Lots of people are here because this is an normas opportunity to hear the director. We are privileged to have him here. I would say we are fortunate as a country the director is willing to serve at this time. His life has been about service. He was the highest ranking can that at west point when he graduated from west point and career, hasife, been about service. He has been in and out of government and in the private sector. Fortunately, he is willing to thee us as the director of cia. We you please welcome with your warm applause director pompeo. [applause] director pompeo good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for coming to join me. I did pick this place. Fornted to thank csis hosting me today. Im honored to make some of the first public remarks as director of the cia. You laughed appropriately. We had bill webster here. We appreciate it very much. [applause] it is an honor, and i am a little nervous. I thought i would start today by telling you a story. Bright, welleducated young man, described as industrious, intelligent, likable, if inclined toward impulsiveness and impatience. At some point he became disillusioned and became angry at his government. He left government decided to devote himself to public advocacy, exposing the Intelligence Officers and operations that he had sworn to keep secret. He appealed to Agency Employees andend him leads suggestions. He wrote in a widely circulated bulletin, where we are particularly anxious to receive copies of u. S. Diplomatic lists and u. S. And is the staff. Embassy staff. Ee. Man was philip agg in counterspy, Richard Welch was identified as the station chief in athens. Address wasds home out in the press in greece. Wife were and his going home. Welch was assassinated by a greek terrorist cell. The time of his death, it was the highest ranking officer killed in the line of duty. Life, one thatch is celebrated with a star on the wall. He was buried at Arlington National cemetery. Hisip agee propped up occasional starts with a playboy interview. Today there are still plenty of philip agees in the world and the world and hardly inflict on u. S. Institutions and personnel is a serious today as then. Thell comes from Intelligence Community. They do not share the same background or use the same they ares agee, but soul mates. I can they choose to see themselves in a romantic light as he rose buffalo, saviors of our open society. Thoughaim to this even the disclosures often inflict irreparable harm on individuals and democratic governments, pleasing desperate along the way. One thing they do not share with agee is the need for a publisher. All they require is a smart phone and internet access. In the digital environment, they can simulate secrets they can disseminate secrets all around the globe to all who seek us harm. Our first line of defense against threats like these is the u. S. Intelligence community. I feel privileged and am amazed that as cia director i could be part of this great group of men and women. I am the son of a machinist from orange, california. I have never been east of Mississippi River before college, working most summers in kansas. To be entrusted with leading the greatest organizations in the world is something i cannot wrap i had around my head around. Feel iat west point, i am on the shoulder of giants. After i was nine than they did nominated, i talk with every living director. They spoke with the need to call things as you see them and the apolitical nature of the job. Above all they spoke about the admiration they had for their time with his workforce and for what from what i have seen so far, their assessment is spot on. I am stranded by patriots, men and women who signed up for it life of discretion and impact. These officers have sworn an oath to uphold the constitution. They have signed agreements that quietly go about their work and trying not to get too worked up about it the headlines have including the notion that they spy on their fellows to visit by way of microwave ovens. Not the liberty to stand up to these narratives and explain our mission to the people. Fortunately, i am. In my first meeting with the workforce, i promised i would serve them and people home and abroad with the same passion and had as a Business Owner and as a member of congress representing kansas. That is why im here today. The cia does not comment on actresses a purported documents posted online. In keeping with that policy, i will not comment on the authenticity of recent disclosures. But the false narratives that increasingly form her discourse cannot be ignored. There are fictions that demean the achievements of the cia and the intelligence committee. And in the absence of a vocal onestal, these voices, that proclaimed treason to be covered advocacy, gain a gravity they do not deserve. It is time to call these voices out. The men and women of the cia deserve a defense. I intend to do that state. First and foremost we should note the intelligence organizations engage solely in foreign espionage. We steal secrets from terrorist or his agents, and we are private. Soanalyze this intelligence our government can better understand our adversaries that we face in a challenging and to dangerous world. We make no apologies. It is hard stuff and we go at his heart. When it comes to overseas threats, the cia is aggressive in our pursuit of information. Toutilize our whole toolkit employ the capabilities the congress, courts, and the executive branch have provided to us. Because it isings our job. It is what we signed up to do. It is what our president needs. If we did not have a tough time justifying our budget to the taxpayers, that would be inappropriate. Noted, theof a firm cia appears to be doing exactly what we pay them to do export specific targets with limited attacks to support Americas National interests. Our mission is simple in concept, yet incredibly difficult in practice. I have seen that in a few short weeks. We were