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Trump Likes When C.I.A. Chief Gets Political, but Officers Are Wary
Source: New York Times
Trump Likes When C.I.A. Chief Gets Political, but Officers Are Wary
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG AUG. 7, 2017
ASPEN, Colo. — Sweating under the hot glare of stage lights, Mike Pompeo, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, had reached the limits of his patience with questions about Russian interference in the presidential election.
“Just look,” he snapped during the rare public appearance last month at the Aspen Security Forum. “This is the 19th time you all have asked.”
It was, in fact, only the fourth question about Russia that evening. But Mr. Pompeo could be excused for snapping: He runs an agency that is certain Russia meddled in the election, yet serves a president who has dismissed the talk of Russian interference as “fake news” and denounced the investigation into it as a witch hunt.
All C.I.A. directors must balance the political demands of the president they serve with the agency’s avowedly apolitical idea of itself. Yet rarely has a director had to straddle so wide a breach as has Mr. Pompeo, perhaps the most openly political spy chief in a generation — and one of President Trump’s favorite cabinet members.
Unlike past directors, who typically sought to avoid policy discussions, Mr. Pompeo readily joins in when the president asks for his opinion, even on matters far afield of national security, such as health care. And he brings to the table the views of a former congressman first elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010 who staked out ground on the far right of the Republican Party.
-snip-
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG AUG. 7, 2017
ASPEN, Colo. — Sweating under the hot glare of stage lights, Mike Pompeo, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, had reached the limits of his patience with questions about Russian interference in the presidential election.
“Just look,” he snapped during the rare public appearance last month at the Aspen Security Forum. “This is the 19th time you all have asked.”
It was, in fact, only the fourth question about Russia that evening. But Mr. Pompeo could be excused for snapping: He runs an agency that is certain Russia meddled in the election, yet serves a president who has dismissed the talk of Russian interference as “fake news” and denounced the investigation into it as a witch hunt.
All C.I.A. directors must balance the political demands of the president they serve with the agency’s avowedly apolitical idea of itself. Yet rarely has a director had to straddle so wide a breach as has Mr. Pompeo, perhaps the most openly political spy chief in a generation — and one of President Trump’s favorite cabinet members.
Unlike past directors, who typically sought to avoid policy discussions, Mr. Pompeo readily joins in when the president asks for his opinion, even on matters far afield of national security, such as health care. And he brings to the table the views of a former congressman first elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010 who staked out ground on the far right of the Republican Party.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/us/politics/mike-pompeo-cia.html
