This is a great moment. I mean, when the Republican chairman of the committee you're giving testimony to sends a clear signal that he is one-hundred-percent over the nonsense being dished out by Donald Trump and his idiot tweets and public statements, as well as the moment where he bent the knee to Vladimir Putin, it's a noteworthy moment. One worth celebrating.
And so, here it is, because it is a moment we should savor. At the same time, it shouldn't go without noting that Senator Robert Corker is actually in a position to change the trajectory, to DO more, to not just SAY but also to ACT.
But like Senator Jeff Flake, he will talk a lot and do very little. Still, this is a moment.
"It's the president that causes people to have concerns," Corker told Pompeo, before asking him if he had any insights into what Trump was doing.
Citing specific examples, Corker continued, "For instance at the Helsinki conference to create an equivalence between our intelligence agency and what Putin is saying, that shocks people."
"I mean, you can imagine, you saw Dan Coats' response afterwards and yours today, I think candidly, was related to what he said at Helsinki, and then the notion of even thinking about exchanging diplomats, sending diplomats over to be interrogated by Putin, to even think about that, to let that be said as an official statement coming out of the White House...."
Corker went on to enumerate example after example, from Trump's bizarre comments about Montenegro to Tucker Carlson to his remarks after Charlottesville, to intentionally causing doubt about NATO and more.
His question to Pompeo was simple: "Is there a strategy with this? What is it that causes the president to purposely, purposely create distrust in these institutions, and what we're doing?"
Pompeo's response was disrespectful, cocky, and disingenuous. As evidence of why Senator Corker's concerns are appropriate, read this article about the chaos that ensued when the White House announces policy and doesn't talk to the Department of Defense.
Watch Pompeo's shameful performance above, via CSPAN-3. And here's a tip for Senator Corker: ACT. DO SOMETHING.
