On or shortly before January 28, CIA Director Mike Pompeo meets outside D.C. with Sergey Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency (SVR), and other Russian officials. Naryshkin is sanctioned by the U.S. and not allowed to enter the country.
According to a U.S. official talking to CNN, “the CIA followed a multi-agency legal process to give access to Russian officials under sanction.” Lawmakers informed of the meeting and the legal process say Pompeo’s actions pose a serious national security threat.
Russia promotes the meeting as a joint effort to combat terrorism. If that were true, the CIA wouldn’t have been the only agency involved in the meeting.
The meeting may have taken place in New York, where Naryshkin arrived from Russia, but Pompeo never reveals specific details about the meeting.
Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., tells Russian press that the meeting isn’t the only recent work between the two countries.
Antonov suggested that ties between Russian and American intelligence services run deep, but out of sight for the casual observer.
“The work is continuing, it’s just, probably correctly, not very visible to the viewer, the reader,” Antonov said. “But I think that work will continue in the future.”
The Daily Beast
Sources
https://themoscowproject.org/collusion/sanctioned-russian-spy-chief-meets-u-s-intel-officials-outside-washington/
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/01/politics/pompeo-russian-spies-meeting/index.html
https://www.thedailybeast.com/russias-sanctioned-spy-chief-reportedly-met-cia-director-in-the-us
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