Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on April 29 that the Obama administration should have done more to prevent Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
“Yeah, sure, of course,” he said, responding to a question at a newsmaker event by The Hill. “The Russians interfered, it happened in the run-up to the election in 2016. Of course they should have done everything they could to prevent it.”
But he didn’t dwell on the failing of the previous administration, saying it was now up to the Trump administration job to make sure the Russians are not successful in the next election.
“I don’t wanna go back and revisit and critique. We have the mission now to make sure this doesn’t happen in 2020,” he said, adding later that Russians have been trying to interfere in U.S. democracy for years, and he expects them to continue.
It’s not just Russia or election interference that the United States needs to be on guard about though, he said.
“It’s to our infrastructure, it’s to our telecommunications networks, our financial systems,” he said. “The Chinese are active, the Iranians are active, we have non-state actors that are also active trying to undermine the very sense of Western democracy.”
The United States has been helping secure elections in Europe and “all around the world,” he said, and will continue to do so.
North Korea
Earlier this month, North Korea asked that Pompeo be removed from denuclearization talks, claiming they will “become entangled,” if he remains at the table, a Foreign Ministry official was quoted by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying.
Pompeo said that it was ultimately up to President Trump to decide who participated in the talks, but that he was still leading the effort.
“We don’t get to decide who my counterpart is and President Trump gets to decide who will represent America,” he said.
Trump has so far dodged the issue, responding to a question on his next move by saying “I think we’re doing very well with North Korea.”
“I have a great relationship with [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un,” he said April 26, touting the progress that has been made in getting three U.S. hostages back, the remains of U.S. soldiers, and a pause in the launching of rockets.
However, the fact that more than 10 days has passed since the request was made and Trump has made no changes seems to suggest he will not acquiesce.
Pompeo, who has said he believes there will be a third summit between Kim and Trump, declined to give a timeline on when that might happen.
