This New York Times mini-profile of Trump's new CIA director, the hard-hard-right former House Republican Mike Pompeo, mostly dodges the question of whether or not Pompeo might use his new powerful position as political shield for the man who appointed him.
In the midst of an investigation into Russian intelligence operations aimed at electing Trump that has already found its way into Trump Tower and Trump's own family, that’s the big question everyone's been asking.
Yet the attributes that have endeared Mr. Pompeo to the president — his hawkish politics and eagerness to speak his mind — have been met with a more mixed reception at the C.I.A. The agency sees its role as delivering hard truths that are unvarnished by political preferences, and there are concerns in the intelligence community that Mr. Pompeo’s partisan instincts color his views of contentious issues, such as Russia’s interference in the election or Iran’s nuclear program.
“The big test is going to be when there’s a direct confrontation between the agency and the administration,” said Vince Houghton, a military and intelligence historian who is the curator of the International Spy Museum in Washington.
Let's suppose Donald Trump orders the CIA to shut down their own counterintelligence investigation into the extent of Russian hacking, which is not at all out of the realm of possibility for an administration that ridded itself of an FBI director over that precise dispute. Does Pompeo go along with it? The man has garnered praise from multiple corners for being one of the few Trump hires that may know a thing or two about what he's supposed to be managing, but in the House he was known for, among other things, promoting Benghazi "cover-up" conspiracy theories against Hillary Clinton—even after every one of the House's own investigations had concluded otherwise.
So far Pompeo's been aggressively dodging questions about Russian interference, which is unusual because, as the Times points out, he's been quite vocal with many other of his opinions. Because Pompeo's influence in the White House is based solely on keeping Donald Trump happy at all times, that may be an act of self-preservation.
Trump became furious with his attorney general for recusing himself from the Russia investigation. He fired an FBI director for his agency's probes. He's reportedly been discussing with his aides the possibility of firing the special counsel now tasked with the investigation. He has been loud about demanding loyalty from his subordinates above all else.
It's not a rhetorical question. If the CIA has solid evidence tying members of the Trump presidential campaign to Russian influence efforts—and the leaks so far suggest they indeed have an extensive collection of intercepts of key Russian figures—what will Mike Pompeo do then?