Mike Pompeo

Mike Pompeo (2017)

Michael Richard "Mike" Pompeo (* thirtieth December 1963 in Orange , California ) is an American politician of the Republican Party , and since April 26, 2018 Secretary of State under President Donald Trump . Pompeo was previously director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from January 23, 2017 . From 2011 to 2017 he represented the state of Kansas in the US House of Representatives .

Family, education and work

Pompeo graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1986 and served between 1986 and 1991 in the United States Army , where he achieved the rank of captain . His first stationing from the end of 1986 to 1988 was the barracks on the Bindlacher Berg near Bayreuth . Later Pompeo was also used in West Berlin . Contrary to popular statements, he did not take part in the Gulf War.

Pompeo married Leslie Libert in 1986; the marriage was divorced in 1997. He later married Susan Mostrous and adopted her son. Pompeo is a member of the Presbyterian Church , where he was a deacon and taught Sunday school.

After completing his law degree from Harvard University in 1994, he worked in Washington, DC for the renowned law firm Williams & Connolly .

In 1998 Pompeo moved to Wichita , where he and three other West Point fellow students acquired shares in suppliers for civil and military aviation (Aero Machine, Precision Profiling, B&B Machine) and under the name Thayer Aerospace, with the participation of the local Koch Industries group united. Pompeo sold its stake in Thayer Aerospace in 2006 and became President of Sentry International , a Koch Industries company that provides heavy equipment for oil exploration.

Political career

During the formation of the Tea Party movement in 2009-10, Pompeo became a member of the Republican Party and joined the Tea Party. In the 2010 election in the fourth congressional district of Kansas, he was elected to the US House of Representatives. The most important supporters of his candidacy included the billionaires Charles G. Koch and David H. Koch , the owners and operators of Koch Industries, as well as their lobby group KochPAC and their organization Americans for Prosperity . Through his commitment to the interests of the Kochs, he became known as the "Congressman of Koch".

Congressman

In the House of Representatives, he succeeded Todd Tiahrt on January 3, 2011 , who had unsuccessfully applied for the nomination for the election to the US Senate . In the 2012 election , Pompeo prevailed with 62 to 31 percent of the vote against Democrat Robert Tillman. He also won re-elections in 2014 and 2016 . In 2015 he briefly showed interest in applying to be a speaker before Paul Ryan declared his candidacy; he was also under discussion as a candidate for the United States Senate and for governor .

In the House of Representatives, Pompeo was, among other things, a simple member of the Committee on Energy and Trade and the Intelligence Committee.

CIA director

On November 18, 2016, he was nominated by the elected US President Donald Trump for the office of Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and confirmed by the Senate on January 23, 2017. Pompeo had previously resigned from his mandate as Congressman.

His first trip abroad in office took Pompeo to Turkey , focusing on two topics: The role of the YPG , the US-supported and trained Kurdish militia in the civil war in Syria , and US support in the fight against the Gülen movement ( FETÖ ), which Ankara blames for the attempted coup in July 2016 . The leader of the movement, the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen , lives in the USA. Turkey demands his extradition. During a phone call, President Erdogan and President Trump emphasized their determination to fight terrorism of all kinds together.

Foreign minister

Pompeo and Donald Trump , May 2, 2018

Pompeo sworn in Francis R. Fannon as Head of Energy Resources Department in the State Department (2018).

Pompeo with the President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro (2019)

On March 13, 2018, it was announced that US President Trump had designated Pompeo as the successor to the dismissed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson . Republican Senator Rand Paul announced the following day that he would vote against Pompeo, which made the vote on Pompeo in the Senate unsafe as the Republicans would have been without a majority without Paul's vote. Paul announced that he would fight the nomination as Pompeo supported the Iraq war and torture during interrogation. However, he bowed to pressure from the White House in mid-April, so the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with Paul's vote and along the party lines (11:10), issued a positive recommendation for Pompeo. Pressure has also been put on Democratic senators, who are up for re-election in November 2018 and represent states where Trump won in 2016, to vote for Trump's nominees in the Senate plenary. In the vote on April 26, 2018, Pompeo was confirmed as Secretary of State by 57 to 42 votes, including the following Democrats whose re-election was at risk: Heidi Heitkamp ( North Dakota ), Joe Donnelly ( Indiana ), Joe Manchin ( West Virginia ), Claire McCaskill ( Missouri ) and Bill Nelson ( Florida ) as well as Doug Jones , one of the most conservative US states, Alabama , represents and Angus King , the Maine represents as an independent.

