fbpx
  • Latest
  • Trending
Who Is Mike Pompeo?

Who Is Mike Pompeo?

3 years ago
Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

2 days ago
A Bridge Too Far

A Bridge Too Far

3 days ago
Objective Journalism Does Not Entail Telling Both Sides

Objective Journalism Does Not Entail Telling Both Sides

3 days ago
New Jersey Organizations Demand Strong Response To Insurrectionists

New Jersey Organizations Demand
Strong Response To Insurrectionists

4 days ago
We Need Amy Kennedy Now

An Open Letter To Congressman Van Drew

4 days ago
“This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

“This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

5 days ago
Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

1 week ago
Donald Trump Must Be Held To Account For His Crimes

Donald Trump Must Be Held
To Account For His Crimes

1 week ago
All Our Sons

All Our Sons

1 week ago
It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden To Simply Be Human

It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden
To Simply Be Human

1 month ago
We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

1 month ago
The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

1 month ago
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Login
  • Register
The Standard
  • Home
    • All
    • Business
    • Culture
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
    • Immigration
    • Justice
    • Letters
    • Media
    • Military
    • National
    • Opinion
    • Politics
    • Satire
    • Sports
    • Uncategorized
    • World
    Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

    Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

    A Bridge Too Far

    A Bridge Too Far

    Objective Journalism Does Not Entail Telling Both Sides

    Objective Journalism Does Not Entail Telling Both Sides

    New Jersey Organizations Demand Strong Response To Insurrectionists

    New Jersey Organizations Demand
    Strong Response To Insurrectionists

    We Need Amy Kennedy Now

    An Open Letter To Congressman Van Drew

    “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

    “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

    Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

    Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

    Donald Trump Must Be Held To Account For His Crimes

    Donald Trump Must Be Held
    To Account For His Crimes

    All Our Sons

    All Our Sons

    Trending Tags

    • Politics
      Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

      Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

      A Bridge Too Far

      A Bridge Too Far

      New Jersey Organizations Demand Strong Response To Insurrectionists

      New Jersey Organizations Demand
      Strong Response To Insurrectionists

      We Need Amy Kennedy Now

      An Open Letter To Congressman Van Drew

      Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

      Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

      Donald Trump Must Be Held To Account For His Crimes

      Donald Trump Must Be Held
      To Account For His Crimes

      All Our Sons

      All Our Sons

      It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden To Simply Be Human

      It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden
      To Simply Be Human

      We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

      We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

      The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

      The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

      Trending Tags

      • politics
    • Justice
      Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

      Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

      “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

      “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

      Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

      Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

      Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

      Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

      Non-Violence Isn’t A Just Moral Imperative, It’s A Superior Strategy

      Non-Violence Isn’t A Just Moral Imperative, It’s A Superior Strategy

      The Future Of The Supreme Court

      The Future Of The Supreme Court

      Why We Fight (Part One): The Uphill Battle

      The Fight To Decide Whose Life Matters

      Legalize It

      Legalize It

      A Rational Response To Perpetual Atrocity Is Rage

      A Rational Response To Perpetual Atrocity Is Rage

      Community Concerns Fall On Deaf Ears

      Community Concerns Fall On Deaf Ears

      Trending Tags

      • Justice
    • Culture
      The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

      The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

      Why We Can’t Talk About It

      Why We Can’t Talk About It

      Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

      Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

      Why We Can’t Be Friends

      Why We Can’t Be Friends

      Arguing With Idiots

      The Weight Of Empathy

      The Problem With White Men

      The Problem With White Men

      A Walking Hard-On

      A Walking Hard-On

      One Conspiracy Theory To Rule Them All

      One Conspiracy Theory To Rule Them All

      The Mysterious Complexity Of The Common French Fry

      The Mysterious Complexity Of The Common French Fry

      Trending Tags

      • Satire

        Arguing With Idiots

        White House Criticizes Bob Woodward For Taking President Seriously

        White House Criticizes Bob Woodward For Taking President Seriously

        Senator Rand Paul Subpoenas Tooth Fairy

        Senator Rand Paul Subpoenas Tooth Fairy

        Mmm Mmm Good

        Mmm Mmm Good

        Trending Tags

        • Education
          Gold, Lies, And Genocide In The New World

          Gold, Lies, And Genocide In The New World

          Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

          Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

          The Covid Kids Are Alright

          The Covid Kids Are Alright

          The Problem With The Pledge Of Allegiance

          The Problem With The Pledge Of Allegiance

          A Boat Full Of Holes

          A Boat Full Of Holes

          Why I Don’t Worry About My Kids Falling Behind

          Why I Don’t Worry About My Kids Falling Behind

          Any Plan To Reopen Schools This Fall Is Irresponsible And Negligent

          Any Plan To Reopen Schools This Fall Is Irresponsible And Negligent

          An Acceptable Loss

          An Acceptable Loss

          Educating Children During Quarantine

          Educating Children During Quarantine

          Thinking Outside The Curriculum

          Thinking Outside The Curriculum

          Trending Tags

          • Education
        • Housing
          Let the Voters Decide

          Cape May’s Untouchables

          The Cost Of Homelessness in Cape May County

          The Cost Of Homelessness in Cape May County

          Who Cares For Cape May County’s Unwanted?

          Who Cares For Cape May County’s Unwanted?

          The Myth Of American Justice: Falling Through The Cracks Part Two

          Falling Through The Cracks: Part One

          Falling Through The Cracks: Part One

          Criminalizing Homelessness

          Criminalizing Homelessness

          We Are The Branches

          We Are The Branches

          Code Blue At The Beach

          Code Blue At The Beach

          In Small-Town America, the Public Housing Crisis Nobody’s Talking About

          In Small-Town America, the Public Housing Crisis Nobody’s Talking About

        • Health
          It’s Going To Get Worse

          It’s Going To Get Worse

          Trump’s October Surprise

          Trump’s October Surprise

          Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

          Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

          A Boat Full Of Holes

          A Boat Full Of Holes

          The Value Of Living This Life

          The Value Of Living This Life

          America’s Battle Fatigue

          America’s Battle Fatigue

          Gov Murphy Announces New Stricter Measures Concerning Social Distancing in New Jersey

          Gov Murphy Announces New Stricter Measures Concerning Social Distancing in New Jersey

          Victoria Manor Coronavirus Outbreak Reports First Fatality

          Victoria Manor Coronavirus Outbreak Reports First Fatality

          The Perils Of Living In Trump Country During A Pandemic

          The Perils Of Living In Trump Country During A Pandemic

          Cape May County Announces Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing Site for Cape May County Residents

          Cape May County Announces Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing Site for Cape May County Residents

          Trending Tags

          • Healthcare
        • Opinion
          We Need Amy Kennedy Now

          An Open Letter To Congressman Van Drew

          Donald Trump Must Be Held To Account For His Crimes

          Donald Trump Must Be Held
          To Account For His Crimes

          All Our Sons

          All Our Sons

          It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden To Simply Be Human

          It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden
          To Simply Be Human

          We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

          We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

          The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

          The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

          Why We Can’t Talk About It

          Why We Can’t Talk About It

          Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

          Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

          Why We Can’t Be Friends

          Why We Can’t Be Friends

          Something To Believe In: A Roadmap To Relevance

          Something To Believe In: A Roadmap To Relevance

          Trending Tags

          No Result
          View All Result
          • Home
            • All
            • Business
            • Culture
            • Education
            • Environment
            • Health
            • Housing
            • Immigration
            • Justice
            • Letters
            • Media
            • Military
            • National
            • Opinion
            • Politics
            • Satire
            • Sports
            • Uncategorized
            • World
            Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

            Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

            A Bridge Too Far

            A Bridge Too Far

            Objective Journalism Does Not Entail Telling Both Sides

            Objective Journalism Does Not Entail Telling Both Sides

            New Jersey Organizations Demand Strong Response To Insurrectionists

            New Jersey Organizations Demand
            Strong Response To Insurrectionists

            We Need Amy Kennedy Now

            An Open Letter To Congressman Van Drew

            “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

            “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

            Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

            Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

            Donald Trump Must Be Held To Account For His Crimes

            Donald Trump Must Be Held
            To Account For His Crimes

            All Our Sons

            All Our Sons

            Trending Tags

            • Politics
              Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

              Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

              A Bridge Too Far

              A Bridge Too Far

              New Jersey Organizations Demand Strong Response To Insurrectionists

              New Jersey Organizations Demand
              Strong Response To Insurrectionists

              We Need Amy Kennedy Now

              An Open Letter To Congressman Van Drew

              Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

              Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

              Donald Trump Must Be Held To Account For His Crimes

              Donald Trump Must Be Held
              To Account For His Crimes

              All Our Sons

              All Our Sons

              It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden To Simply Be Human

              It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden
              To Simply Be Human

              We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

              We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

              The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

              The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

              Trending Tags

              • politics
            • Justice
              Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

              Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

              “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

              “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

              Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

              Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

              Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

              Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

              Non-Violence Isn’t A Just Moral Imperative, It’s A Superior Strategy

              Non-Violence Isn’t A Just Moral Imperative, It’s A Superior Strategy

              The Future Of The Supreme Court

              The Future Of The Supreme Court

              Why We Fight (Part One): The Uphill Battle

              The Fight To Decide Whose Life Matters

              Legalize It

              Legalize It

              A Rational Response To Perpetual Atrocity Is Rage

              A Rational Response To Perpetual Atrocity Is Rage

              Community Concerns Fall On Deaf Ears

              Community Concerns Fall On Deaf Ears

              Trending Tags

              • Justice
            • Culture
              The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

              The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

              Why We Can’t Talk About It

              Why We Can’t Talk About It

              Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

              Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

              Why We Can’t Be Friends

              Why We Can’t Be Friends

              Arguing With Idiots

              The Weight Of Empathy

              The Problem With White Men

              The Problem With White Men

              A Walking Hard-On

              A Walking Hard-On

              One Conspiracy Theory To Rule Them All

              One Conspiracy Theory To Rule Them All

              The Mysterious Complexity Of The Common French Fry

              The Mysterious Complexity Of The Common French Fry

              Trending Tags

              • Satire

                Arguing With Idiots

                White House Criticizes Bob Woodward For Taking President Seriously

                White House Criticizes Bob Woodward For Taking President Seriously

                Senator Rand Paul Subpoenas Tooth Fairy

                Senator Rand Paul Subpoenas Tooth Fairy

                Mmm Mmm Good

                Mmm Mmm Good

                Trending Tags

                • Education
                  Gold, Lies, And Genocide In The New World

                  Gold, Lies, And Genocide In The New World

                  Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

                  Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

                  The Covid Kids Are Alright

                  The Covid Kids Are Alright

                  The Problem With The Pledge Of Allegiance

                  The Problem With The Pledge Of Allegiance

                  A Boat Full Of Holes

                  A Boat Full Of Holes

                  Why I Don’t Worry About My Kids Falling Behind

                  Why I Don’t Worry About My Kids Falling Behind

                  Any Plan To Reopen Schools This Fall Is Irresponsible And Negligent

                  Any Plan To Reopen Schools This Fall Is Irresponsible And Negligent

                  An Acceptable Loss

                  An Acceptable Loss

                  Educating Children During Quarantine

                  Educating Children During Quarantine

                  Thinking Outside The Curriculum

                  Thinking Outside The Curriculum

                  Trending Tags

                  • Education
                • Housing
                  Let the Voters Decide

                  Cape May’s Untouchables

                  The Cost Of Homelessness in Cape May County

                  The Cost Of Homelessness in Cape May County

                  Who Cares For Cape May County’s Unwanted?

                  Who Cares For Cape May County’s Unwanted?

                  The Myth Of American Justice: Falling Through The Cracks Part Two

                  Falling Through The Cracks: Part One

                  Falling Through The Cracks: Part One

                  Criminalizing Homelessness

                  Criminalizing Homelessness

                  We Are The Branches

                  We Are The Branches

                  Code Blue At The Beach

                  Code Blue At The Beach

                  In Small-Town America, the Public Housing Crisis Nobody’s Talking About

                  In Small-Town America, the Public Housing Crisis Nobody’s Talking About

                • Health
                  It’s Going To Get Worse

                  It’s Going To Get Worse

                  Trump’s October Surprise

                  Trump’s October Surprise

                  Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

                  Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

                  A Boat Full Of Holes

                  A Boat Full Of Holes

                  The Value Of Living This Life

                  The Value Of Living This Life

                  America’s Battle Fatigue

                  America’s Battle Fatigue

                  Gov Murphy Announces New Stricter Measures Concerning Social Distancing in New Jersey

                  Gov Murphy Announces New Stricter Measures Concerning Social Distancing in New Jersey

                  Victoria Manor Coronavirus Outbreak Reports First Fatality

                  Victoria Manor Coronavirus Outbreak Reports First Fatality

                  The Perils Of Living In Trump Country During A Pandemic

                  The Perils Of Living In Trump Country During A Pandemic

                  Cape May County Announces Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing Site for Cape May County Residents

                  Cape May County Announces Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing Site for Cape May County Residents

                  Trending Tags

                  • Healthcare
                • Opinion
                  We Need Amy Kennedy Now

                  An Open Letter To Congressman Van Drew

                  Donald Trump Must Be Held To Account For His Crimes

                  Donald Trump Must Be Held
                  To Account For His Crimes

                  All Our Sons

                  All Our Sons

                  It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden To Simply Be Human

                  It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden
                  To Simply Be Human

                  We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

                  We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

                  The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

                  The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

                  Why We Can’t Talk About It

                  Why We Can’t Talk About It

                  Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

                  Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

                  Why We Can’t Be Friends

                  Why We Can’t Be Friends

                  Something To Believe In: A Roadmap To Relevance

                  Something To Believe In: A Roadmap To Relevance

                  Trending Tags

                  • About
                  • Privacy
                  • Donate
                  • Contact
                  No Result
                  View All Result
                  The Standard
                  No Result
                  View All Result
                  Home Politics

                  Who Is Mike Pompeo?

                  The Former Republican Representative from Kansas And His Path To Power As America's Diplomat

                  bystandardeditor
                  3 years ago
                  inNational, Politics, World
                  Reading Time: 17min read
                  168
                  0
                  Who Is Mike Pompeo?

                  WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 12: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for the director of the CIA, Rep.Mike Pompeo(R-KS) attends his confirmation hearing before the Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee on January 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. Mr. Pompeo is a former Army officer who graduated first in his class from West Point. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

                  150
                  SHARES
                  201
                  VIEWS
                  Share on FacebookShare on TwitterEmail this story!

                  This is the culmination of research conducted using various public forums and news articles. It’s not a scholarly work, or even original reporting. The majority of the events listed are a matter of public record, but have not been independently corroborated by The Standard. The purpose is to gain a better understanding of a relatively unknown politician with close ties to the Koch brothers and President Trump, and who now represents the United States as Secretary of State.

                  Fifteen months after he was inaugurated, and in the midst of dozens of staff shakeups, President Trump unceremoniously fired his Secretary of State and nominated Mike Pompeo, the hawkish former Representative from Kansas who had placed in charge of the CIA.

                  The Pompeo nomination barely made it out of committee with a positive vote on partisan lines, and was confirmed by the Senate largely across party lines with a few vulnerable Democrats in swing states voting to confirm. It was one thing to oversee an information gathering organization and quite another to make policy for the United States on the world stage. Despite his objections that he had been unfairly targeted as a hawk during his confirmation hearing, many observers were concerned that between John Bolton being appointed as Trump’s most recent National Security Advisor, and the President’s penchant for reacting impulsively, the United States was heading into an era of global conflict with no clear agenda or foreign policy.

                  We thought it was worth looking a little more deeply into who Mike Pompeo really is, what has informed his world view, and try to get some idea of what we can expect.

                  Mike Pompeo was born in 1963 in Orange, California and graduated from Los Amigos High School in Fountain Valley, California before going on to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point where he majored in engineering development. After graduation, Pompeo served in the U.S. Army as an Armor Branch Officer with the 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry in the 4th Infantry Division, reaching the rank of Captain. After completing his military service, Pompeo was accepted into Harvard Law School where he received a Juris Doctor. While at Harvard, he served as one of the editors of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and on the Board of Editors of the Harvard Law Review. After graduating law school in 1994, he worked as a lawyer for Williams & Connolly a prominent litigation firm based in Washington, D.C., who have represented high-profile cases include the successful defense of U.S. President Clinton’s impeachment, representation of Enron’s law firm Vinson & Elkins, Colonel Oliver North during the Iran-Contra Affair and John Hinckley, the would-be assassin of Ronald Reagan.

                  After four years with Williams & Connolly, Pompeo, along with three other friends from West Point, Brian Bulatao, Ulrich Brechbuhl, and Michael Stradinger, acquired three aircraft part manufacturers in Wichita (Aero Machine, Precision Profiling, B&B Machine) and one in St. Louis (Advance Tool & Die) and named the newly found company Thayer Aerospace (named for West Point founder Sylvanus Thayer). Pompeo and Bulatao bought out partners Brechbuhl and Stradinger not long after forming, and Bulatao served as the company’s president until 2006, when it was sold to a private equity firm. Venture funding came, in part, from Koch Industries.

                  Koch Industries, is an American multinational corporation based in Wichita, Kansas. The company, run by brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch, is the largest privately held company in the United States, with annual revenue of $115 billion, and owns companies such as Invista, Georgia-Pacific, Molex, Flint Hills Resources, Koch Pipeline, Koch Fertilizer, Koch Minerals, Matador Cattle Company, and Guardian Industries. The Koch brothers have been active political contributors in libertarian and conservative circles since the early 1980’s.

                  Kenneth P. Vogel, a reporter writing for Politico in 2016, wrote, “Over the last seven years, their operation grew to the point where it resembled a privatized political party, heading into the cycle pledging to spend $889 million through an infrastructure that rivaled that of the Republican National Committee.”

                  In 2006, Pompeo and Bulatao sold their interests in Thayer Aerospace to Highland Capital Management. Thayer’s clients by then included “Lockheed Martin, Gulfstream Aerospace, Cessna Aircraft, Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems, Raytheon Aircraft and others”. It was renamed Nex-Tech Aerospace.

                  Pompeo then became president of Sentry International, an oilfield equipment company, which was also a partner of Koch Industries and Bulatao left to work as the CEO for Chick Packaging and then after the company’s acquisition by Nefab A/B in 2010, he became Executive Vice President, leading the combined operations in North and South America. Later Bulatao went into private equity, as a senior adviser at Highlander Partners, L.P., a Dallas-based investment firm that claims more than $1 billion in assets under management.

                  While could find no evidence of ties between Highland Capital Management, LP (the company that bought Thayer Aerospace) and Highland Partners, LP (the company that Bulatao later went to work for) but they happen to be located in the same building at 300 Crescent Ct, Dallas, TX 75201 in suites 700 and 550 respectively.

