Watch Senator King’s questioning here, and download broadcast quality video here

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today stressed the importance of checks and balances on the intelligence community, and the need for national security agencies to adapt to evolving threats in cyberspace. In a hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator King began his questioning by asking Kate Heinzelman – the nominee for General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency – to reaffirm her commitment to supporting Congressional oversight of the intelligence community and pledge to make critical national security information “readily available on a timely basis” to the committee.

“A secret agency is an anomaly in a democracy, and our government is built upon an elaborate set of checks and balances, many of which don’t necessarily apply to a secret agency. The law is one of those checks that does,” said Senator King. “To go back to the very beginning of this hearing, you answered ‘yes’ to the Chairman’s questions about making information readily available on a timely basis to this committee. I think that’s critically important, and I hope right now I’d like to give you an opportunity to renew that commitment that you made earlier today.”

“I think the obligations that the CIA Director - that the general counsel - are under to ensure that this committee is fully and timely informed are critical. As I mentioned in my opening statement, I believe this is particularly critical at an agency like the CIA that necessarily has to conduct a lot of its work outside of the public view,” replied Ms. Heinzelman. “I will always do my utmost to comply with those obligations and to bring matters to this committee consistent with all obligations to protect sensitive information because I view a partnership with this committee as being absolutely essential to the success of the agency’s mission overall.”

“It’s part of the checks and balance in our system that this committee has this reasonability,” Senator King continued. “This isn’t like the Department of Agriculture or the Department of Commerce that has outside commentators and newsletters and the press and all those kinds of things. We’re it, and that’s why our relationship with you is so important.”

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Continuing his questioning, Senator King, the Co-Chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, urged Ms. Heinzelman to ensure the CIA and intelligence community are prepared to deal with new, growing cyberthreats that may not fall clearly within jurisdictions.

“One of the areas that it seems to me that we’re going to have to be thinking about is that we’ve had this clear distinction in our intelligence laws and in our law enforcement between U.S. and abroad. The CIA doesn’t operate in the United States, the FBI does. NSA doesn’t operate with regards to U.S. persons. Here’s the problem, we’re entering an area where that line is harder to draw. For example, in the area of cyber,” said Senator King, Co-Chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. “There may be a cyberattack that originates in Russia or in China but goes through servers in New Jersey or California. And the question is, is that a domestic issue or a foreign issue? Give me some thoughts about how we maintain the fencing in, if you will, of our intelligence agencies with regards to Americans, and yet at the same time, effectively respond to threats that are more complex and the lines are harder to draw.”

“That issue, particularly when it comes to technology, is, as you note, increasingly complex. And the CIA and the intelligence community have several tools to help them work through those issues, but fundamentally, a lot of those questions are legal questions, are questions on which lawyers give guidance, and there’s some of the types of issues that I think are the most challenging. It’s one of the reasons why I think it is a huge advantage to have lawyers who really understand technology,” replied Ms. Heinzelman. “Sometimes generalists’ knowledge is not enough to help us answer those types of questions. I think that working with the intelligence community at large, as a community, to figure out which agencies are best suited, consistent with their authorities, consistent with EO-12 Triple 3 guidelines to be the lead on given issues is one of the most important features of our community system of intelligence.”

As a member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, and Co-Chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC), Senator King is seen as a highly-influential voice in the intelligence and national security conversation. Since it officially launched in April 2019, dozens of CSC recommendations have been enacted into law, including the creation of a National Cyber Director. As Russia has continued their unprovoked attack on Ukraine, Senator King has worked to provide Ukraine with urgent lethal and humanitarian aid and give Ukrainian leaders the intelligence they need to fight Russia’s heinous attacks. Last month, King joined a bipartisan Congressional delegation to Poland and Germany where he met with NATO leaders, Ukrainian refugees, and U.S. servicemembers for a first-hand look at the humanitarian crisis and America’s efforts to support Ukrainians.