CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Sunday there’s no doubt the Kremlin meddled in the 2016 election but there’s also no evidence that it made any difference.
Did Russia influence the election? “The intelligence community has been clear that’s not our role to discuss that, but there’s not been a single indication that any vote was changed, the ballots were tampered with, or that there was any outcome determined by the intelligence community,” Mr. Pompeo said on “Fox News Sunday.”
He categorically refuted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s latest assertion that the Russians indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller didn’t represent the Kremlin, saying, “That’s false.”
“The Russians attempted to interfere with the United States elections in 2016,” Mr. Pompeo said. “They also did so before that. There’s a long history of Russian efforts to influence the United States and conduct influence operations against the United States, and it was Russians who actually engaged in this, not somebody from outside of the country or disconnected from Russia.”
He declined to comment on the investigations into whether the Trump presidential campaign colluded with Russia, saying, “The CIA and the White House have cooperated with those investigations. I don’t have anything to add to that discussion.”
Mr. Putin said last week that Russia has developed two new nuclear weapons with first-strike capability, but Mr. Pompeo appeared skeptical.
“Vladimir Putin says lots of things that are without foundation,” Mr. Pompeo said.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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