The hearing continues …
McCain asks what Pompeo thinks it will take to deter V. Putin on cyber attacks and other matters. Pompeo blahs-blahs again with nothing approaching specificity.
Just one mush reply after another: In reply to Lankford’s softball, Pompeo bunts, saying CIA role is to steal secrets, find out what other nations and non-state entities don’t want us to know.
Manchin: What is the greatest threat to U.S., and what person embodies this? Pompeo: Most immediate threat comes from terrorism, with ISIS and al Qaeda primary. North Korea, China, and Russia are the nations that offer the greatest threat.
Manchin says his constituents worry whether Americans can trust the CIA and broader intelligence community. Pompeo gives his 10th reply seeking to boost morale of CIA employees. But he disagrees with Manchin that current morale is low. He hasn’t seen it, he says.
Tom Cotton suggests that this hearing has been thorough—good grief—and he will save his questions for the closed hearing with Pompeo later this afternoon.
Harris asks if he will commit to equal treatment of LGBT employees at CIA? Pompeo says yes. She asks a similar question about Muslims. Again, the answer is yes. Without enthusiasm.
Harris: One of the causes of security problems throughout the world comes from climate change. Pompeo, a climate change denier, says role of CIA is to collect info on all threats—including cliimate change.
Pompeo had a good reason to avoid climate change talk. Here is what he said on 11/30/15:
"President Obama has called climate change the biggest national security threat of our lifetime, but he is horribly wrong. His unwillingness to acknowledge the true threat posed by Islamic extremism will get Americans killed. His perverse fixation on achieving his economically harmful environmental agenda instead of defeating the true threats facing the world shows just how out of sync his priorities are with Kansans and the American people."
Wyden: A question on outsourced intelligence obtained without warrants. Pompeo: His understanding is that the agency can’t outsource what it can’t legally do itself or even accept stuff it didn’t ask for in this regard.
Session ended. At 1 PM ET, a closed hearing of the committee with Pompeo will begin.
I guess my security clearance won't get me into the closed session where Pompeo might give some real answers to the few senators who asked real questions.