                  In 2010, Republican Congressman Todd Tiahrt, who had represented Kansas’s 4th District for the House of Representatives, declined to seek a ninth term in favor of running for Senate. Mike Pompeo, with significant funding from the Koch brothers, ran for the seat. Until his election, Pompeo’s only substantive political experience appears to have been a job as a trustee of the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy, a Koch-organized front formerly known as the Kansas Policy Institute.

                  After defeating Republican rivals State Senator Jean Schodorf, Wichita businessman Wink Hartman, small business owner Jim Anderson and State Senator Dick Kelsey, Pompeo ran an controversial campaign against Democratic challenger State Representative Raj Goyle, an Indian-American.

                  The general campaign was contentious at best with the Pompeo campaign posting a link to a controversial blog that attacked Goyle’s religion and ethnic heritage and referred to him as “just another ‘turban topper’ we don’t need in Congress or any political office that deals with the U.S. Constitution, Christianity, and the United States of America!” The Goyle camp attacked Pompeo for what they called “bigoted attacks” when the Republican candidate sponsored billboards that said “Vote American, Vote Pompeo” and “True Americans vote for Pompeo.” Pompeo denied that there was any racist intent, and easily defeated Goyle in the general election.

                  On Snowden: “He should be brought back from Russia and given due process and I think the proper outcome would be that he would be given a death sentence.”

                  Koch Industries not only donated heavily to his primary campaign with over $31,000 in contributions, as one of the largest employers in Wichita Koch boasted of their endorsement saying, “The employees of the Koch Companies have jobs here in the Wichita because of their own hard work and creativity, not because a federal agency deemed it to be so.”

                  Pompeo was also the recipient of support from Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the right-wing Tea Party group founded and financed by David Koch. In all, Pompeo received over $81,000 in contributions from Koch Industries and their affiliates.

                  In August 28, 2009, Pompeo spoke at a large Tea Party rally organized by AFP which used its extensive Kansas-based staff to mobilize dozens of other right-wing events in and around the 4th Congressional District. According to thinkprogress.com at the time, “In addition to the rallies and Tea Party events, AFP touts Pompeo for signing onto its pledge to ignore climate change. The Kansas chapter of AFP was previously run by Alan Cobb, who once served as a chief lobbyist for Koch Industries. Cobb is now coordinating state efforts nationwide for AFP.”

                  Over the next three election cycles (2012-2016), Pompeo won his district handily with a margin of 60-30% on average, always with the continued support of the Koch brothers and their affiliates.

                  On November 18, 2016, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Pompeo to be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 23, 2017, with a vote of 66–32, and sworn in later that day. He promptly named his old pal and business partner, Brian Bulatao as Chief Operation Officer, a position that earlier was named Executive Director. The position does not require Congressional approval.

                  In March 2017, Pompeo formally invoked executive privilege to prevent CIA agents, including Gina Haspel and James Cotsana, from being compelled to testify in the trial of Bruce Jessen and James Elmer Mitchell.

                  Jessen and Mitchell, both psychologists and former members of the United States Air Force, created the so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” that were used in the interrogation of CIA detainees, as outlined in the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s report on CIA torture. His company, Mitchell Jessen and Associates, earned $81 million for its work.

                  “The detainees at GTMO are treated exceptionally well – so well that some have even declined to be resettled, instead choosing to stay at GTMO.”

                  In August 2017, Pompeo took command of the Counterintelligence Mission Center, the department which helped to launch an investigation into possible links between Trump associates and Russian officials. Former CIA directors expressed concern since Pompeo was known to be an ally of Trump.

                  President Donald Trump announced on March 13, 2018, that he would nominate Pompeo to serve as Secretary of State, succeeding Rex Tillerson and that he would nominate Gina Haspel replacing Pompeo as the CIA director.

                  Haspel has been criticized for her involvement in overseeing CIA “black sites” that were allegedly used to torture prisoners such as suspected al Qaeda terrorist members Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah. In early February 2017, The New York Times and ProPublica reported that waterboardings were conducted under Haspel. In March 2018, U.S. officials said that Haspel was not involved in the torture of Zubaydah, as she only became chief of base after Zubaydah was tortured. ProPublica and The New York Times issued corrections to their stories but noted that Haspel was involved in the torture of al-Nashiri. Haspel was also allegedly responsible for the destruction of 92 interrogation videotapes that showed the torture of detainees both at the black site she ran and other secret agency locations.

