CIA nominee Mike Pompeo agrees Russia tried to interfere in election

WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump’s pick to run the CIA told Congress on Thursday that he accepts the findings in an intelligence assessment that Russia interfered in the U.S. election with the goal of helping Trump win, even though the president-elect has been skeptical of some of the report’s conclusions.

“Everything I’ve seen suggests to me that the report has an analytical product that is sound,” said Mike Pompeo, a Kansas Republican congressman. His comments struck a different tone than those of his future boss, who called the focus on Russia and the election a “political witch hunt” before he was even briefed on the findings.

Trump, for the first time on Wednesday, acknowledged that Russia was behind the computer hacking that targeted Democrats during the 2016 campaign.

As head of the CIA, Pompeo would be responsible for bringing to Trump intelligence assessments the president may find politically unappealing, including additional information on Russia’s interference with the American democratic process. Pompeo promised senators on the intelligence committee that he would do so.

“My obligation as director of CIA is to tell every policy maker the facts as best the intelligence agency has developed them,” Pompeo said. He is currently a member of the House intelligence committee.