In July 2018, Pompeo installed a Bureau of Energy Resources at the State Department, which he entrusted to Francis R. Fannon. Pompeo and Fannon accelerated the measures against the construction of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline, which is also supported by the German Federal Government . Fannon openly called for the exit in December 2018.

On January 26, Pompeo appointed neoconservative Elliott Abrams as his special envoy for Venezuela . Abrams was involved in " Operation Condor " and the Iran-Contra affair , US clandestine operations in Latin America during the " dirty wars " period.

Political ambitions

As foreign minister, Pompeo kept his campaign organization intact, which is why there was speculation about his further political career in 2018, such as a later presidential candidacy. After the previous Senator Pat Roberts announced in January 2019 that he would no longer run in the 2020 election, the Republican party leadership, in particular Senate leader Mitch McConnell , tried to win Pompeo for a candidacy.

Pompeo with the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Félix Tshisekedi (2019)

Political positions

monitoring

Pompeo supports the surveillance programs of the National Security Agency and described the agency's work as "good and important". He believed that “Congress should pass a law to reinstate all metadata that has been collected and link it to all publicly available financial and lifestyle information to create a comprehensive, searchable database. Legal and bureaucratic obstacles that prevent surveillance are to be removed. This includes President's Policy Guideline No. 28, which gives foreigners privacy rights and imposes cumbersome requirements to justify data collection activities. "

terrorism

In a 2013 address in the House of Representatives, Pompeo said that Muslim politicians who do not condemn acts of terrorism in the name of Islam are "potential accomplices" in these attacks. The Council on American-Islamic Relations then called on Pompeo to revise his comment, calling it "false and irresponsible" because it was refuted by clear evidence.

Prisons

Pompeo is against dismantling the detention center in Guantánamo Bay . After visiting the camp in 2013, he said of the prisoners who were on hunger strike there: "It seems to me that some of them have put on weight." He criticized the Obama administration's decisions to close black sites and investigators' compliance of anti-torture laws.

North Korea

Pompeo with Kim Jong-un

Even as CIA director, Pompeo was instrumental in the Trump administration's North Korea policy. As Foreign Minister, he is negotiating with North Korea on its nuclear and long-range missile program. As part of this, he visited the North Korean capital Pyongyang twice and met with leader Kim Jong-un. He managed to bring three US citizens of Korean descent who had been detained by North Korea back to the USA. On May 30, 2018, his negotiating partner, North Korean Labor Party Vice Chairman Kim Yong Chol, visited New York and met with Pompeo. At this high-level meeting, the two negotiators prepared for the summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.

Iran

Pompeo worked to undermine the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on nuclear materials with Iran, which had been supported by the Obama administration. Regarding the agreement, he said, “I'm looking forward to reversing this entire disastrous deal with the world's largest state terrorist sponsor.” Pompeo also took the view that a better option than negotiating with Iran would be “with less than 2,000 Aircraft take off to destroy all Iranian nuclear capacities. Such a task could be created for the Alliance of Armed Forces. "

On July 21, 2015, Pompeo and Senator Tom Cotton alleged that there were secret collateral agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency on procedures for the inspection and review of Iran's nuclear activities in addition to the official Joint Nuclear Action Plan. Obama administration officials confirmed the existence of agreements between Iran and the IAEA regulating the inspection of sensitive military installations, but denied claims that these were "secret ancillary agreements," describing the agreements as a common practice in arms control pacts pointed out that the government had informed Congress of the subsidiary agreements.

