In the U.S. Senate, some votes have more impact than others. That was certainly the case with the January 23 Senate vote to confirm Representative Mike Pompeo (R-KS) as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Quite aside from President Trump’s embattled relationship with the CIA, Pompeo’s confirmation by the Senate is similar to the Senate’s passage of the Iraq War Resolution in 2002, legislation that gave President George W. Bush the green light to engage in a costly invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Pompeo is no friend of the Bill of Rights, as seen in his support for the bulk collection of personal data by the U.S. Intelligence Community that even goes far beyond that seen in the warrantless eavesdropping conducted under Bush’s Stellar Wind program. Pompeo is also a supporter of the CIA’s now-discredited “enhanced interrogation” torture program, which was scrapped by President Obama as one of his first acts. Pompeo also favors the execution of National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden and the scrapping of the multinational nuclear agreement with Iran.
Pompeo also favors U.S. military intervention in the Syrian civil war.
An extreme Christian fundamentalist, Pompeo believes in the literal interpretation of the Bible. His beliefs include creationism and the “Rapture.” The Zionist neocon Frank Gaffney has served as a foreign policy adviser to Pompeo. Pompeo was one of the members of the Tea Party Caucus in the House of Representatives who caused no shortage of headaches for House Speaker John Boehner.
Pompeo is on the record in stating that all “legal and bureaucratic impediments to surveillance should be removed,” which includes the Fourth Amendment prohibition from unlawful search and seizure.
Pompeo’s disregard for the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights has earned him the nickname of “Pompous Pompeo” by a few of his congressional colleagues.
To no avail, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) pleaded with his colleagues to reject Pompeo, an alum of the CIA-connected Williams & Connolly law firm, West Point, and Harvard Law School.
Wyden’s warning was reminiscent of the pleading from the late Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) for his Senate colleagues to vote no on the Iraq War Resolution. Only 21 senators voted with Byrd. Byrd later waxed eloquent about the fortitude of the “No 21,” a framed list of which he displayed in his office. They included, in addition to Byrd, Democrats Dan Akaka, Jeff Bingaman, Barbara Boxer, Kent Conrad, Jon Corzine, Mark Dayton, Dick Durbin, Russ Feingold, Bob Graham, Daniel Inouye, Edward Kennedy, Patrick Leahy, Carl Levin, Barbara Mikulski, Patty Murray, Jack Reed, Paul Sarbanes, Debbie Stabenow, Paul Wellstone, and Ron Wyden; Republican Lincoln Chafee; and Independent Jim Jeffords.
In the vote on Pompeo, a number of Democrats ignored Wyden’s plea and voted to confirm Pompeo. Amazingly, they included Rhode Island Democrat Reed, who voted against the Iraq War Resolution. The senators who are distinguished by having voted against both the Iraq resolution and Pompeo are Durbin, Leahy, Murray, Stabenow, and Wyden.
Democrats joining Reed and the Republicans in voting to confirm Pompeo in the 66-to-32 vote included Joe Donnelly, Dianne Feinstein, Maggie Hassan, Heidi Heitkamp, Tim Kaine, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Manchin, Claire McCaskill, Brian Schatz, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Jeanne Shaheen, Mark Warner, and Sheldon Whitehouse. Connecticut senators Blumenthal and Murphy were delayed by bad weather and did not vote, although based on their previous national security votes, they would have very likely voted for Pompeo.
If Byrd was still alive, he would undoubtedly praise the courage of the “No 32″—Democrats Tammy Baldwin, Michael Bennet, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown (who gave a physical “thumbs down” from the Senate floor), Maria Cantwell, Ben Cardin, Tom Carper, Bob Casey, Chris Coons, Catherine Cortez Masto, Tammy Duckworth, Dick Durbin, Al Franken, Kirstin Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Martin Heinrich, Mazie Hirono, Pat Leahy, Ed Markey, Bob Menendez, Jeff Merkley, Patty Murray, Bill Nelson, Gary Peters, Debbie Stabenow, Jon Tester, Tom Udall, Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, and Ron Wyden; Republican Rand Paul; and Independent Bernie Sanders. In the Pompeo vote, Paul, like Chafee in the Iraq vote, was the sole GOP no vote. Sanders, like fellow Vermonter Jeffords in the Iraq vote, was the lone independent no vote.
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report (subscription required).