                  On April 26th, 2018, Pompeo was sworn in as the U.S. Secretary of State by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

                  In His Own Words:

                  Mike Pompeo’s thoughts on a variety of relevant subjects.Source

                  2014 Senate Torture Report:

                  “Our men and women who were tasked to keep us safe in the aftermath of 9/11 — our military and our intelligence warriors — are heroes, not pawns in some liberal game being played by the ACLU and Senator Feinstein,” Pompeo said in a statement on Dec. 9, 2014. “These men and women are not torturers, they are patriots. The programs being used were within the law, within the constitution, and conducted with the full knowledge Senator Feinstein. If any individual did operate outside of the program’s legal framework, I would expect them to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

                  “It is hard to imagine a sound reason that Senator Feinstein would put American operators and their families at risk—by demanding the release of details that are not in any way related to the legality or appropriateness of the programs. The intelligence collection programs described in the report have been in the news and hot topics for discussion for years. The sad conclusion left open is that her release of the report is the result of a narcissistic self-cleansing that is quintessentially at odds with her duty to the country.

                  “Moreover, the release of this report makes our nation is less secure. Our friends and allies across the world, who have worked closely with us to crush the Islamic jihad that threatens every Kansan and every American, now know the United States government will not honor its commitments. Their willingness to work with us in the future is now greatly diminished.”

                  American Muslims:

                  “It’s been just under two months since the attacks in Boston,” said in a speech on floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on June 11, 2013. “In those intervening weeks, the silence of Muslim leaders has been deafening. And that is sad, but most importantly, it is dangerous. When the most devastating terrorist attacks on America in the last 20 years come overwhelmingly from people of a single faith, and are performed in the name of that faith, a special obligation falls on those that are the leaders of that faith. Instead of responding, silence has made these Islamic leaders across America potentially complicit in these acts and more importantly still, in those that may well follow.”

                  Guantanamo Bay:

                  “GTMO has been a goldmine of intelligence about radical Islamic terrorism. I have traveled to GTMO and have seen the honorable and professional behavior of the American men and women in uniform, who serve at the detention facility,” Pompeo said in a statement on Nov. 18. “The detainees at GTMO are treated exceptionally well – so well that some have even declined to be resettled, instead choosing to stay at GTMO. It is delusional to think that any plan the president puts before Congress to relocate radical Islamic terrorists to the U.S, and potentially Fort Leavenworth Kansas, will make our country safer. The reality is that this proposal will ultimately put Kansans and Americans in danger.”

                  Iran Deal:

                  “It’s not a question whether America can prevent a nuclear Iran or stop Russian aggression; it’s a question of whether (the Obama) administration has the backbone to use the tools and solutions available,” Pompeo said on Dec. 3, 2014. “Each of these nations poses real threats to America and the West – what is needed is not ambiguity, but clarity, forcefulness and commitments that do not exceed America’s willingness to fulfill them.

                  “Ayatollah Khamenei watches America allow Iran to expand its power while our President writes him missives ensuring we will protect Iran’s interests. This is dangerous. The Islamic Republic cannot even feed its own people without access to markets and our President rewards that nation, which has killed countless Americans, with sanctions relief. Congress should immediately act to stop all oil shipments out of Iran, reinstitute economic sanctions and demand that our allies do so as well. We should make clear that nuclear enrichment is not acceptable inside of Iran for any purpose and, as President Bush once said, those who harbor terrorists who kill Americans will be treated in the same manner as if they had committed the act of terror themselves.”

                  NSA Spying:

                  “I believe that program has proven to be a very valuable asset for the intelligence community and for law enforcement,” Pompeo said in an interview with McClatchy in January. “We ought not to take that tool away from our intelligence community while the threats are as great as they are today.”

                  “(Americans) understood this was a monitoring program, and it’s not,” Pompeo said. “Not a single email was read or call was listened to without the due process the constitution requires.”

                  NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden:

                  “He should be brought back from Russia and given due process and I think the proper outcome would be that he would be given a death sentence for having put friends of mine, friends of yours, who serve in the military today at enormous risk because of the information he stole and then released to foreign powers,” Pompeo said on C-SPAN on Feb. 11.

                  Barack Obama Administration’s Approach to the War on Terror:

                  “This isn’t about defeating ISIS as the end objective. The challenge that this administration has refused to take on is that there is a very real call in the west to defeat and destroy the threat from radical Islamic terrorism, whether it fights under the name of Al Quaeda … or Boko Haram or ISIS or any of the other dozens of groups that are founded on the central principle of the destruction of the West and the imposition of Sharia law,” Pompeo said in an Oct. 17 interview with the Wichita Eagle. “And this administration has refused to acknowledge that. They have simply treated these as ordinary criminals and so they have attempted to apply a criminal law model to a threat, which is not that. And as a result the threat to the west is far greater today than it was seven and half years ago.”

