2016 ELECTION/INTELLIGENCE/MIKE POMPEO/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday [7-19-18] he believes that Russia will try to undermine democracies around the world for the foreseeable future…Pompeo’s comments came just days after President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin one-on-one in Helsinki. Trump provoked furor in Washington when, standing beside Putin at a news conference, he declined to endorse the assessment from the US intelligence community that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. The next day, Trump told reporters that he had misspoken. Putin has been invited by Trump to the White House later this year, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders also said Thursday…Pompeo also said that Washington would not entertain the idea of allowing Putin’s team to question or have physical custody of a group of prominent Americans Putin says conducted illegal activities in Russia, allegations that Washington strongly denies. The secretary’s denial came a day after Sanders, the White House press secretary, indicated that no final decision had been made.”
-Joshua Berlinger, “Pompeo: Russia ‘will try to undermine Western democracy’ in 2018, 2020,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, July 20, 2018 2:11 am