US President-elect, Donald Trump
Donald Trump, US President elect plans to visit CIA headquarters on Saturday on his first full day as US president, as he takes command of the agency that he has harshly criticised in the past.
A senior US intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the purpose his visit was to swear in Mike Pompeo as the spy agency’s new chief.
However, that plan, will depend on whether Mr Pompeo receives Senate confirmation by then, and it was uncertain whether the Senate would act in time.
The visit would nonetheless have a symbolic element to it,as Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised the CIA since his election victory since it concluded that Russia was involved in cyber hacking that interfered with the US elections.
Mr Trump has since accepted the verdict of Russia’s involvement.
But he raised hackles among intelligence professionals earlier this month when he accused them of leaks that led some US media outlets to report unsubstantiated claims that Russia had collected compromising information about him.
In a series of tweets after those explosive allegations were made public, Mr Trump appeared to blame the intelligence agencies for letting the dossier, which was created by a former British spy, be released.
He was later criticised after one compared them to Nazi Germany.
After that blast, outgoing CIA Director John Brennan fired back, saying Mr Trump “has to be mindful that he does not have a full appreciation and understanding of what the implications are of going down that road.”
Whether Mr Pompeo’s position will be confirmed by the time of the visit remains unclear.
The Senate’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer said that “there are a good number of members” who want to make statements about Mr Pompeo or ask him questions. Ge predicted a vote on Monday if it did not take place Friday.
