CIA Director Mike Pompeo contested allegations that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election skewed results in a Thursday appearance before the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“The intelligence community’s assessment is that the Russian meddling that took place did not affect the outcome of the election,” Pompeo flatly declared, adding that he could not think of anything more important for the U.S. intelligence community to do then ensure the integrity of elections. The director continued that Russian efforts to influence U.S. elections “is not new,” adding, “the Russians have been at this an awfully long time.”

“Until there is a new leader in Russia I suspect it will be a threat an awfully long time.”

Pompeo’s speech echoes the assessment of a January report from the U.S. intelligence community that “that the types of systems Russian actors targeted or compromised were not involved in vote tallying.”

WATCH U.S. INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS DISCUSS RUSSIAN MEDDLING IN 2016 ELECTION:



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