Israel

Pompeo with Benjamin Netanyahu

In November 2015, Pompeo visited Israel, calling Prime Minister Netanyahu "a loyal partner to the American people" and saying "Netanyahu's efforts to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power are incredibly admirable and wholeheartedly welcomed". He also said that “in the fight against terrorism, cooperation between Israel and the United States has never been more important than it is today” and that “we must stand together with our ally Israel and put an end to terrorism. The ongoing attacks by the Palestinians only serve to postpone the prospect of peace in the distant future. "

On November 18, 2019, Pompeo declared that Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank was legal and not in violation of international law.

Russia

In his inauguration hearing, Pompeo said Russia “has once again shown itself to be aggressive by invading and occupying Ukraine, threatening Europe, and also by doing almost nothing to help destroy the Islamic State. "

Pompeo with Mohammed bin Salman

Syria

Pompeo has accused former US President Obama of inviting the Russians to Syria.

WikiLeaks

In a 2017 address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies , Pompeo described WikiLeaks as “non-state enemy intelligence” and described WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as a narcissistic cheater and coward.

“We can no longer give Assange and his colleagues the leeway to use the values ​​of free speech against us. Giving them space to crush us with illegally obtained secret information is a perversion of all that our great constitution stands for. That’s all over now ... Assange and his kind are playing together with dictators today. Yes, they try unsuccessfully to disguise themselves and their actions with the language of freedom and data protection; in truth, however, they never advocate anything other than their own notoriety. Their currency is the baiting of clicks; their moral compass doesn't even exist. Their mission is to put themselves on a pedestal by destroying the values ​​of the West. "

Edward Snowden

In February 2016, Pompeo said Edward Snowden "should be brought back from Russia and properly tried, and I believe the appropriate outcome would be the death penalty for him." However, Pompeo advocated reform of the Federal Records Act - exempted one of the laws that Snowden was charged under by saying, “I'm not sure there is so much that needs to be done about the Espionage Act. The Federal Records Act clearly needs an update to reflect the various new ways in which information is communicated and stored. When I think about how much has changed in technology and communication methods, I think it is time for an update. ”In March 2014, Pompeo condemned a video message from Snowden at the South-by-Southwest conference in Austin should be played, and suggested that it be canceled as it would encourage “lawless behavior” by participants.

energy and Environment

Speaking about climate change in 2013, Pompeo said there are scientists who “believe all sorts of things about climate change. Some believe it will be warmer, others think it will be colder, and still others think the climatic environment has remained pretty stable over the past 16 years. "

Pompeo called for the American family to be at the center of politics instead of “preaching a radical environmental agenda”. He always emphasized that the Obama administration's environmental and climate policy plans were "harmful" and "radical". He campaigns against government regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and supports the abolition of the US federal register of greenhouse gas emissions. Pompeo signed the Americans for Prosperity's petition against a climate levy.

Pompeo has called for the tax exemptions for wind power generation to be permanently abolished and called them an "enormous government alms".

In December 2015, Pompeo, as a member of the Committee for Energy and Trade in the House of Representatives, voted for two resolutions to reject the Clean Power Plan implemented by the national environmental protection agency in the Obama era . On May 9, 2013, Pompeo introduced the Natural Gas Pipeline Permit Reform Act. This law would have required the federal energy regulation to approve or reject every single plan for a natural gas pipeline within 12 months. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives with the votes of the Republicans, but failed in the Senate.

health

Pompeo spoke out against Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare reform ; even if he supports individual programs of the ACA, he rejects them if they are integrated into the ACA.

Social policy

Pompeo takes the classic views of the evangelical right in the US, for example, that life begins with procreation, and demands that abortion should only be allowed when the mother's life is in danger. In 2011, Pompeo voted for a law that stipulated that no taxpayer funding should be used for abortion (the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act ). He opposes same-sex marriages and has supported draft laws to prevent states from allowing it.

In 2013, Pompeo supported the lockdown of the US federal government, blamed President Obama for this and defended the closure by saying that otherwise in 10 years the US would face financial collapse. In the same year he supported the law to revive air traffic with small aircraft. He is against the fact that food manufacturers have to label products that contain genetically modified organisms. In 2015, he introduced a draft law for the safe and precise labeling of foodstuffs in order to prevent individual states from enacting mandatory genetic engineering labeling.

Pompeo is a lifetime member and endorsement of the National Rifle Association (NRA) Gun Lobby.

