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Mike Pompeo

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Mike Pompeo
United States Secretary of State
Nominee
Assuming office
TBD*
PresidentDonald Trump
SucceedingJohn Sullivan (Acting)
6th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 23, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyGina Haspel
Preceded byJohn O. Brennan
Succeeded byGina Haspel (Nominee)
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Kansas's 4th district
In office
January 3, 2011 – January 23, 2017
Preceded byTodd Tiahrt
Succeeded byRon Estes
Personal details
Born
Michael Richard Pompeo

(1963-12-30) December 30, 1963 (age 60)
Orange, California, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseSusan Pompeo
Children1
EducationUnited States Military Academy (BS)
Harvard University (JD)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1986–1991[1]
Rank Captain[1][2]
Unit2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division
*Pending Senate confirmation

Michael Richard Pompeo (born December 30, 1963) is an American politician and intelligence officer since January 23, 2017, after being nominated by President Donald Trump. Previously, he was the member of the United States House of Representatives for Kansas's 4th congressional district from 2011 to 2017. He was a member of the Tea Party movement within the Republican Party.[4] He was a Kansas representative on the Republican National Committee and a member of the Italian American Congressional Delegation.

On March 13, 2018, Trump announced his intention to nominate Pompeo as the new United States Secretary of State, succeeding Rex Tillerson.[5][6] Upon confirmation by the US Senate, Director Pompeo would be the 70th person to hold office since its creation in 1789.[7][8]

Education, and early career

Pompeo was born in Orange, California, the son of Dorothy (née Mercer) and Wayne Pompeo.[9][10] He is of Italian ancestry. His paternal grandmother was born in Caramanico Terme.[11] In 1982, Pompeo graduated from Los Amigos High School in Fountain Valley, California where he played power forward on the basketball team.[12] In 1986, Pompeo graduated first in his class from the United States Military Academy at West Point where he majored in mechanical engineering.

From 1986 to 1991, Pompeo served in the U.S. Army as an Armor Branch cavalry officer.[1] He served as a United States Cavalry officer patrolling the Iron Curtain before the fall of the Berlin Wall.[13] He also served with the 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry in the 4th Infantry Division in the Gulf War. [14]

In 1994, Pompeo received a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, where he was on the 81-member board of editors[15] of the Harvard Law Review.[1] After graduating, he worked as a lawyer for Williams & Connolly.[16]

Business career

In 1998, along with other West Point alumni, Pompeo founded Thayer Aerospace and Private Security, which received a 2% investment from Koch Industries.[17][18] In 2006, he sold his interest in Thayer, at which point it was renamed Nex-Tech Aerospace, and became president of Sentry International, an oilfield equipment company, which was also a partner with Koch Industries.[17]

U.S. House of Representatives

Official portrait for the 112th United States Congress

Elections

2010
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Kansas, 2010 § District 4

In the 2010 Kansas Republican primary for the 4th District Congressional seat, Pompeo defeated State Senator Jean Schodorf (who received 24%), Wichita businessman Wink Hartman (who received 23%), and small business owner Jim Anderson (who received 13%). State Senator Dick Kelsey also ran for the nomination, but ended his campaign before the August primary and endorsed Pompeo.[19][20] Late in the primary, Schodorf began to surge in the polls, prompting two outside groups—Americans for Prosperity and Common Sense Issues, an Ohio-based political group—to spend tens of thousands of dollars in the final campaign days to attack Schodorf and support Pompeo.[21]

In the general election, Pompeo defeated Democratic nominee Raj Goyle, a member of the Kansas House of Representatives. Pompeo received 59% of the vote (117,171 votes), to 36% for Goyle (71,866).[22] During the campaign, Pompeo sparked controversy when his campaign's Twitter account shared, then later deleted, a blog post calling his Indian-American opponent a "turban topper" and then-President Barack Obama an "evil Muslim communist."[23]

During the campaign, Pompeo received $80,000 in donations from Koch Industries and its employees.[24]

2012
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Kansas, 2012 § District 4

In his 2012 re-election bid, Pompeo defeated Democratic nominee Robert Tillman by a margin of 62%–32%.[25]

US congressional delegation at Halifax International Security Forum 2014
2014
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Kansas, 2014 § District 4

Pompeo won the general election, defeating Democrat Perry Schuckman, with 66.7% of the vote.[26]

