>>2323470 lb
>https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2018/07/nsa-hasnt-implemented-post-snowden-security-fixes-audit-finds/150067/
Very interesting & complicated story about the last NSA OG, George Ellard. Still trying to piece together the story behind the story, but have gut feeling that Admiral Rogers made the correct decision with excellent timing.
Prolly big part of reason why these security measures have taken so long to implement.
https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-06-20/national-security-agency-may-finally-get-independent-internal-watchdog
If confirmed by the Senate, Storch would take over from acting NSA inspector general Russell Decker, who took office after longtime NSA inspector general George Ellard stepped down as Inspector General in July 2016 to join the faculty of the National War College as the NSA designee.
NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers, who in August 2016 had proposed Ellard be removed from the agency on a charge that he retaliated against a whistleblower, instead placed Ellard on administrative leave.
Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense Stephanie Barna found that Ellard "did not take, fail to take, or threaten to take or fail to take any action" to retaliate against the whistleblower. She further decided in December 2017 that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the charge and no penalty was imposed. Ellard remains an NSA employee in good standing.
It's unclear why President Barack Obama didn’t propose a candidate for Senate confirmation until November 2016, after NSA Director Michael Rogers recommended Ellard’s termination. Storch was also Obama's pick, but the Senate did not act.
Nick Schwellenbach, director of investigations at the Project on Government Oversight, speculates that nominating an independent NSA inspector general wasn't a high priority for the Obama administration, explaining the lapse since legislation passed in July 2014.
https://shadowproof.com/2016/12/15/nsa-inspector-general-said-snowden-manic-thief-may-fired-whistleblower-retaliation/
Though unnamed, government officials confirmed Ellard was issued a “notice of proposed termination” in May from Admiral Mike Rogers, who is the NSA director. The notice came after “eight months of inquiry and deliberation” by an external review panel made up of the inspector generals from the Justice Department, Treasury Department, and Central Intelligence Agency. They overturned a finding from the Pentagon inspector general, which determined it could not confirm the retaliation claim against Ellard.
Ellard became the NSA’s inspector general in 2007 (BUSH II), and until Snowden’s disclosures, he did not make public appearances.
https://libertarianinstitute.org/justice/curious-case-ex-nsa-inspector-general-george-ellard/
The DoD and NSA IG’s have clear conflicts of interest when employees from within their own ranks are implicated in potential criminal wrongdoing. PPD-19 was supposed to be the answer to such conflicts of interest, but it’s lack of teeth from an enforcement standpoint renders it a badly flawed remedy for an extremely serious integrity problem.