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CIA director calls WikiLeaks ‘hostile intelligence agency’

CIA Director Mike Pompeo speaks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, Thursday, April 13, 2017. Pompeo  denounced WikiLeaks, calling the anti-secrecy group a "hostile intelligence agency." (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
CIA Director Mike Pompeo speaks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, Thursday, April 13, 2017. Pompeo denounced WikiLeaks, calling the anti-secrecy group a "hostile intelligence agency." (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) CIA Director Mike Pompeo speaks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, Thursday, April 13, 2017. Pompeo denounced WikiLeaks, calling the anti-secrecy group a "hostile intelligence agency." (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON (AP) – CIA Director Mike Pompeo (pahm-PAY’-oh) is denouncing WikiLeaks, calling the anti-secrecy group a “hostile intelligence agency.”

In his first public speech since becoming director of the agency, the former Republican congressman says WikiLeaks “walks like a hostile intelligence service and talks like a hostile intelligence service.”

Last month, WikiLeaks released nearly 8,000 documents that it says reveals secrets about the CIA’s cyberespionage tools for breaking into targeted computers, cellphones and even smart TVs.

Pompeo’s remarks contrast with President Donald Trump’s.

Trump said before the election that he was happy to see WikiLeaks publish private, politically damaging emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta.