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Dead Drop: January 12

<p>dead drop</p>

RISING TO THE DEFENSE: Some CIA watchers couldn’t help but notice that agency director Mike Pompeo was among a small group of administration officials sent out to defend the president’s mental acuity recently. Pompeo appeared on CBS News’ Face the Nation and Fox News Channel’s Fox News Sunday on the same day. While the CIA director fielded questions on threats ranging from North Korea to Iran, the initial questions on both shows, not surprisingly, focused on Trump’s fitness for his job.  Pompeo, also not unexpectedly, leapt to POTUS’s defense, saying Trump is “completely fit” for office. While that was likely music to the president’s ear, Trump might not have agreed with another assessment from Pompeo who, in response to a question, denied that there is any “deep state” at CIA and that he can’t believe there ever was. Observers noticed that he also was at Camp David over the weekend as the president met with Cabinet officials to discuss the upcoming legislative agenda. Some observers have questioned whether Pompeo steps beyond the role of intelligence adviser and provides policy and political advice as well. Also noteworthy was that Pompeo’s nominal boss, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, didn’t seem to be on the Camp David guest list.

WELL THAT SETTLES IT:  According to Radio Free Europe, Russian officials have rejected comments made by CIA Director Pompeo that Russia is attempting to interfere with the 2018 congressional elections and have been messing with the U.S. electoral process “for decades.” "We have not meddled and will never meddle into the domestic affairs of other countries, " Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. This will come as welcome news to the Ukrainians, among others.

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