Congressman Has Little Tangible Intelligence Experience
Donald Trump has chosen as his Director of the Central Intelligence Agency conservative Kansas Republican Rep. Mike Pompeo, who has accepted.
The three-term congressman has no tangible intelligence experience, although he has served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He has also served on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the House Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi.
In 2013 Pompeo declared that Muslim leaders who do not personally denounce acts of terror committed in the name of Islam are “potentially complicit.”Â
“When the most devastating terrorist attacks on America in the last 20 years come overwhelmingly from people of a single faith and are performed in the name of that faith, a special obligation falls on those that are the leaders of that faith,” Pompeo said in a speech on the House floor, The Hill reported.
“Instead of responding, silence has made these Islamic leaders across America potentially complicit in these acts, and more importantly still, in those that may well follow.”
Pompeo has received strong backing from the Koch Brothers and the NRA.
UPDATE: 8:53 AM ET –
To get a glimpse into Pompeo’s views listen to this 2015 interview he had with anti-Islam extremist Frank Gaffney, published by Right Wing Watch. The article is titled, “GOP Rep Agrees With Frank Gaffney That Obama Has ‘Affinity’ For Terrorists, Muslim Congressman Could Be National Security Risk.”
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This post has been updated to include Rep. Pompeo’s service on the House Committee on Intelligence
Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license