Published time: October 18, 2013 03:56
AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards
The current head of the of the task force designed to provide oversight for the National Security Agency is expected to be named the new deputy director of the intelligence agency when the current deputy steps aside in January, according to a new report.
Richard Ledgett currently serves as the executive in charge of
matters related to unauthorized media disclosures – a job created
in the wake of the scandal created by former NSA contractor
Edward Snowden’s leaks. His current duties, according to a
Reuters report published Thursday, include determining what
documents Snowden stole from the agency and how the NSA can
improve its programs.
The NSA refused to comment on the Reuters report, but
Ledgett is expected to assume the duties currently held by John
“Chris” Inglis. Inglis has been second-in-command at the
intelligence agency since 2006 and a report earlier this week
indicated that he will step aside by January 2014, joining
current NSA Director General Keith Alexander in retirement.
Inglis admitted earlier this year that the NSA examines data
belonging to individuals “two or three hops” from
suspected terrorists. That revelation, which was unknown before
Inglis made the comment in front of Congress in July, revealed
that analysts investigate all of one person’s social connections,
all of the connections each of those people have, and the
relationships of those who are three people removed from the
initial target.
General Alexander serves as both the director of the NSA and
Cyber Command – the military defense program employed to
infiltrate the networks of other countries.
Whether US President Obama will appoint separate heads of each
agency remains unknown, but observers have speculated that he
will use Alexander’s March departure to revamp the image of US
intelligence. Separating the two could also be a viable political
option. Marine Corps General Jon Davis, the current deputy at
Cyber Command, is expected to leave when his two-year assignment
expires in June 2014.
Copyright: RT