Five facts about Mike Pompeo, expected to replace Tillerson

 

The following are five facts about Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo, who, according to a senior administration official on Thursday, would replace Rex Tillerson as US secretary of state within weeks under a plan developed by the White House.

Most hawkish voices on North Korea

Pompeo, 53, regularly briefs President Donald Trump on intelligence matters and is considered one of the most hawkish voices on North Korea in Trump’s inner circle.

Downplayed Russia's role in 2016 US election

Pompeo has downplayed the extent of Russia’s intervention in the 2016 US presidential election, saying Moscow has sought to influence American elections for decades.

Outspoken critic of Iran

Like Trump, Pompeo is an outspoken critic of Iran and has called for scrapping the 2015 deal curbing Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

In October, he said Iran was “mounting a ruthless drive to be the hegemonic power in the region”.

Supports government collecting comms data

Pompeo has supported the US government’s sweeping collection of Americans’ communications data.

In an opinion piece published last year, he called for restarting the bulk collection of domestic telephone metadata and combining it with financial and lifestyle information into one searchable database.

Retired Army officer, Harvard Law grad

Before taking the reins at the CIA in January, Pompeo was a conservative Republican member of the US House of Representatives from Kansas.

He is a retired Army officer and a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, and Harvard Law School.