2016
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Kansas, 2016 § District 4

Pompeo beat Democrat Daniel B. Giroux in the general election with 60.6% of the vote.[27]

Committee assignments

Pompeo served on the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the following three subcommittees: the United States House Energy Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection, the United States House Energy Subcommittee on Energy, and the United States House Intelligence Subcommittee on the CIA. He was also on the United States House Select Committee on Benghazi.[28]

CIA Director

On November 18, 2016, then-President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Pompeo to be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.[29] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 23, 2017 with a vote of 66–32, and sworn in later that day.[30][31]

In February 2017, Pompeo traveled to Turkey and Saudi Arabia. He met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to discuss policy on Syria and ISIL.[32] Pompeo honored the then-Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad bin Nayef with the CIA's "George Tenet" Medal.[33] It was the first reaffirmation of Saudi Arabia–United States relations since Donald Trump took office in January 2017.[34]

In August 2017, Pompeo took direct command of the Counterintelligence Mission Center, the department which helped to launch an investigation into possible links between Trump associates and Russian officials.[35] Former CIA Directors expressed concern since Pompeo is known to be an ally of Donald Trump.[36]

Political positions

Pompeo speaking at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C.
Pompeo speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C.

Military and national security

Surveillance

Pompeo supports the surveillance programs of the National Security Agency, referring to the agency's efforts as "good and important work."[37]

Pompeo stated that "Congress should pass a law re-establishing collection of all metadata, and combining it with publicly available financial and lifestyle information into a comprehensive, searchable database. Legal and bureaucratic impediments to surveillance should be removed. That includes Presidential Policy Directive-28, which bestows privacy rights on foreigners and imposes burdensome requirements to justify data collection."[38]

Terrorism

In a 2013 speech on the House floor, Pompeo said Muslim leaders who fail to denounce acts of terrorism done in the name of Islam are "potentially complicit" in the attacks.[39] The Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Pompeo to revise his remarks, calling them "false and irresponsible."[40]

Prisons

Pompeo opposes closing Guantanamo Bay detention camp.[41] After a 2013 visit to the prison, Pompeo said, of the prisoners who were on hunger strike, "It looked to me like a lot of them had put on weight."[42]

Pompeo criticized the Obama administration's decision to end black sites (secret prisons), and its requirement that all interrogators adhere to anti-torture laws.[43]

North Korea

Pompeo desires regime change in North Korea.[44] In July 2017, Pompeo said "It would be a great thing to denuclearize the peninsula, to get those weapons off of that, but the thing that is most dangerous about it is the character who holds the control over them today."[45]

Iran

Pompeo worked to undermine the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran that was supported by the Obama Administration. Referring to the agreement, Pompeo stated “I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.”[46] Pompeo also stated that a better option than negotiating with Iran would be to use “under 2,000 sorties to destroy the Iranian nuclear capacity. This is not an insurmountable task for the coalition forces.”

On July 21, 2015, Pompeo and Senator Tom Cotton alleged the existence of secret side agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on procedures for inspection and verification of Iran's nuclear activities under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal. Obama administration officials acknowledged the existence of agreements between Iran and the IAEA governing the inspection of sensitive military sites, but denied the characterization that they were "secret side deals", calling them standard practice in crafting arms-control pacts and arguing the administration had provided information about them to Congress.[47]

Israel

In November 2015, Pompeo visited Israel and stated that "Prime Minister Netanyahu is a true partner of the American people" and that "Netanyahu's efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons are incredibly admirable and deeply appreciated". He also stated that "In the fight against terrorism, cooperation between Israel and the United States has never been more important" and that "We must stand with our ally Israel and put a stop to terrorism. Ongoing attacks by the Palestinians serve only to distance the prospect of peace.”[48]

Russia

During his confirmation hearing, Pompeo stated that Russia "has reasserted itself aggressively, invading and occupying Ukraine, threatening Europe, and doing nearly nothing to aid in the destruction and defeat of ISIS.”[48]

Syria

Pompeo accused President Obama of inviting Russia into Syria.[35]

WikiLeaks

In a 2017 speech addressing the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Pompeo referred to WikiLeaks as "a non-state hostile intelligence service" and described founder Julian Assange as a narcissist, fraud, and coward.