to provide the best information possible to the president and his administration so they can advance our National Interests and protect our country. The mission at the cia has three out for years quietly and effectively, competent remain congressmansa remain classified as you can come up in a few are known to the work. The cia was a player in the Global Campaign against Nuclear Proliferation and continues to be today. We helped unravel a smuggling in gatheringsted at 10 militants to persuade intelligence to persuade libya. We have been on the cutting edge of technological. The u2 aircraft has been developed. We have push the ball boundaries. Cia technology in 2003 lead to google earth. My first months on the job have only reaffirmed that this spirit and attitude are alive and well. I would like to talk about what the cia does not do. We are a foreign intelligence agency. Oncollect information foreign governments, organizations, and the like, not americans. A number of roles keep us centered on that mission protect the privacy of our fellow americans. The cia is exam, prohibited from spying on people through electronic surveillance in the United States. To not having anyones phone in wichita. I know the there will always be skeptics and we need to build trust with them. I also know first hand from what i saw as a member of a committee and from what i see now as a director, the cia takes its responsibilitys to the optimist with the utmost seriousness. We have an empowered independent office of inspector general. Moreover, regardless of what you see on the silver screen, we do not pursue covert action on a whim and without the approval or accountability. There is a process that starts with the president and consists with many levels of review. When it comes to covert action, theres oversight and accountability every step of the way. And id heralded an agency that has respect for the rule of law and the constitution. It is embedded in the fiber of the people that work at the cia. Despite fictional depictions meant to sell books or tickets, we are not an untethered agency. Awesome capabilities, officers do not operate in areas against targets that are legally offlimits. At our core we are an organization that is committed to uncover the truth and getting it right. We devote ourselves to protecting our tray. We work hard to maintain global coverage. He spent hours putting oringmation and p over reports. We have failed to live up to standards of our citizens have been catalogued well over the years, even by our own government. Mistakes are public. They are public to the extent that any other nation could never match him what it is our duty to get at right. That is one of the reasons we celebrate wikileaks to be perplexing and troubling. While we do our best to collect information on those who does real threats to our country, individuals such as Julian Assange and edwards noted seeks to use that information to make a name for themselves. As long as they make a splash, they care nothing about the life they put at risk or the damage they caused to National Security. Hostiles walks like a Intelligence Services and talks like a Hostile Intelligence Service. It has encouraged its followers to find jobs at the cia in order to find intelligence. It directed Chelsea Manning in her set of specific information. It seeks support from antidemocratic countries and organizations. It is time to call out wikileaks for what it is, a nonstate Hostile Intelligence Service often assisted by countries like russia coul. Gru obtained through Cyber Operations against the Democratic National committee, and the report found that the primary program again that collaborated with wikileaks. For those who read the editorial page of the washington post, yesterday you saw a piece by mr. Assange. You would have read a mass of words where he compares himself to thomas jefferson, dwight eisenhower, and cool surprisewinning work of the New York Times and the washington post. Because you have an admiration for america and the idea of america. This man knows nothing of america and our ideals, nothing of our president our third president , and he knows nothing of our 34th president , a hero from kansas who helped liberate europe from fascism and guided america in the early years of the cold war. Im confident that had assange hen around in the 1930s, would have found himself on the wrong side of history. And histhis because he ilk make common cause with dictators today. They tried to cook them in their they try to cloak themselves in liberty and action. Their mission, personal self and aggrandize meant and the destruction of western values. They do not care about the causes of the people they represent. If they did come a would focus on autocratic regimes in this world that suppressed free speech and dissent. Exploit theo secrets of democratic governments, which have so far proven to be a much safer approached and provoking tyrants. These individuals are not especially burdened by conscience. Because assange has been more than cavalier in disclosing personal information of scores of citizens around the globe. We know this because the damage theyve done to the security safety of the free world is tangible. The examples are numerous. Owden goes to rush, his treachery despite what he claims that he was no whistleblower. True whistleblowers use discrete processes in place to voice grievances. They do not put american lives are screwed the National Security agency recent explained try than a thousand targets to change how they community as a direct result of snowdens disclosure. A staggering number. It became harder for u. S. Intelligence to keep americans safe. It became harder to monitor communication of terrorist relations that are bent on bringing budget our shores. The disclosures help these groups find ways to hide themselves through crowded digital forests. Even in those cases we will able to regain our ability to collect the damage that has