US House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R., Mich.), in a rare public hearing of the usually secretive panel, on Tuesday sought to frame recent leaks about US surveillance programs as damaging, saying the disclosures had painted an “inaccurate picture” and unfairly created mistrust in the US government. At the hearing, Gen. Keith Alexander, the director of the National Security Agency, was expected to provide details on two additional examples of how two controversial surveillance programs have helped thwart terrorist attacks. He said early Tuesday there were more than 50 such examples. So far, officials have said the programs helped thwart a 2009 New York Subway bombing plot and another plot that year against a Danish newspaper. Officials haven’t provided an example in which phone-records data provided unique insight that thwarted an attack. “I hope today’s hearing will help answer the questions that have arisen as a result of the fragmentary and distorted illegal disclosures over the past several days,” Mr. Rogers said in the text of prepared remarks. He said “one of the more damaging aspects of selectively leaking incomplete information is that it paints an inaccurate picture and fosters distrust in our government.