"... we can no longer allow Assange and his colleagues the latitude to use free speech values against us. To give them the space to crush us with misappropriated secrets is a perversion of what our great Constitution stands for. It ends now.... Assange and his ilk make common cause with dictators today. Yes, they try unsuccessfully to cloak themselves and their actions in the language of liberty and privacy; in reality, however, they champion nothing but their own celebrity. Their currency is clickbait; their moral compass, nonexistent. Their mission: personal self-aggrandizement through the destruction of Western values."[49]

Edward Snowden

In February 2016, Pompeo said Edward Snowden "should be brought back from Russia and given due process, and I think the proper outcome would be that he would be given a death sentence."[50] But he has spoken in favor of reforming the Federal Records Act, one of the laws under which Snowden was charged, saying "I'm not sure there's a whole lot of change that needs to happen to the Espionage Act. The Federal Records Act clearly needs updating to reflect the different ways information is communicated and stored. Given the move in technology and communication methods, I think it's probably due for an update."[51]

In March 2014, Pompeo denounced the inclusion of a telecast by Snowden in the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas and asked that it be cancelled, predicting that it would encourage "lawless behavior" among attendees.[52]

Energy and environment

Speaking about climate change in 2013, Pompeo said: "There are scientists who think lots of different things about climate change. There's some who think we're warming, there's some who think we're cooling, there's some who think that the last 16 years have shown a pretty stable climate environment."[53]

Pompeo has stated that "Federal policy should be about the American family, not worshipping a radical environmental agenda." He has referred to the Obama Administration's environment and climate change plans as "damaging" and "radical." He opposes the regulation of Greenhouse gas emissions by the United States, and supports eliminating the United States federal register of greenhouse gas emissions.[54]

Pompeo signed the No Climate Tax pledge of Americans for Prosperity.[55]

He has called for the permanent elimination of wind power production tax credits, calling them an "enormous government handout".[56]

In December 2015, as a member of the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Pompeo voted for two resolutions disapproving of the Clean Power Plan implemented by the United States Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration.

On May 9, 2013, Pompeo introduced the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act.[57] The bill would have required the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve or reject any proposal for a natural gas pipeline within 12 months.[58] The bill passed the House of Representatives along party lines but was not voted on in the Senate.[59]

Healthcare

Pompeo opposed the Affordable Care Act (ACA).[60] Pompeo has been criticized for saying that he supports funding for certain programs that are part of the ACA, yet he opposes them when they are a part of the ACA.[61]

Social issues

Pompeo has stated that life begins at conception and believes that abortions should be allowed only when necessary to save the life of the mother.[62] In 2011, Pompeo voted for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would have banned federal health coverage that includes abortion. Also in 2011, he voted for a prohibition on funding the United Nations Population Fund.

Pompeo opposed same-sex marriage and had sponsored bills to let states prevent same-sex couples from marrying.[63]

Miscellaneous

Pompeo supported the United States federal government shutdown of 2013, blaming President Obama. He stated that he believed the shutdown was necessary to avoid a predicted "American financial collapse 10 years from now."[64]

Pompeo is a lifetime member of, and has been endorsed by, the National Rifle Association.[65]

Pompeo opposes requiring food suppliers to label food made with genetically modified organisms. He introduced the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015 to block states from requiring mandatory GMO food labeling.[66]

Pompeo sponsored the Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013.[67]

