"Good afternoon this is John DeLong, director of compliance at NSA. Been a busy day, I do want to cover a few things first. I think the most important thing for everyone to understand is that no one at NSA thinks a mistake is okay. That's really got to get out there. We have an internal oversight and compliance program for the purpose of -- of multiple purposes. Preventing mistakes and then when mistakes do occur, to detect them and correct them at the earliest point possible."

I wish that I was here in happier times for the Intelligence Community. The last several weeks have seen a series of reckless disclosures of classified information about intelligence activities. These disclosures threaten to cause long-lasting and irreversible harm to our ability to identify and respond to the many threats facing our Nation.

Robert Litt, ODNI General Counsel, appeared on a panel at the Newseum co-sponsored by the ABA and Medill School of Journalism entitled “NSA Surveillance Leaks: Facts & Fiction” on June 25, 2013.

Most of us know, because we’ve worked in this business for a while, that the business of intelligence is a little iffy, and at the moment, it’s a little chancier than usual.

Thanks very much for that gracious introduction, John [Negroponte, INSA Chairman of the Board].  Good evening to all.  It’s great to see so many old friends here.  Most importantly, we all get to be here with Mike and Jeanine Hayden, along with their family...