US: Trump names Mike Pompeo as CIA head

NEW YORK (AA) – President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Mike Pompeo to head the Central Intelligence Agency, according to officials familiar with the matter.

If confirmed by the Senate, Pompeo would take the helm of an agency plagued by years of reports of using systemic torture and inhumane interrogation techniques in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, under a president who said he would implement even stronger measures.

Pompeo, who is currently serving his third term in Congress and has been a member of the House intelligence committee since 2013, was a staunch critic of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a congressional investigation into the September 11, 2012, attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted in the killing of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

In a June 2016 supplemental report on Benghazi, which he was appointed to investigate, Pompeo accused the Barack Obama administration of trying to cover up the attack for political gain.

“With the presidential election just 56 days away, rather than tell the American people the truth and increase the risk of losing an election, the administration told one story privately and a different story publicly, Pompeo and fellow committee member Jim Jordan wrote before the 2012 presidential election.

“Security in Benghazi was woefully inadequate and Secretary Clinton failed to lead,” they added.

Pompeo graduated first in his class from West Point in 1986 and after leaving active duty, he studied at Harvard Law school and edited the prestigious school's student-run law journal, according to his congressional website.

He then became the president of Sentry international, and oilfield equipment manufacturing, distribution and service company, the website said.