MIKE POMPEO/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “More than a week has passed since Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin met in Helsinki, Finland, but lawmakers still want answers to basic questions: What did they talk about? What, if anything, was agreed to? Mr. Trump was accompanied in the meeting only by an interpreter. Exactly what was said on topics such as Ukraine and Syria, as well as Russian interference in the 2016 election in the United States, remains a mystery. Mr. Trump’s conflicting statements since then have not helped matters. Mr. Pompeo did not attend the meeting, but he will be expected to shed some light on the secretive discussion…When he testifies, Mr. Pompeo is very likely to echo the president in arguing that the Trump administration has, in fact, been tough on Russia, despite criticism otherwise…Among those steps, according to a senior government official on Wednesday [7-25-18], is a new statement to formally clarify that the Trump administration does not recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Most of the world and international bodies — including the United States, Europe, the United Nation and NATO — do not recognize Russia’s seizing of the Ukrainian peninsula.”
–Thomas Kaplan, “Senators to Grill Pompeo on Trump-Putin Meeting: What to Watch,” The New York Times online, July 25, 2018