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Confirmation vote for Pompeo for CIA reminiscent of Iraq war vote
Posted on January 26, 2017 by Wayne Madsen
In the U.S. Senate, some votes have more impact than others. That was certainly the case with the January 23 Senate vote to confirm Representative Mike Pompeo (R-KS) as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Quite aside from President Trump’s embattled relationship with the CIA, Pompeo’s confirmation by the Senate is similar to the Senate’s passage of the Iraq War Resolution in 2002, legislation that gave President George W. Bush the green light to engage in a costly invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Pompeo is no friend of the Bill of Rights, as seen in his support for the bulk collection of personal data by the U.S. Intelligence Community that even goes far beyond that seen in the warrantless eavesdropping conducted under Bush’s Stellar Wind program. Pompeo is also a supporter of the CIA’s now-discredited “enhanced interrogation” torture program, which was scrapped by President Obama as one of his first acts. Pompeo also favors the execution of National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden and the scrapping of the multinational nuclear agreement with Iran.
Pompeo also favors U.S. military intervention in the Syrian civil war.
An extreme Christian fundamentalist, Pompeo believes in the literal interpretation of the Bible. His beliefs include creationism and the “Rapture.” The Zionist neocon Frank Gaffney has served as a foreign policy adviser to Pompeo. Pompeo was one of the members of the Tea Party Caucus in the House of Representatives who caused no shortage of headaches for House Speaker John Boehner.
Pompeo is on the record in stating that all “legal and bureaucratic impediments to surveillance should be removed,” which includes the Fourth Amendment prohibition from unlawful search and seizure.
Pompeo’s disregard for the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights has earned him the nickname of “Pompous Pompeo” by a few of his congressional colleagues.
To no avail, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) pleaded with his colleagues to reject Pompeo, an alum of the CIA-connected Williams & Connolly law firm, West Point, and Harvard Law School.
Wyden’s warning was reminiscent of the pleading from the late Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) for his Senate colleagues to vote no on the Iraq War Resolution. Only 21 senators voted with Byrd. Byrd later waxed eloquent about the fortitude of the “No 21,” a framed list of which he displayed in his office. They included, in addition to Byrd, Democrats Dan Akaka, Jeff Bingaman, Barbara Boxer, Kent Conrad, Jon Corzine, Mark Dayton, Dick Durbin, Russ Feingold, Bob Graham, Daniel Inouye, Edward Kennedy, Patrick Leahy, Carl Levin, Barbara Mikulski, Patty Murray, Jack Reed, Paul Sarbanes, Debbie Stabenow, Paul Wellstone, and Ron Wyden; Republican Lincoln Chafee; and Independent Jim Jeffords.
In the vote on Pompeo, a number of Democrats ignored Wyden’s plea and voted to confirm Pompeo. Amazingly, they included Rhode Island Democrat Reed, who voted against the Iraq War Resolution. The senators who are distinguished by having voted against both the Iraq resolution and Pompeo are Durbin, Leahy, Murray, Stabenow, and Wyden.
Democrats joining Reed and the Republicans in voting to confirm Pompeo in the 66-to-32 vote included Joe Donnelly, Dianne Feinstein, Maggie Hassan, Heidi Heitkamp, Tim Kaine, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Manchin, Claire McCaskill, Brian Schatz, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Jeanne Shaheen, Mark Warner, and Sheldon Whitehouse. Connecticut senators Blumenthal and Murphy were delayed by bad weather and did not vote, although based on their previous national security votes, they would have very likely voted for Pompeo.
If Byrd was still alive, he would undoubtedly praise the courage of the “No 32″—Democrats Tammy Baldwin, Michael Bennet, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown (who gave a physical “thumbs down” from the Senate floor), Maria Cantwell, Ben Cardin, Tom Carper, Bob Casey, Chris Coons, Catherine Cortez Masto, Tammy Duckworth, Dick Durbin, Al Franken, Kirstin Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Martin Heinrich, Mazie Hirono, Pat Leahy, Ed Markey, Bob Menendez, Jeff Merkley, Patty Murray, Bill Nelson, Gary Peters, Debbie Stabenow, Jon Tester, Tom Udall, Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, and Ron Wyden; Republican Rand Paul; and Independent Bernie Sanders. In the Pompeo vote, Paul, like Chafee in the Iraq vote, was the sole GOP no vote. Sanders, like fellow Vermonter Jeffords in the Iraq vote, was the lone independent no vote.
Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.
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Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report (subscription required).