Senate intelligence committee to question Trump team on Russian Federation links

Wyden, a member of the Senate’s intelligence committee known for championing privacy, said Pompeo, if confirmed, would face “an enormous challenge” pursuing “honorable policies” given statements made by President-elect Donald Trump. He addressed the matters in the headlines.

The inquiry will include “any intelligence regarding links between Russian Federation and individuals associated with political campaigns”, the committee said.

Even so, we’re now in a situation where the incoming president is effectively under congressional investigation for foreign influence before he takes office, which I guess is in keeping with the “never a tiresome moment” promise of the Trump campaign past year.

Pompeo’s position against torture techniques at the hearing falls in line with those of other Trump nominees testifying this week.

Those who have seen the West Point graduate and former Army tank officer in closed-door House Intelligence Committee hearings are not surprised by Pompeo’s enthusiasm for becoming spy chief.

The senator brought up a tweet from July 24, 2016, in which Pompeo posted a WikiLeaks story as “proof that the fix was in from” President Barack Obama. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) from being confirmed as Central Intelligence Agency director, and no Republicans have expressed any indication they will oppose him.

Donald Trump’s pick to run the CIA has said he accepts the findings in an intelligence assessment that Russian Federation interfered in the United States election with the goal of helping the Republican win, even though the president-elect has been sceptical of some of the report’s conclusions. Pompeo replied, “I do not”. Angus King, I-Maine, whether he considers WikiLeaks to be a valuable source of information.

“I take a backseat to no one in protecting American’s privacy”, Pompeo said.

Another awkward moment came when Sen.

Pompeo also faced questioning from California Democrat Kamala Harris who seemed to feel his stance against gay marriage would hamper his work to secure the nation.

Then, Harris asked Pompeo about the CIA’s acknowledgement of the “impact of climate change” on global instability.

Pompeo said public social media profiles such as those on Facebook could be useful in the CIA’s counterterrorism efforts.

Diverging from Trump’s stated aim of seeking closer ties with Russia, Pompeo accused the Russian leadership of “aggressive action” in meddling in the November U.S. elections, of “asserting itself aggressively” by occupying part of Ukraine and of doing “doing almost nothing” to destroy Islamic State. “They won’t refuse”, he said.

“Whereas a few years ago, we focused on stemming the flow of foreign fighters going to Syria and Iraq, today, the concern is making sure they, and those they inspire, are prevented from expanding their reach, returning home, or slaughtering more innocent people”, he added. We should go for waterboarding and we should go tougher than waterboarding.

His remarks were the latest by one of Trump’s cabinet picks to stand in sharp contrast to the views of their future boss, who has previously praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and pledged to improve ties with him.