Personal life

Pompeo is married to Susan Pompeo and has one son, Nicholas. He attends Eastminster Presbyterian Church, where he serves as a deacon and teaches the fifth-grade Sunday school class.[68]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Gerstein, Josh (January 12, 2017). "Who is Mike Pompeo". Politico.
  2. ^ Sebastian, Michael (January 23, 2017). "12 Facts About Mike Pompeo, Trump's CIA Director". Cosmopolitan.
  3. ^ Tate, Curtis (January 10, 2017). "Mike Pompeo: Just a regular guy among Trump nominees worth millions, billions". The McClatchy Company.
  4. ^ Gehrke, Joel (August 7, 2014). "Tea-Party Power Endures". National Review.
  5. ^ "Trump fires Tillerson as secretary of state". March 13, 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  6. ^ Parker, Ashley; Rucker, Philip (March 13, 2018). "Trump ousts Tillerson, will replace him as secretary of state with CIA chief Pompeo". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  7. ^ Haaretz (March 13, 2018). "Meet Mike Pompeo, Trump's Reported New Hardliner Secretary of State". Haaretz. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  8. ^ "Rex Tillerson out as secretary of state; CIA Director Mike Pompeo will replace him". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  9. ^ Jarlson, Gary (May 31, 1986). "Santa Ana Cadet Wins Top West Point Honor". Los Angeles Times.
  10. ^ Lee, Teresa (October 20, 2010). "Pompeo Visits Mother's Childhood Home". The Wellington Daily News.
  11. ^ ""Mike Pompeo", futuro capo della Cia, ha origini abruzzesi". Prima Da Noi. December 5, 2016.
  12. ^ Wisckol, Martin (November 18, 2016). "Friend says Mike Pompeo, Trump's CIA nominee from O.C., was 'born smart'". Orange County Register.
  13. ^ Kelly, Mary Louise (December 14, 2016). "For CIA Nominee Mike Pompeo, 'Not A Good Situation To Inherit'". NPR.
  14. ^ Newsman, Lily Hay (January 12, 2017). "Mike Pompeo's CIA Director Hearing: 3 Questions Congress Must Ask". Wired.
  15. ^ "Editorial Board 107 Harvard Law Review 1993-1994". heinonline.org. Retrieved March 13, 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  16. ^ Lefler, Dion (July 29, 2010). "Pompeo hopes varied background gives him edge". The Wichita Eagle.
  17. ^ a b FANG, LEE (September 21, 2010). "Meet Mike Pompeo: The Congressional Candidate Spawned By The 'Kochtopus'". Think Progress.
  18. ^ Eggen, Dan (March 20, 2011). "Pompeo draws liberal groups' ire". The Washington Post.
  19. ^ Lefler, Dion; Sylvester, Ron (August 4, 2010). "Pompeo, Goyle to Meet in 4th District race". The Wichita Eagle. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ D'Aprile, Shane (August 4, 2010). "Pompeo wins GOP primary in Rep. Tiahrt's district". The Hill.
  21. ^ Lefler, Dion; Sylvester, Ron (August 3, 2010). "Pompeo, Goyle to meet in 4th District race". The Wichita Eagle.
  22. ^ "House Results Map". The New York Times.
  23. ^ "Mike Pompeo, GOP Candidate, Apologizes For Tweet Attacking Challenger As An 'Evil' 'Turban Topper', Could-Be Muslim". The Huffington Post.
  24. ^ Eggen, Dan (March 20, 2011). "GOP freshman Pompeo turned to Koch for money for business, then politics". The Washington Post.
  25. ^ Wingerter, Justin (October 1, 2015). "Wichita attorney Dan Giroux announces challenge to Rep. Mike Pompeo". The Topeka Capital-Journal.
  26. ^ "Kansas Secretary of State 2014 General Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of Kansas. November 4, 2014.
  27. ^ "Official Vote Totals" (PDF). Secretary of State of Kansas.
  28. ^ Lowry, Bryan (August 8, 2014). "Rep. Mike Pompeo appointed to Benghazi investigation committee". The Wichita Eagle.
  29. ^ Buncombe, Andrew (November 18, 2016). "Donald Trump appoints Congressman Mike Pompeo as CIA director". The Independent.
  30. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation Mike Pompeo, of Kansas, to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency)". Senate.gov. January 23, 2017.
  31. ^ Miller, Greg (January 23, 2017). "Senate confirms Mike Pompeo as CIA director". The Washington Post.
  32. ^ "New CIA chief in Ankara on first foreign visit". News24. Agence France-Presse. February 9, 2017.
  33. ^ Greenwald, Glenn (April 14, 2017). "Trump's CIA Director Pompeo, Targeting WikiLeaks, Explicitly Threatens Speech and Press Freedoms". The Intercept.
  34. ^ McKernan, Bethan (February 13, 2017). "CIA awards Saudi crown prince with medal for counter-terrorism work". The Independent.
