Current head of leak investigations slated for NSA deputy - report

The current head of the of the task force designed to provide oversight for the National Security Agency is expected to be named the new deputy director of the intelligence agency when the current deputy steps aside in January, according to a new report.

Richard Ledgett currently serves as the executive in charge of matters related to unauthorized media disclosures - a job created in the wake of the scandal created by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s leaks. His current duties, according to a Reuters report published Thursday, include determining what documents Snowden stole from the agency and how the NSA can improve its programs.

 The NSA refused to comment on the Reuters report, but Ledgett is expected to assume the duties currently held by John “Chris” Inglis. Inglis has been second-in-command at the intelligence agency since 2006 and a report earlier this week indicated that he will step aside by January 2014, joining current NSA Director General Keith Alexander in retirement. 

Inglis admitted earlier this year that the NSA examines data belonging to individuals “two or three hops” from suspected terrorists. That revelation, which was unknown before Inglis made the comment in front of Congress in July, revealed that analysts investigate all of one person’s social connections, all of the connections each of those people have, and the relationships of those who are three people removed from the initial target.  

General Alexander serves as both the director of the NSA and Cyber Command - the military defense program employed to infiltrate the networks of other countries. 

Whether US President Obama will appoint separate heads of each agency remains unknown, but observers have speculated that he will use Alexander’s March departure to revamp the image of US intelligence. Separating the two could also be a viable political option. Marine Corps General Jon Davis, the current deputy at Cyber Command, is expected to leave when his two-year assignment expires in June 2014.