00:00All right, and I understand the talk about protecting the infrastructure, it's very important,
00:06but I want to focus on, and I'm going to largely base the scenario I'm about to outline, I'm
00:11going to base it on a CNN February 9th exclusive about a tabletop exercise, and it basically
00:20describes the following tabletop exercise, China creates a fake AI video showing a Senate
00:25candidate destroying ballots, and they're able to identify that it's AI, that it's fake,
00:36so we have the ability to do that, and I think that's what you've described,
00:40the DNI's office is able to do through that, was it the, through DARPA, I guess the
00:47effort, the semantic forensics technology and all that, okay, so we know it's fake,
00:52what the article says, and what I want to know, maybe the article is wrong and you
00:55could correct me, is after that, in this tabletop exercise, no one knew what happened next,
01:01there was, they struggled to, on how, what the response should be, there was a struggle,
01:07who would notify the public, according to this article, no, and the number two at the FBI,
01:13number two at CIA, number two at DHS was part of this tabletop, nobody raised their hand and says
01:18that we will do it, we want to be the ones in charge of notifying the public, there was real
01:22consternation, if in fact this was being promoted through a cutout, like maybe, I imagine, like a
01:26blogger, let's say there's a right-wing blogger or a left-wing blogger, and that person is the
01:29one that released the video, now there was certain fear that if we go out and say that this video is
01:34fake and this person is spreading it, people are going to say the government itself is interfering
01:38in our elections, and then a real question about if so many Americans already don't trust the
01:43federal government or the intelligence agencies, you know, how can we get them to trust us that
01:48this is not a real video, so here's what I want to ask, if in fact the scenario like this plays out,
01:54video comes out, I'm not on the ballot this year, so let's use me, video comes out and it's me in
02:00an audio recording, fake, saying yeah, I'm going to rig the election and I'm going to steal a bunch
02:04of ballots, it's fake, you know it's fake, what happens at that point, because I'm now a week
02:10before the election, six days before the election, does someone notify me, am I able to say that, is
02:15someone going to come out and say this is not real, he really didn't say that, what happens, because
02:20this article says it would be turned over to state and local officials, I don't know what a state and
02:24local official is supposed to do, they're going to turn around and say yes, the DNI's office or the
02:28FBI or somebody told us this was fake, I don't understand what the process that would happen at
02:33that point is, do we have a process that would kick in in a situation like that one I just described?
02:41Yeah, absolutely, so first of all, I wasn't at the tabletop exercise, so I don't know what
02:47happened in that particular scenario, but I understand that's not actually an accurate
02:52representation of what the discussion was, I would say that in terms of what would happen, yes, there
02:57would be a statement, so I think the model that I pointed to in 2020 is an appropriate model,
03:05if there is basically a video or some fake, some deep fake or disinformation that's being promoted,
03:14it could be that we find out about it through intelligence, it could be otherwise identified,
03:18and it would go through, if it's intelligence through the notification framework, the notification
03:23framework is an interagency group that basically indicates, okay, we think this is something that
03:29deserves a public statement. I don't mean to interrupt you, I just wanted to ask you this
03:32for clarification, so the video is clearly fake, you'll be able to, you may not be able to attribute
03:38it to a foreign entity, but you'll at least be able to say this is not real, and we're working
03:41to see where it came from, maybe it was designed by some guy in a basement, but maybe it was designed
03:45by a nation state, but at a minimum, we have to be able to say this thing is not real, and it could
03:51be the work of a foreign adversary, who, I say we, but who would be, would you be the one that
03:56would stand up, is it the DNI, is it the FBI, who would be the person that would stand before the
04:01American people and say, we're not interfering in the election, we just want you to know that video
04:04is not real, who would be in charge of that? Yeah, so I could be the person that goes out and makes
04:10that determination, and I'll just give you an example, frankly, one of the ones that the chairman
04:14just mentioned from this morning, there's an article today about the fact that there is a fake
04:19video that was basically promoted, we think by Storm 1516, it's a Russian-affiliated group,
04:26basically, and that video purports to show a whistleblower and a Ukrainian former employee
04:32of a made-up CIA-supported troll farm tasked with interfering in the upcoming presidential election.
04:40CIA immediately came out with a statement that basically indicates and is reflected in the
04:44article that this is fake, and I am here to say categorically that this claim is patently false,
04:53that there is no such thing, it is disinformation, and that is the kind of approach that we'll
04:58continue to take across the board. Okay, but is that established that you would be, you're saying
05:03you could be the one that does, I mean, who is, I guess my point is that really, I don't want there
05:06to be any gray area, like someone needs to be in charge of interfacing with the American people
05:10and ultimately saying, we will be responsible for notifying the American people, has that been
05:15established? The only hesitation that you hear from me is based on the fact that there may be
05:20certain circumstances in which, for example, a state or local official or other, basically, public
05:25authorities in a better position to make the public statement initially and for the rest of us to come
05:30back behind, so it's just a question going through the process and determining what exactly is the
05:36issue that's being raised, what's the fake information that's being put forward, who is
05:42going to be the best, essentially, official to immediately come out. And who makes that decision
05:47that's through, for example, the notification framework.
05:52I think it's a very valid question and I'll remind colleagues in open hearings, we go straight seniority.
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