WASHINGTON -- NSA head Mike Rogers is no stranger to dealing with other people's messes. After all, the Navy admiral was tapped in early 2014 to lead Washington’s most secretive spy shop through its perhaps most devastating scandal -- the leaks of former contractor Edward Snowden, which revealed the agency was collecting the communications of American citizens en masse.
But while Rogers appears to have paid his dues performing damage control, his congressional overseers reminded him Thursday that in Washington, you’re never safe from being dragged into someone else’s scandal.
In rare open hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday afternoon, Rogers was tasked with pitching his agency to the American people. The event was fairly benign -- until freshman Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) got a hold of the microphone.
"What would be your response if the current secretary of state or another cabinet member came to you and said ‘Admiral Rogers, I would like to set up a private, nongovernmental server and use that to conduct official business?" Cotton asked, referencing Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server during her time as Secretary of State.
An exasperated Rogers paused.
"You really want to drag me into this mess?"
Cotton, infamous for bombastic statements, didn’t let the poor guy off the hook.
"Are the communications of the senior most advisors, even those that may be unclassified, a top priority for foreign intelligence services, in your opinion?"
Rogers did say that if a foreign government official used a private email server, it would be considered a potential vulnerability -- one that could be easy to exploit.
“From a foreign intelligence perspective, that represents opportunity,” he said.
Cotton asked Rogers, who was not leading the NSA while Clinton was secretary of state, whether any NSA official knew about or emailed Clinton’s private account during her time in government.
Rogers, stressing that he wasn’t there at the time and had no idea, told Cotton he would check his records and get back to him.
The NSA head may have thought he had weathered his share of scandals, but it looks like he's just getting started.
CORRECTION: A previous version misidentified Sen. Tom Cotton as Rep. Tom Cotton.