                  Goals For The Trump Administration’s Fight Against Radical Islamic Terror:

                  “It’s possible to defeat ISIS in Dabiq and still have a greater threat here in the West. And so the focus needs to be on a military, diplomatic and ideological defeat of radical Islamic terrorism,” Pompeo told the Wichita Eagle on Oct. 17. “And once you understand that that’s the threat of our times the tactical response becomes very, very clear and inevitably achievable. It is inevitably something that can be achieved by the will of the American people without sending 60 or 80 or 100,000 soldiers to fight, U.S. soldiers, to fight in the Middle East, something I would not advocate for.”

                  Miscellaneous

                  The following are miscellaneous facts, votes, opinions and events in the public record:

                  • Pompeo supports the surveillance programs of the National Security Agency, referring to the agency’s efforts as “good and important work”.
                  • Pompeo stated, “Congress should pass a law re-establishing collection of all metadata, and combining it with publicly available financial and lifestyle information into a comprehensive, searchable database. Legal and bureaucratic impediments to surveillance should be removed. That includes Presidential Policy Directive-28, which bestows privacy rights on foreigners and imposes burdensome requirements to justify data collection.”
                  • In a 2013 speech on the House floor, Pompeo said Muslim leaders who fail to denounce acts of terrorism done in the name of Islam are “potentially complicit” in the attacks. The Council on American–Islamic Relations called on him to revise his remarks, calling them “false and irresponsible”. In 2016, ACT! for America gave Pompeo a “national security eagle award” for his comments on Islam. Pompeo has been a frequent guest on Frank Gaffney’s radio show for the Center for Security Policy. As a congressman, Pompeo cosponsored legislation to add the Muslim Brotherhood to the United States State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
                  • Pompeo opposes closing Guantanamo Bay detention camp. After a 2013 visit to the prison, he said, of the prisoners who were on hunger strike, “It looked to me like a lot of them had put on weight.“ He criticized the Obama administration’s decision to end secret prisons and its requirement that all interrogators adhere to anti-torture laws.
                  • In 2017 it was reported that Pompeo expressed desire for regime change in North Korea. In July 2017, he said “It would be a great thing to denuclearize the peninsula, to get those weapons off of that, but the thing that is most dangerous about it is the character who holds the control over them today.”
                  • Pompeo worked to undermine the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran that was supported by the Obama administration. Referring to the agreement, he stated, “I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.” He also stated that a better option than negotiating with Iran would be to use “under 2,000 sorties to destroy the Iranian nuclear capacity. This is not an insurmountable task for the coalition forces.”
                  • On July 21, 2015, Pompeo and Senator Tom Cotton alleged the existence of secret side agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on procedures for inspection and verification of Iran’s nuclear activities under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal. Obama administration officials acknowledged the existence of agreements between Iran and the IAEA governing the inspection of sensitive military sites but denied the characterization that they were “secret side deals”, calling them standard practice in crafting arms-control pacts and arguing the administration had provided information about them to Congress.
                  • In November 2015, Pompeo visited Israel and stated that “Prime Minister Netanyahu is a true partner of the American people” and that “Netanyahu’s efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons are incredibly admirable and deeply appreciated”. He also stated that “In the fight against terrorism, cooperation between Israel and the United States has never been more important” and that “we must stand with our ally Israel and put a stop to terrorism. Ongoing attacks by the Palestinians serve only to distance the prospect of peace.”
                  • During his confirmation hearing, Pompeo stated that Russia “has reasserted itself aggressively, invading and occupying Ukraine, threatening Europe, and doing nearly nothing to aid in the destruction and defeat of ISIS”.
                  • Pompeo accused Obama of inviting Russia into Syria.
                  • In a 2017 speech addressing the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Pompeo referred to WikiLeaks as “a non-state hostile intelligence service” and described founder Julian Assange as a narcissist, fraud, and coward:

                  … we can no longer allow Assange and his colleagues the latitude to use free speech values against us. To give them the space to crush us with misappropriated secrets is a perversion of what our great Constitution stands for. It ends now … Assange and his ilk make common cause with dictators today. Yes, they try unsuccessfully to cloak themselves and their actions in the language of liberty and privacy; in reality, however, they champion nothing but their own celebrity. Their currency is clickbait; their moral compass, nonexistent. Their mission: personal self-aggrandizement through the destruction of Western values.

