“In some ways, I do think [leaking has] accelerated. I think there is a phenomenon, the worship of Edward Snowden, and those who steal American secrets for the purpose of self-aggrandizement or money or for whatever their motivation may be, does seem to be on the increase.” CIA Director Mike Pompeo — June 24 2017

Mike Pompeo, the director of the CIA, blames the “worship” of leakers such as Edward Snowden for a rise in the public disclosure of US intelligence. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

There’s been a lot of leaks to the press in the past few months, and most recently Reality Winner was arrested and charged with leaking classified material.

MSNBC’s Hugh Hewitt asked Pompeo about whether US intel is safe “in the era of Snowden” where more and more people are leaking American secrets.

Pompeo reiterated his strong criticisms of “non-state hostile intelligence services” like WikiLeaks.

Pompeo said he’s concerned by a “worship of Edward Snowden and those who steal American secrets for the purposes of self-aggrandizement or money.”

The comment was ridiculed on Twitter. On a more serious note, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern noticed that Pompeo’s interview coincided with a publication by Seymour Hersh that reveals that Pompeo had been lying about the “intelligence” regarding the Syrian chemical attack earlier this year.

According to Seymour Hersh’s investigation:

“Trump issued the order despite having been warned by the U.S. intelligence community that it had found no evidence that the Syrians had used a chemical weapon.” “The available intelligence made clear that the Syrians had targeted a jihadist meeting site on April 4 using a Russian-supplied guided bomb equipped with conventional explosives.” “Details of the attack, including information on its so-called high-value targets, had been provided by the Russians days in advance to American and allied military officials in Doha, whose mission is to coordinate all U.S., allied, Syrian and Russian Air Force operations in the region.”

Reply from former CIA Analyst Ray McGovern

“Ray comments on CIA Director (and court jester) Mike Pompeo’s evangelical attempts to denigrate Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. It is hard to complain when the pompous Pompeo brings a bit of comic relief, however unwittingly, to the gloom in today’s Washington. So give the man his due.”

REFERENCES

Trump CIA director blames ‘worship of Edward Snowden’ for rise in leaks — Guardian

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CIA director blames ‘worship of Edward Snowden’ for rise in leaks