Web links

• Mike Pompeo in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Mike Pompeo in the nndb (English)
• Mike Pompeo. In: CIA.gov (English)
• Mike Pompeo in the Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nordbayerischer Kurier: At Grafenwoehr: Minister Pompeo and US soldiers on the military training area - Nordbayerischer Kurier. Retrieved November 7, 2019 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Lindsay Wise, Jonathan Shorman, Katherine Burgess: Pompeo confirmed as Secretary of State - but he's also ready for higher office. In: The Wichita Eagle , April 26, 2018.
3. ^ It Turns Out Mike Pompeo Never Served in the Gulf War ( April 21, 2018 memento in the Internet Archive ) New York Magazine April 20, 2018.
4. ↑ Mike Pompeo Fast Facts: Here's a look at the life of Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State and former CIA director. In: Kezi.com , January 7, 2019.
5. ↑ Mike Pompeo's Mission: Clean Up Trump's Messes. In: The New York Times , February 26, 2019.
6. ↑ Emily McFarlan, Kimberly Winston: Trump advisers: The faith factor. In: Religion News Service , December 13, 2016. For the classification of his parish, see Annie Calovich: Eastminster church decides to break from denomination. In: The Wichita Eagle , October 30, 2011.
7. ↑ Santa Ana Cadet Wins Top West Point Honor , Los Angeles Times. May 31, 1986. Retrieved April 22, 2018. 
8. ↑ Thomas Barrabi: Mike Pompeo owned Kansas aerospace company before political career. In: Fox Business , April 28, 2018.
9. ↑ Jane Mayer: Dark Money : The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right. Doubleday, New York 2016, ISBN 978-0-385-53559-5 . P. 276.
10. ↑ Election 2012: Kansas. In: The New York Times , November 2012.
11. ↑ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/08/26/mike-pompeo-the-secretary-of-trump
12. ↑ Katie Little: Trump offers top Central Intelligence Agency post to Rep. Mike Pompeo. In: CNBC. November 18, 2016, accessed November 18, 2016 . 
13. ↑ Donald Trump: Recep Tayyip Erdogan serves himself to the US President. In: Der Spiegel , February 9, 2017.
14. ↑ The new CIA chief's first international visit is to Turkey. In: TRT German , February 8, 2017.
15. ↑ Ashley Parker, Philip Rucker: Trump ousts Tillerson, will replace him as secretary of state with CIA chief Pompeo. In: The Washington Post , March 13, 2018.
16. ^ Burgess Everett: Rand Paul opposes Pompeo nomination for secretary of state. In: Politico , March 14, 2018.
17. ↑ Jordain Carney: Heitkamp becomes first Dem to back Pompeo for secretary of State. In: The Hill , April 18, 2018; Gardiner Harris, Thomas Kaplan: Senate Confirms CIA Chief Mike Pompeo to Be Secretary of State. In: The New York Times , April 26, 2018.
18. ↑ Darko Janjevic: Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline - What is the controversy about? Berlin is under increasing pressure to pull the plug on Nord Stream 2, the planned gas pipeline that would link Russia and Germany below the Baltic Sea. Here is what you need to know about the massive project. July 14, 2018, accessed March 27, 2019 . 
19. ↑ CDU parliamentary group warns of Nord Stream 2. On the side of Trump: In a position paper, the CDU parliamentary group warns of the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2. Russia would use the project to destabilize Ukraine, it says. December 13, 2018, accessed March 27, 2019 . 
20. ↑ Alex Isenstadt: Pompeo to discuss running for Kansas Senate seat. In: Politico , January 20, 2019.
21. ^ Dion Lefler: NSA is doing 'important work', Pompeo tells Wichita State students . In: The Wichita Eagle , November 4, 2013. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2017. 
22. ^ Time for a Rigorous National Debate About Surveillance . In: The Wall Street Journal , Jan. 3, 2016. 
23. ↑ Pete Kasperowicz: GOP lawmaker: US Muslim leaders 'complicit' in terrorist attacks . In: The Hill , June 11, 2013. 