                  • In March 2014, he denounced the inclusion of a telecast by Snowden in the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, and asked that it be cancelled, predicting that it would encourage “lawless behavior” among attendees.
                  • In February 2016, Pompeo said Edward Snowden “should be brought back from Russia and given due process, and I think the proper outcome would be that he would be given a death sentence”. But he has spoken in favor of reforming the Federal Records Act, one of the laws under which Snowden was charged, saying “I’m not sure there’s a whole lot of change that needs to happen to the Espionage Act. The Federal Records Act clearly needs updating to reflect the different ways information is communicated and stored. Given the move in technology and communication methods, I think it’s probably due for an update.”
                  • Speaking about climate change in 2013, Pompeo said: “There are scientists who think lots of different things about climate change. There’s some who think we’re warming, there’s some who think we’re cooling, there’s some who think that the last 16 years have shown a pretty stable climate environment.”
                  • He has stated, “Federal policy should be about the American family, not worshipping a radical environmental agenda.” He has referred to the Obama administration’s environment and climate change plans as “damaging” and “radical”. He opposes the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions by the United States, and supports eliminating the United States federal register of greenhouse gas emissions.
                  • Pompeo signed the No Climate Tax pledge of Americans for Prosperity.
                  • He has called for the permanent elimination of wind power production tax credits, calling them an “enormous government handout”.
                  • In December 2015, as a member of the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce, he voted for two resolutions disapproving of the Clean Power Plan implemented by the United States Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration.
                  • Pompeo opposed the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Pompeo has been criticized for saying that he supports funding for certain programs that are part of the ACA, yet he opposes them when they are a part of the ACA.
                  • Pompeo has stated that life begins at conception and believes that abortions should be allowed only when necessary to save the life of the mother. In 2011 he voted for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would have banned federal health coverage that includes abortion. Also in 2011, he voted for a prohibition on funding the United Nations Population Fund.
                  • He opposes same-sex marriage and had sponsored bills to let states prevent same-sex couples from marrying.
                  • Pompeo supported the United States federal government shutdown of 2013, blaming President Barack Obama. He stated that he believed the shutdown was necessary to avoid a predicted “American financial collapse 10 years from now”.
                  • He is a lifetime member of, and has been endorsed by, the National Rifle Association.
                  • Pompeo opposes requiring food suppliers to label food made with genetically modified organisms. He introduced the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015 to block states from requiring mandatory GMO food labeling.

                  Links:

                  Here are some more links to the insanity that is Mike Pompeo.

                  This Evil Is All Around Us: Trump’s pick for the CIA, Mike Pompeo, sees foreign policy as a vehicle for holy war.

                  Pompeo and Bolton Appointments Raise Alarm Over Ties to Anti-Islam Groups

                  Rep. Mike Pompeo: Wind tax credit harms economy

                  Lawmaker: ‘Traitor’ Snowden Deserves Death Penalty

                  The Trump-Whisperer:Mike Pompeo is where foreign-policy realism meets America First

                  Related

                  Tags: AFPCape MayCape May CountyCIACounterintelligenceDepartmentGina HaspelGoyleHighland Capital ManagementHighland PartnersJournalismKansasKochMediaMike PompeoNEFABNew JerseyNewsNex-TechNJPressSentry InternationalSOSStateTea PartyThayerTiahrtTrumpWichitaWilliams and Connolly
                  Previous Post

                  The Feigned Outrage Of The Right Is Hard To Swallow

                  Next Post

                  Philadelphia Sports Fans Lack Faith Not Hope

                  Next Post
                  Philadelphia Sports Fans Lack Faith Not Hope

                  Philadelphia Sports Fans Lack Faith Not Hope

                  Meta

                  • Register
                  • Log in
                  • Entries feed
                  • Comments feed
                  • WordPress.org
                  • Trending
                  • Comments
                  • Latest
                  You Are Not Welcome Here

                  You Are Not Welcome Here

                  August 14, 2020
                  Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

                  Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

                  September 9, 2020
                  Trump, Chauncey Gardiner, And America’s Accidental Presidency

                  Trump, Chauncey Gardiner, And America’s Accidental Presidency

                  January 29, 2020
                  It Is Time For Patrician Democracy To End

                  It Is Time For Patrician Democracy To End

                  2
                  Why Do We Resist?

                  Why Do We Resist?

                  2
                  Republicans Have A Casual Relationship With The Truth And No Moral Compass

                  Republicans Have A Casual Relationship With The Truth And No Moral Compass

                  1
                  Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

                  Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

                  January 13, 2021
                  A Bridge Too Far

                  A Bridge Too Far

                  January 12, 2021
                  Objective Journalism Does Not Entail Telling Both Sides

                  Objective Journalism Does Not Entail Telling Both Sides

                  January 12, 2021

                  ©2019 Hopping Frog Studios, LLC.

                  No Result
                  View All Result
                  • Home
                  • Politics
                  • Justice
                  • Environment
                  • Health
                  • Education
                  • Housing
                  • Business
                  • Culture
                  • Sports
                  • National
                  • Opinion
                  • Login
                  • Sign Up

                  ©2019 Hopping Frog Studios, LLC.

                  Welcome Back!

                  Login to your account below

                  Forgotten Password? Sign Up

                  Create New Account!

                  Fill the forms below to register

                  All fields are required. Log In

                  Retrieve your password

                  Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

                  Log In
                  This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
                  Privacy & Cookies Policy

                  Privacy Overview

                  This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
                  Necessary
                  Always Enabled

                  Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

                  Non-necessary

                  Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.