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NSA Director Offered To Resign After Edward Snowden Leaks: Report

NSA Director Reportedly Offered To Resign After Snowden Leaks
By 

Politics Reporter, The Huffington Post

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Gen. Keith Alexander, the Director of the National Security Agency, offered to resign after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed himself as the source of leaked agency documents, according to a report in Monday's Wall Street Journal.

The Obama administration declined the offer. One former defense official told the newspaper that officials were concerned that Alexander's resignation would give Snowden a win.

The heretofore unreported revelation comes about a month after the announcement that Alexander would leave the agency early next year. Reuters reported Oct. 16 that Alexander was expected to leave by March or April, citing anonymous officials. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed a day later that Alexander, who has led the agency for eight years, would leave his post in March.

Snowden leaked classified documents to The Washington Post and The Guardian in June detailing the agency's telephone and Internet spying programs. He fled to Hong Kong and then Moscow, where he is currently residing.

White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden declined to comment on the report, pointing instead to Carney's Oct. 28 statement that President Barack Obama has "full confidence" in Alexander.

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Before You Go

Politicians React To NSA Collecting Phone Records
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)(01 of07)
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Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said the court order for telephone records was part of a three-month renewal of an ongoing practice, the Associated Press reported."It’s called protecting America," Feinstein said at a Capitol Hill news conference. (credit:AP)
Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.)(02 of07)
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Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) said "the administration owes the American public an explanation of what authorities it thinks it has." (credit:AP)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)(03 of07)
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) thought everyone "should just calm down.""Right now I think everyone should just calm down and understand this isn't anything that's brand new," Reid said. (credit:Getty Images)
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)(04 of07)
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Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said in a statement:"This type of secret bulk data collection is an outrageous breach of Americans’ privacy." (credit:AP)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)(05 of07)
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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he was "glad" the NSA was collecting phone records. "I don’t mind Verizon turning over records to the government if the government is going to make sure that they try to match up a known terrorist phone with somebody in the United States," Graham said in an interview on "Fox and Friends." (credit:AP)
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.)(06 of07)
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Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) also claimed that reports of the NSA collecting phone records was "nothing particularly new.""Every member of the United States Senate has been advised of this," Chambliss said. "And to my knowledge we have not had any citizen who has registered a complaint relative to the gathering of this information." (credit:AP)
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)(07 of07)
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Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) found the NSA collecting phone records "troubling.""The fact that all of our calls are being gathered in that way -- ordinary citizens throughout America -- to me is troubling and there may be some explanation, but certainly we all as citizens are owed that, and we're going to be demanding that," Corker said. (credit:AP)
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