24. ↑ GOP lawmaker: US Muslim call Pompeo comments leaders "false and irresponsible" . Council on American-Islamic Relations. June 12, 2013. Archived from the original on April 16, 2017. Retrieved on December 10, 2017.
25. ↑ Senate debates Guantánamo in first hearing on closing prison since 2009 . July 24, 2014. 
26. ^ GOP Rep: 'No crisis' at Gitmo, detainees 'have put on weight' . In: MSNBC , May 26, 2013. 
27. ↑ Julie Hirschfeld Davis: Trump Turns to His Right Flank to Fill National Security Posts . In: The New York Times , November 18, 2016. 
28. ↑ http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/reisediplomatie-kims-mann-in-new-york.1939.de.html?drn:news_id=888020 (link not available)
29. ^ Trita Parsi, Ryan Costello: Cotton, Pompeo And Trump Are A Recipe For War With Iran .
30. ^ White House launches Iran side deals counterattack . In: The Hill , July 26, 2015. 
31. ↑ ^{a b} Amir Tibon: Mike Pompeo Has Hawkish History on Israel and Iran . In: Haaretz , November 30, 2017. 
32. ↑ [shttps: //www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2019-11/westjordanland-siedlungsbau-usa-israel Zeit.de: Schützenhilfe für Netanyahu], November 18, 2019
33. ↑ Tagesschau.de: USA consider settlement construction as legal
34. ↑ Focus.de: USA: Israel's settlement construction in the West Bank is not a violation of international law
35. ^ Greg Miller: At CIA, a watchful eye on Mike Pompeo, the president's ardent ally , The Washington Post . August 24, 2017. 
36. ^ Director Pompeo Delivers Remarks at CSIS. Central Intelligence Agency, April 13, 2017, accessed April 27, 2018 . 
37. ↑ Pete Kasperowicz: Lawmaker: 'Traitor' Snowden deserves death penalty . In: Washington Examiner , February 11, 2016. 
38. ↑ Rudy Takala : Hillary Clinton's tech failings could ripple through records rules . In: Washington Examiner , June 20, 2016. 
39. ↑ Andrea Drusch: SXSW 2014: Mike Pompeo wants Edward Snowden off the bill . In: Politico , March 9, 2014. 
40. ^ Mike Pompeo on Washington Journal . C-SPAN. June 25, 2013.
41. ^ Dion Lefler: Kansas starts working toward clean air plan that Pompeo wants to kill . In: The Wichita Eagle , December 3, 2015. 
42. ↑ Pledge Takers . In: NoClimateTax.com . Americans for Prosperity . Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
43. ↑ Mike Pompeo: Rep. Mike Pompeo: Wind tax credit harms economy . In: The Wichita Eagle , September 30, 2012. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2017. 
44. ↑ HR 1900 - Summary . United States Congress . December 9, 2013.
45. ↑ Pete Kasperowicz: Thursday: Pipelines in the House, amendment fight in the Senate . In: The Hill , November 21, 2013. 
46. ↑ GovTrack: HR 161 (114th): Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act . GovTrack .
47. ↑ Mike Pompeo: The Obama Care train wreck: Column . In: USA Today , September 3, 2013. 
48. ↑ Lee Fang: GOP Congressman Explains Why He Wants to Defund a Health Program He Supports . In: The Nation , October 15, 2013. 
49. ↑ Roxana Hegeman: Pompeo: No rape exception in anti-abortion view , The Topeka Capital-Journal . October 24, 2012. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved on December 10, 2017. 
50. ^ Curtis Tate: Pompeo tells Kamala Harris he won't discriminate against LGBT workers at the CIA . In: The McClatchy Company , January 13, 2017. 
51. ^ Bill Wilson: Pompeo: For the GOP, shutdown is now about reforming entitlement programs . In: The Wichita Eagle , October 2, 2013. 
52. ↑ HR1848 - Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013 . Congress.gov .
53. ^ Carey Gillam: US bill seeks to block mandatory GMO food labeling by states . In: Reuters , April 9, 2014. 
54. ↑ NRA-PVF Endorses Mike Pompeo for US House of Representatives in Kansas' 4th Congressional District . In: National Rifle Association . September 15, 2010.