. Because independent, independent and impartial inspectors germ help to ensure there is robust oversight that undertakes its most important and Effective Work in see crease si. We all know that the c. I. A. Inspector general is mandated to report not only to the c. I. A. Director but to this committee and made accountable to this congress. This is necessary to conduct robust oversight of the c. I. A. And be made aware of any deficiencies. This committee relies upon the inspectors germ of the intelligence agencies to ensure that the organizations are using taxpayer dollars wisely and conducting it is in the rule and protecting whistleblowers who report waste, fraud and abuse. What we have seen from this president convinces that the independence of the inspectors germ is under grave threat. We have seen the president attack the brave men and women of the i. C. Because they were doing war americans expected them to do telling truth to power. This is because this president , the truth is very unwelcomed and its bearers. D. N. A. Coates fired. D. N. I. On fired, acting mcwire fired. And fired for no reason for doing his job and reporting to congress as was legally mandated to do, reporting the serious complaints of a wiffle blower. Unform, we have seen this administration go after independent inspectors germ, at the state department, h. H. S. , defense department, who have issued reports unwelcomed in the white house or undertook investigations that were embarrassing to the president and his allies. This is precisely why we have inspectors general. No many like to be called in front of you. But your independence and dog he dness help keep waste, fraud and abuse in check. Why can we trust you to be independent and how you go about your responsibilities, how we ensure the men and women of the in they bring forward a complaint using legitimate channels they will be protected. What are your red lines if you become aware of abuse or asked to undertake actions that are not in keeping with what i hope will be crour expectations and our expectations of you. You will be the first Senate Confirmed i. G. At the c. I. A. And you will have a difficult job to ensure whistleblowers and take over an office that has been vacant. Thank you for being here today and for agreeing to serve in this critical role. I look forward tore todays discussion. I understand you will be having two senators. And there are a lot of important hearings that have occurred in these halls and senator contendy whose name is on the walls will e. Welcome home. We are always ready nor you, sir. Senator kennedy thank you, mr. Chairman. I never been in front of the intelligence kennedy. Im going to assume im being bugged, so i will choose my words carefully. Its a delight for me to introduce and recommend enthusiasmically and unconditionally mr. Peter thomson for this important post. I agree with so much with what senator warner said. We live in cynical times. People are correctly or incorrectly dont trust government. I understand that. I have been in and out of government for 25, 30 years and i always tell my constituents that on as bad as it looks on the outside, you ought to see it on the inside. And inspectors general help balance that, not only do they report impro bright. They address issues that. Just recently, i happened to sit on the Judiciary Committee and i was very proud of the work done by inspector germ horowitz at the Justice Department. Had it not been or germ horowitz, we would not have known about the abuses of the fisa processes at the f. B. I. , committed by a small group at the f. B. I. So this is an important job. Senator rubio did a soup pesh also welcoming peter and patricia and his daughter. Peter brings a unique background. And right now, he works at a law new called stonepigman in orleans. E have a lot of good ones in and they dont dummies and it doesnt take very long to call the roll. L holds the white collar defense practice and Information Security practices. He has been special assist tant to the chife advanced Network Operations at the National Security agency and served for years as an assistant United States attorney. Not just rtise in criminal defense but ex radition matters and foreign act and regulatory matters and administrative cases. S marco mentioned, he is a professor at tulane. But let me say a personal note before i conclude. Serious a mature and person. He is not an especially good politician but i dont think this is what this job requires. He is more than intellectual. He exercises power intelligently and nonemotionally. And he has extraordinarily able and good judgment and i think thats what we want in an Inspector General particularly at c. I. A. Its my pleasure to be here today and for what its worth, mr. Thomson has my highest possible recommendation. And i appreciate my time. Deep firsthand experience rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. His peers have attested to his competency and character. On may 1, 5 of his colleagues in louisiana Law Enforcement cited his high ethical standards, work ethic, legal competence and reputation for integrity. Peters career has overseen the use of Government Funds which makes him well suited. In the after mauth of Hurricane Katrina he worked on the task force to bring out the best in people and sacrifice in the midst of tragedy. However, some seek to take advantage of bad situations. Peter kept them accountable and prosecuted the first public Corruption Case following the disaster. Not content to serve in government, only in government, he took time to teach as well. E spent 20 years as add junk professor and mentored people and beth his personal and professional life and we hope to see in all of our Public Servants and i ask your support of my sfrend. Should you need further information, feel free to ontact me. Senator rubio that will be in our record. Before you proceed with your record, please stand and raise your right hand. [sworn] senator rubio you can be seated. I want to ask you the five standard questions that this committee pose he questions. They can be answered with a simple yes or no if you prefer. You agree to before the committee . If confirmed do you send officials from your office when invited. Do you agree to provide documents or other materials in order for it to carry out its legislative and oversight responsibilities . Will you ensure your office and staff provide materials to the committee when committed and agree and fullly brief all Intelligence Committees rather than only the chairman and vice chairman . R. Thompson yes, sir chairman rubio, vice chairman warner and members of the committee, i am honored to be here today as the president s nominee to be the inspector germ of the Central Intelligence agency. I would like to thank senators cassidy and john contendy for their kind words and i would like to thank President Trump and c. I. A. Director for the confidence they have placed in me with regard to this important position. Further, i am i appreciate and i am deeply grateful to those individuals who wrote or signed letters in support of my nomination and last but certainly not least joining me here today my dear wife patricia and my daughter and thank them for their patience and unwavering