WASHINGTON: US Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo on Thursday defended talks he had at CIA headquarters ultimate week with Russian undercover agent chiefs at a time of strained ties between Washington and Moscow and political squabbling over allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.
A US intelligence reliable, talking on condition of anonymity, accused Moscow of exposing the seek advice from partially to gasoline political discord in Washington over investigations of a Russian interference marketing campaign this is rankling President Donald Trump and some of his fellow Republicans.
The US Senate's best Democrat Chuck Schumer wrote to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats on Jan. 31 asking why US intelligence officials met with Sergey Naryshkin, the top of Russia's international intelligence agency, referred to as the SVR.
"We periodically meet with our Russian intelligence counterparts for the same reason our predecessors did - to keep Americans safe," Pompeo spoke back to Schumer in a letter made public on Thursday. There is not anything "untoward" about such conferences, Pompeo stated.
"We cover very difficult subjects in which American and Russian interests do not align," Pompeo stated. "We vigorously defend America in these encounters and pull no punches - we never will."
The Russian Embassy in Washington didn't in an instant respond on Thursday to requests for comment on the conferences.
The Russian officials' seek advice from was made public on Tuesday through the state-run ITAR-Tass news agency and the Russian ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov tweeted the record.
Pompeo's respond to Schumer failed to fulfill the senator.
"This letter is responsive to approximately none of the questions that were raised about these visits," Schumer's spokesman, Matt House, wrote on Twitter.
Moscow denies the conclusions of US intelligence agencies that it led a hacking marketing campaign of political birthday party networks and unfold disinformation to lend a hand Trump in his presidential marketing campaign. Congressional panels and a different counsel are investigating. Trump denies any marketing campaign collusion with Russian officials.
Among different questions, Schumer asked how Naryshkin was ready to go into the United States because he is underneath US sanctions barring him from the country. Naryshkin was blacklisted in 2014 as a part of the US response to Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine.
Naryshkin met with DNI Coats at Coats's suburban Washington headquarters, consistent with two resources. A third supply stated that the SVR leader met Pompeo at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
Naryshkin was accompanied through Alexander Bortnikov, the director of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, Russia's major home intelligence agency, the 3rd supply stated.
The US intelligence reliable informed Reuters that "it was no accident that Russia decided to publicize" the seek advice from after years of now not disclosing conferences between US and Russian intelligence officials.
It seemed to be "a calculated effort" that "not only sowed discord in the United States but also reinforced the notion that they (Russia) are not isolated internationally," stated the intelligence reliable, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Washington has been gripped this week through arguments over a Republican memo stated to cite allegations of FBI bias towards Trump in its Russia probe. The memo is a flashpoint in a much wider fight between Republicans and Democrats over Special Counsel Robert Mueller's felony investigation into attainable collusion.
Pompeo's letter to Schumer stated that conferences between Russian and US intelligence agencies come with counter-terrorism cooperation during which the CIA just lately helped Russia thwart a "terrorist plot" in St. Petersburg "that could have killed Americans."
A US intelligence reliable, talking on condition of anonymity, accused Moscow of exposing the seek advice from partially to gasoline political discord in Washington over investigations of a Russian interference marketing campaign this is rankling President Donald Trump and some of his fellow Republicans.
The US Senate's best Democrat Chuck Schumer wrote to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats on Jan. 31 asking why US intelligence officials met with Sergey Naryshkin, the top of Russia's international intelligence agency, referred to as the SVR.
"We periodically meet with our Russian intelligence counterparts for the same reason our predecessors did - to keep Americans safe," Pompeo spoke back to Schumer in a letter made public on Thursday. There is not anything "untoward" about such conferences, Pompeo stated.
"We cover very difficult subjects in which American and Russian interests do not align," Pompeo stated. "We vigorously defend America in these encounters and pull no punches - we never will."
The Russian Embassy in Washington didn't in an instant respond on Thursday to requests for comment on the conferences.
The Russian officials' seek advice from was made public on Tuesday through the state-run ITAR-Tass news agency and the Russian ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov tweeted the record.
Pompeo's respond to Schumer failed to fulfill the senator.
"This letter is responsive to approximately none of the questions that were raised about these visits," Schumer's spokesman, Matt House, wrote on Twitter.
Moscow denies the conclusions of US intelligence agencies that it led a hacking marketing campaign of political birthday party networks and unfold disinformation to lend a hand Trump in his presidential marketing campaign. Congressional panels and a different counsel are investigating. Trump denies any marketing campaign collusion with Russian officials.
Among different questions, Schumer asked how Naryshkin was ready to go into the United States because he is underneath US sanctions barring him from the country. Naryshkin was blacklisted in 2014 as a part of the US response to Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine.
Naryshkin met with DNI Coats at Coats's suburban Washington headquarters, consistent with two resources. A third supply stated that the SVR leader met Pompeo at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
Naryshkin was accompanied through Alexander Bortnikov, the director of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, Russia's major home intelligence agency, the 3rd supply stated.
The US intelligence reliable informed Reuters that "it was no accident that Russia decided to publicize" the seek advice from after years of now not disclosing conferences between US and Russian intelligence officials.
It seemed to be "a calculated effort" that "not only sowed discord in the United States but also reinforced the notion that they (Russia) are not isolated internationally," stated the intelligence reliable, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Washington has been gripped this week through arguments over a Republican memo stated to cite allegations of FBI bias towards Trump in its Russia probe. The memo is a flashpoint in a much wider fight between Republicans and Democrats over Special Counsel Robert Mueller's felony investigation into attainable collusion.
Pompeo's letter to Schumer stated that conferences between Russian and US intelligence agencies come with counter-terrorism cooperation during which the CIA just lately helped Russia thwart a "terrorist plot" in St. Petersburg "that could have killed Americans."
CIA Director Pompeo defends meetings with Russian spy chiefs
![CIA Director Pompeo defends meetings with Russian spy chiefs]()
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February 02, 2018
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