Statement for the Record
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
CIA General Counsel Nominee Kate Heinzelman
April 6, 2022
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Vice Chairman, Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to
appear before you today. Senator Bennet, thank you for the generous introduction. I am deeply
honored by the President's nomination and by the trust that he, Director Bums, and Deputy
Director Cohen have placed in me.
Throughout my years in public service, I have been blessed to have extraordinary mentors.
These individuals-who have served with distinction across administrations-have taught me
about the national security issues we face and how to be a rigorous lawyer and effective partner.
I believe this is a critical moment for the Intelligence Community. Intelligence is key to helping
decisionmakers and can serve as the country's best first line of defense. Ensuring the CIA
conducts its mission within the bounds of the law is integral to that defense and an example to
the world about the rule of law in America.

It would be a great privilege to serve as the CIA' s general counsel.

I first came to the Intelligence Community as a summer intern analyst at the agency. That
experience opened a window for me into the professionalism and dedication of CIA officers. It
had a lasting impact on me.
After graduating college, I joined the staff of President Bush's Commission on Weapons of Mass
Destruction (WMD), which was charged with investigating the intelligence failures about Iraq's
WMD program and recommending a path forward.
I then served in the office of the first Director of National Intelligence.
Following law school, and two clerkships where I had the chance to see national security issues
from another vantage point, I worked in the National Security Division at the Department of
Justice-the creation of which had been one of the WMD Commission's recommendations.
I then went to the White House Counsel's Office and later served as a Deputy General Counsel
at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, where I helped lead an office of hundreds
of lawyers.
In 2017, I joined the law firm Sidley Austin, where I focused on cybersecurity and privacy law.
Since January 2021, I have been honored to serve as the Chief Counselor in the Office of the
Attorney General at the Department of Justice.

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If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed, I will bring each of these experiences to bear in
helping the CIA navigate the challenges from nation-state and non-state actors that we face
today. Among these: Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China's efforts to expand its power
worldwide, cyber attacks against networks of all kinds, terrorist threats, and a multitude of
others.

Director Burns has established his priorities for the agency: China, technology, people, and
partnerships. The General Counsel's office can play a critical role in enabling CIA to do its vital
work, and implement its priorities, in a manner that is fully consistent with the law.
To this end, the first objective of the General Counsel's Office should, in my view, be to provide
clear and accurate legal advice on the full range of matters confronted by the agency. Just as we
seek rigor and timeliness in intelligence, so too should we demand these things from the
agency's talented and dedicated lawyers.
Second, the office should be an important contributor to the agency's compliance work. I
believe agency lawyers should not just deliver advice on the law, but also make sure their advice
is actionable and anticipates, to the extent possible, what is around the next corner.
Third, the office should help maintain the public trust and reinforce accountability to the
American people. This includes working closely with this Committee to help enable the
congressional intelligence committees' critical oversight work, and helping to provide
appropriate transparency about the basis for CIA's actions. This is particularly indispensable at
the CIA, given that the agency's activities are generally conducted outside of public view.
To achieve these three objectives, the General Counsel must maintain an office that invests in its
workforce and partnerships-two of Director Burns' priorities. If confirmed, I would view these
as two foundational priorities.
To provide top-notch legal counsel in this operational environment requires that lawyers not only
have subject-matter expertise and close relationships with their clients, but also the independence
that enables lawyers to deliver advice, at times, that clients may not want to hear.

I am here, as I noted at the outset, because I have had the chance to learn from extraordinary
public servants. I am also here because of the friends, teachers, and family who have supported
me.
My husband is the rock of our family. There are not words enough to thank him. And our
children-with a third due to arrive any day-are a daily reminder of what we work, as public
servants, to protect.
I have brought my children with me in the hope that seeing these halls, and the great American
tradition that these proceedings represent, will leave as indelible an impression on them as my
encounters with the great institutions of our government have left on me.

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Thank you for considering my nomination and for holding this hearing today. I look forward to
answering your questions.

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