US 'back in business of stealing secrets’: CIA chief

Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo says the United States has resumed “stealing secrets,” a blunt declaration that contradicts claims by former CIA chiefs.
"We are back in the business of stealing secrets,” Pompeo told a small group of reporters on Tuesday, according to Politico.

The spymaster noted that President Donald Trump had ordered the agency to undertake a more forceful approach.

“The president has put in place a set of requirements that will require the CIA to be more aggressive,” he said.

Pompeo’s remarks were seemingly a jab at his predecessor John Brennan, who famously said in March last year that the US “did not steal secrets” under former President Barack Obama.
“We uncover. We discover. We reveal. We obtain. We elicit. We solicit—all of that,” the former CIA chief said then.

John Brennan is sworn in before testifying before the House Intelligence Committee, May 23, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Ironically, Pompeo's statements came on the same day that Brennan testified before the House Intelligence Committee and accused Trump and his campaign officials of having ties with the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin during last year’s presidential race.

“It should be clear to everyone Russia brazenly interfered in our 2016 presidential election process and that they undertook these activities despite our strong protests and explicit warning that they do not do so,” Brennan said, admitting that there was no hard evidence proving “collusion” yet.


He pushed the envelope further by implying that Trump might have broken protocol by sharing highly classified information with Russian officials during a White House meeting earlier this month.

Trump has been under fire from Republicans and Democrats alike to reveal his possible ties with the Kremlin, an accusation he has constantly denied. Russia has strongly rejected any involvement in the US election.

The president found himself in more trouble when he fired FBI chief James Comey, who was leading a probe into a series of hacking attacks that leaked the Democratic National Committee's secrets in the buildup to the election.

The situation took another interesting spin this week, after Trump appointed longtime legal adviser Marc Kasowitz to represent him as a private attorney on matters related to the investigation.