love and support throughout this process. Although i spent the majority of my career in u. S. Department of justice, i have always held a deep respect and profound admiration for the men and women of the c. I. A. And the important work they do in preempting threats to our nation. The c. I. A. Has the critical esponsibility of collecting, annualizing, evaluating timely to policy makers and consumers and as you know the c. I. A. Has the responsibility of conducting covert actions when necessary. I believe the officers who serve at the agency, including those who serve at the office of Inspector General, regardless of background, regardless of political affiliation, regardless of philosophical beliefs, are united at the core by a deep love of our country and strong desire and commitment to protect the American People. Deep me, it is truly a honor, one beyond words to be considered for such an important position within the c. I. A. And be given the opportunity if confirmed to lead the patriotic officers of the office of the Inspector General. Growing up in new orleans, i was pleased to have devoted and loving parents who taught me important values which are foundational requirements of an Inspector General. My mom grew up very poor, raised on the banks of the mississippi river. I grew up eating a lot of italian food and we called it the country. My mom had an exceptionally strong constitution and was known to fiercely right in the ace of wrong and taught me the how to pick my friends which had everything to do with character and the importance of Standing Firms in standing in ones quicks. I didnt know it then but she was teaching me how to spy truth to power. My father grew up poor. At age 21 following the attack on pearl harbor, he enlisted and was trained to be a heavy bomber pilot and he was in a b17 which is named old blood and guts and fighting the evils of his generation. He went to Tulane Law School with the help of g. I. And graduated with a high honor and became a successful attorney. My father taught me the same values as my mom. In me and nkinnled the rule of law and why it must be respected and without a doubt, my strong sense of patriotism derives from my fathers sacrifices during world news tonight war ii. I give you the American People and some insight as to how i will perform as inspector germ of the c. I. A. I feel the principles and values instelled in me by my parents, honesty, integ terrorist, patriotism, speaking truth to power, the rule of law and Standing Firm in one convictions together with ones faith and the American Public well. It is my belief that those important principles must guide the work of the inspector germs office. There is another requirement of he Inspector Generals office. It is independence. The i. F. s office must independently plan and execute all of its oversight work with regard to the agency. The c. I. A. Enabling statute requires it. Independence, in my view, means that the work of the Inspector General must be performed in an unbiased and impartial manner. Free of undue or inappropriate influences. By law, no one can force the Inspector General to alter its work product. Should i be confirmed, i can say with absolute confidence that the work that doing the work the i. G. In an unbiased and impartial manner will be my top priority. Although independence is crucial to the proper functioning of the office and essential to its integrity, the Inspector General must also strike a balance between that independence on one hand and on the other working cooperatively and productively with Agency Leadership and this committee. In my view, in addition to all of the i. G. s legal reporting requirements, a Collaborative Team approach within the agency and with Congress Working together to make the agency back is as important to the proper functioning of the Inspector General as is the requirement of independence. Even so, to be clear, the buck stops at the door of the i. G. Together, with my character and values, i believe my professional background and corresponding skill sets have prepared me for this position. During my 23year 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, domestic and International Drug trafficking, racketeering, and political corruption. I held the top secret security clearance for approximately 15 year which is allowed me to work on some sensitive matters. I also coordinated many Multiagency Task force investigations. I worked with a myriad of federal, state and local agencies including offices of Inspector General and countless confidential informants and cooperating individuals rooting out crime, fraud and abuse in a wide variety of contexts. In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, i was detailed to the fabe where i worked on the Katrina Fraud Task force which targeted all kinds of katrina related fraud and corruption. 10 years later, i had the opportunity to work on detail at the National Security agency where, as part of my duties, i provided legal guidance on certain signal, intelligence, and Information Assurance operations of the n. S. A. After retiring from the Justice Department i entered private Legal Practice where i continued to handle criminal matters as well as civil matters and internal investigations involving fraud including most recently a case involving a 1 billion bank failure. My experience as a federal prosecutor has a direct impact on how i will approach the job as c. I. A. Inspector general. But perhaps none more important than my extensive work with numerous confidential informants and cooperators throughout my career. Based on this experience i have a deep understanding of the importance of protecting c. I. A. Employees and contractors who report wrongdoing. I believe that one of the most important if not the most Important Program of any Inspector Generals office is the Whistleblower Program. As inspect jor general if confirmed ill work 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 deficient soirs problems that should be corrected within the agency. Foonlly ill conclude with a solemn promise before this committee and the American Public. If confirmed, i will protect the independence of the c. I. A. Inspector Generals Office and approach all of its work with honesty and integrity. And fairness and impartiality. If you entrust me with this critical role, i will look forward to working with this committee to fulfill its oversight obligations of the c. I. A. Thank you for this opportunity and i look forward to your questions. Thank you. And for the information of the member, if anyone wishes to submit questions for the record we ask after todays hearing, we ask that you do it by close of business tomorrow. Mr. Thompson, i want to begin where you finished your comments. The clear role and mandate on the creation of this committee was to carry out consistent and vibrant oversight over the Intelligence Community and particularly over the Central Intelligence agency and to do that we have to have timely access to intelligence, thats crucial to having meaningful oversight. If con filmed, and i think youve answered this already in the five question set but i want to reask it in a different way, confirmed, can we be assured that you or your designee will kee