  35. ^ a b Miller, Greg (August 24, 2017). "At CIA, a watchful eye on Mike Pompeo, the president's ardent ally". The Washington Post.
  36. ^ Bondarenko, Veronika (August 25, 2017). "'People have to watch him': The CIA reportedly suspects its director could try to shield Trump from the Russia probe". Business Insider.
  37. ^ Lefler, Dion (November 4, 2013). "NSA is doing 'important work', Pompeo tells Wichita State students". The Wichita Eagle. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  38. ^ Pompeo, Mike; Rivkin Jr., David B. (January 3, 2016). "Time for a Rigorous National Debate About Surveillance". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660.(subscription required)
  39. ^ Kasperowicz, Pete (June 11, 2013). "GOP lawmaker: US Muslim leaders 'complicit' in terrorist attacks". The Hill.
  40. ^ "GOP lawmaker: US Muslim call Pompeo comments leaders "false and irresponsible"" (PDF). Council on American-Islamic Relations. June 12, 2013.
  41. ^ "Senate debates Guantánamo in first hearing on closing prison since 2009". Associated Press. July 24, 2014.
  42. ^ "GOP Rep: 'No crisis' at Gitmo, detainees 'have put on weight'". MSNBC. May 26, 2013.
  43. ^ Davis, Julie Hirschfeld (November 18, 2016). "Trump Turns to His Right Flank to Fill National Security Posts". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  44. ^ Watkins, Eli (July 21, 2017). "CIA chief signals desire for regime change in North Korea". CNN.
  45. ^ Greenwood, Max (July 21, 2017). "CIA chief 'hopeful' for change in North Korea". The Hill.
  46. ^ Parsi, Trita; Costello, Ryan. "Cotton, Pompeo And Trump Are A Recipe For War With Iran".
  47. ^ Fabian, Jordan; Wong, Kristina (July 26, 2015). "White House launches Iran side deals counterattack". The Hill.
  48. ^ a b Tibon, Amir (November 30, 2017). "Mike Pompeo Has Hawkish History on Israel and Iran". Haaretz.
  49. ^ "Director Pompeo Delivers Remarks at CSIS — Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov.
  50. ^ Kasperowicz, Pete (February 11, 2016). "Lawmaker: 'Traitor' Snowden deserves death penalty". Washington Examiner.
  51. ^ Takala, Rudy (June 20, 2016). "Hillary Clinton's tech failings could ripple through records rules". Washington Examiner.
  52. ^ Drusch, Andrea (March 9, 2014). "SXSW 2014: Mike Pompeo wants Edward Snowden off the bill". Politico.
  53. ^ "Mike Pompeo on Washington Journal". C-SPAN]]. June 25, 2013.
  54. ^ Lefler, Dion (December 3, 2015). "Kansas starts working toward clean air plan that Pompeo wants to kill". The Wichita Eagle.
  55. ^ "Pledge Takers". NoClimateTax.com. Americans for Prosperity.
  56. ^ Pompeo, Mike (September 30, 2012). "Rep. Mike Pompeo: Wind tax credit harms economy". The Wichita Eagle.
  57. ^ "H.R. 1900 – Summary". United States Congress. December 9, 2013.
  58. ^ Kasperowicz, Pete (November 21, 2013). "Thursday:Pipelines in the House, amendment fight in the Senate". The Hill.
  59. ^ "Govtrack: H.R. 161 (114th): Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act". GovTrack.
  60. ^ Pompeo, Mike (September 3, 2013). "The ObamaCare train wreck: Column". USA Today.
  61. ^ Fang, Lee (October 15, 2013). "GOP Congressman Explains Why He Wants to Defund a Health Program He Supports". The Nation.
  62. ^ Hegeman, Roxana (October 24, 2012). "Pompeo: No rape exception in anti-abortion view". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Associated Press.
  63. ^ Tate, Curtis (January 13, 2017). "Pompeo tells Kamala Harris he won't discriminate against LGBT workers at the CIA". The McClatchy Company.
  64. ^ Wilson, Bill (October 2, 2013). "Pompeo: For the GOP, shutdown is now about reforming entitlement programs". The Wichita Eagle.
  65. ^ "NRA-PVF Endorses Mike Pompeo for U.S. House of Representatives in Kansas' 4th Congressional District". National Rifle Association. September 15, 2010.
  66. ^ Gillam, Carey (April 9, 2014). "U.S. bill seeks to block mandatory GMO food labeling by states". Reuters.
  67. ^ "H.R.1848 - Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013". Congress.gov.
  68. ^ McFarlan Miller, Emily; Winston, Kimberly (December 13, 2016). "Trump advisers: The faith factor". Religion News Service.
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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Kansas's 4th congressional district
2011–2017 		Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
2017–present 		Incumbent
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