[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 83 (Monday, May 4, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2203-S2204]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    NOMINATION OF WILLIAM R. EVANINA

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, since June of 2018, I have objected to 
the nomination of William R. Evanina to be Director of the National 
Counterintelligence and Security Center. Today, due to the recent 
actions by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence ODNI, 
and the Attorney General to finally respond to my very longstanding 
oversight requests, I withdraw my objection to Mr. Evanina's 
nomination.
  When I noticed my intention to object to this nominee in June of 
2018, I made it very clear to the public and to the administration my 
reasons for doing so. I did not question Mr. Evanina's credentials in 
any way, and I put my statement of those reasons in the Record. I have 
done that consistently, not only since the rules of the Senate first 
required every Member to do that, but even before that rule was put in 
place.
  At the time, I experienced difficulties obtaining relevant documents 
and briefings from the Justice Department and ODNI related to the 2016 
election controversies. On several occasions, then-Deputy Attorney 
General--DAG--Rod Rosenstein personally assured me that the Senate 
Judiciary Committee, of which I was chairman, would receive equal 
access to information provided to the House Permanent Select Committee 
on Intelligence--HPSCI--with regard to any concessions in its 
negotiations regarding pending subpoenas from that committee. However, 
I, and the Judiciary Committee, never received equal access from DAG 
Rosenstein.
  For example, on August 7, 2018, I wrote to the Justice Department and 
pointed out that the House Intelligence Committee had received 
documents related to Bruce Ohr that the Judiciary Committee had not 
received. The Department initially denied those records had been 
provided to the House Intelligence Committee. After my staff confronted 
the Department, we eventually received some Bruce Ohr documents. In 
that same 2018 letter, I also asked for other documents based on my 
equal access agreement with DAG Rosenstein.
  I then learned that the Justice Department took the position that 
then-ODNI Director Dan Coats prohibited the Department from sharing the 
requested records with the committee. Needless to say, it was your 
typical bureaucratic blame-game.
  Then, some personnel changes took place. I voiced my concerns to 
Acting Director Grenell and Attorney General Barr. Recently, thanks to 
their commitment to transparency, I have received access to the types 
of documents that I asked for almost 2 years ago in June 2018. 
Moreover, both Acting Director Grenell and Attorney General Barr have 
gone multiple steps further by declassifying much of the information 
that I had sought access to. Credit should be given when it is due and 
Acting Director Grenell and Attorney General Barr deserve that credit 
here today.
  If their predecessors had simply respected legitimate congressional 
oversight and their agreements with me and the Judiciary Committee from 
the beginning, Mr. Evanina would have been confirmed long ago.
  Now, I also want to remind everyone, especially future 
administrations, that the Senate Judiciary Committee's jurisdiction 
extends to the intelligence community. In the authorizing resolution 
that created the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the Senate 
explicitly reserved for other standing committees, such as the Senate 
Judiciary Committee, independent authority to ``study and review any 
intelligence activity'' and ``to obtain full and prompt access to the 
product of the intelligence activities of any department or agency'' 
when such activity ``directly affects a matter otherwise within the 
jurisdiction of such committee''--S. Res. 400. The Senate Judiciary 
Committee has jurisdiction over all federal courts, including the 
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, FISC. As I understand it, the 
records at issue here fall into that category.
  Let this also be a reminder that when it comes to congressional 
oversight, I will use all the tools at my disposal to get to the truth 
of the matter and get access to the records that I believe are 
necessary to advance my investigations. The executive branch must 
recognize that it has an ongoing obligation to respond to congressional 
inquiries in a timely and reasonable manner. As I have said many times 
before, transparency brings accountability and congressional oversight 
helps to bring about the sunlight necessary for that to happen.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question is, 
Will the Senate advise and consent to the Feitel nomination?
  Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer), the Senator from Utah (Mr. Lee), the 
Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran) and the Senator from Florida (Mr. 
Rubio).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Utah (Mr. Lee) would 
have voted ``yea,'' the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran) would have 
voted ``yea,'' and the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio) would have 
voted ``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Brown), the 
Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. 
Leahy), the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray), the Senator from 
Vermont (Mr. Sanders), the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Schatz), the 
Senator from Michigan (Ms. Stabenow), the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. 
Udall), and the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) are 
necessarily absent.
  The result was announced--yeas 87, nays 0, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 81 Ex.]

                                YEAS--87

     Alexander
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blackburn
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Boozman
     Braun
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Collins

[[Page S2204]]


     Coons
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Harris
     Hassan
     Hawley
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Loeffler
     Manchin
     Markey
     McConnell
     McSally
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Paul
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Risch
     Roberts
     Romney
     Rosen
     Rounds
     Sasse
     Schumer
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Sinema
     Smith
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                             NOT VOTING--13

     Brown
     Cramer
     Heinrich
     Leahy
     Lee
     Moran
     Murray
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Stabenow
     Udall
     Whitehouse
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sullivan). Under the previous order, the 
motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and 
the President will be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.
  The majority leader.

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