already begun. We work with time constraints, and the effort to give back access meant we had less time to look at new threats. His actions have devoted have created a devoted following. And al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula member thanked wikileaks for providing a means to fight america in a way they had not previously envisioned. It is a group devoted not only did bring down passenger planes, but ours as well. Is a dear of these people is reprehensible. They will continue to do great harm for the longterm. They also threatened the trust we have developed with our foreign partners when the trust is crucial currency among allies. The risk damaging row and who take the high road every day. I cannot stress enough how these disclosures have hindered our ability to keep you safe. Not interestedis in improving civil liberties. He has pretended americas First Amendment freedoms shield them from justice. They may have believed that, but they are wrong. Done a narcissist who has nothing of value. He is a fraud, hiding behind a screen. Theres something about wizards behind screens. Im not the only one who knows who Julian Assange really is. Fromthose who have benefit his legs have called him out. Reportsrcept which disclosures accused wikileaks of disclosing the facts. The intercept added the documents were not worth the concern wikileaks generated by its public comments. So we all face a crucial question what can we do about this . What can and should the cia and United States and allies do about this challenge posed by the hostile, nonstate intelligence agencies . There is no quick fix. There are steps we can take to understand that to undercut to undercut the danger. Assangethe danger that poses to democracies around the world. Ignorance or misplaced idealism is no longer an acceptable excuse for lionizing these demons. There are steps we have to take it home. This is a process we have started. We have to strengthen our systems, secure our own stock. We have to improve our mechanisms that approve our counterintelligence missions, and all of us had a wakeup call after snowdens treachery. While i cannot go into detail steps, our defenses will not be static. Our approach to security must be constantly evolving, and we will. We need to be as several as the enemies we face because they will not relent. We will not, either. We cannot eliminate the threat, but we can mitigate it, and this relies on the defense. It depends on a change on how we problems,gital addressing best practices in realtime. We have to recognize we can no longer allow assange be allowed to use free speech i was against to to give them the space crush us is a perversion of what our constitution calls for. It ends now. We need to get in the trust between the Intelligence Community and the citizens we aint to protect. At cia we are committed to earn that trust every day. We know we can never take it for granted. He must continue to be as open as possible for the american people. As the director, it is my duty to uphold the constitution and defend our National Security, and as somebody who has practiced law and ran for public understand why nobody should have to place their trust in government. The Intelligence Community can never be as transparent as other parts of our government. Secrecy is essential. But we cant do better than we have. Even if we cannot share everything that we can share it with the president they elected and with congress who oversees our work. Connectivity, the director understands the imperative for oversights. Doing right by the people is as important to me as carry out carrying out our mission. I work with aten langley are patriots, and i am honored to lead them. They have my trust, and as long as im lucky enough to have the best job in the world, i promise you that cia be tireless in our mission to keep america safe. Thank you all very much. [applause] thank you for saying what we all wanted to hear. I forgot to say this at the beginning. Zarate is going to lead in the question. We will take cards from people. We have people who will collect them, and then we will assemble them. Hold up the cards, and you people Walking Around who will get them collected. Lets not hold these up like penalty cards. Pompeo, what a privilege it is to be with you, to be able to moderate this discussion, your first public discourse, a privilege for me to sit on your Transition Team and help you as much as i could. You do not need it, friday. Full disclosure i am a fan of the directors. Im not here as an unbiased journalist. I want to thank you all for attending. The ground rules, we will have a half an hour discussion. Then by 4 00, please have your questions submitted, and i will take those questions and ask the director. At the end of that at 4 30, i asked the you remain seated or standing so the director can move out safely, and we will conclude the event. Ok . Zarate. An quite a declaration, not only in terms of wikileaks, that a declaration that there are nonstate Intelligence Services actively working against u. S. Interests and working with our adversaries. . Hy talk about this are you worried this is the new phase of counterintelligence work . Are you worried russians are continuing to exploit wikileaks, or that the iranians or North Koreans are beginning to look at this model as an effective model . Why focus on this issue . I had intended to make my first remarks sometime in june of 2019. [laughter] one of thempeo great graces of this role. Having had the chance to observe the risk resented by these nonstate hostile intelligence agencies, i wanted to make sure the people understood the threat the way posed us. They may be small, but i mentioned one character a few times, but it is broader than that. I think the United States government has not done enough , our cyberour nation infrastructure, everything that. S at risk we now have this new threat sitting out there, which behaves in a slightly different