Trump picks conservative loyalists for
top security, law enforcement jobs
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[November 19, 2016]
By Steve Holland
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect
Donald Trump picked three conservative loyalists to lead his national
security and law enforcement teams on Friday, underscoring his campaign
promise to take a hard line confronting Islamist militancy and curbing
illegal immigration.
Trump picked U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general, rewarding
a staunch supporter whose tough and sometimes inflammatory statements on
immigration have reflected his own. The choice was applauded by the top
Republican in the Senate but drew sharp criticism from civil rights
activists.
Retired Army Lieutenant General Mike Flynn, who has championed Trump's
promises to take a more aggressive approach to terrorism, was chosen as
his national security adviser.
Trump named Representative Mike Pompeo, a vocal critic of the Obama
administration's security policy, as director of the Central
Intelligence Agency.
The three choices, announced by Trump's transition team, come as the
Republican president-elect works to fill key positions in his
administration, which will take over from Democratic President Barack
Obama on Jan. 20.
The picks could heighten concerns abroad that the Trump administration
might carry out campaign promises of banning Muslims from entering the
United States or imposing more severe restrictions on migrants from
countries or regions with high levels of militant Islamist activity,
such as Iraq and Syria.
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Sessions and Pompeo seem likely to be confirmed by the Senate despite
heavy resistance from Democrats. Republicans will control a majority,
with at least 51 seats in the 100-seat chamber, when Congress reconvenes
in January. Flynn's post does not need Senate confirmation.
One of the earliest Republican lawmakers to support Trump's White House
candidacy, Sessions opposes any path to citizenship for illegal
immigrants and was an enthusiastic backer of Trump's campaign promise to
build a wall on the border with Mexico. He has also argued for curbs on
legal immigration on the grounds that it drives down wages for U.S.
workers.
A former Alabama attorney general and U.S. attorney, Sessions, 69, has
been in the Senate for 19 years. Allegations that he made racist remarks
led the Senate to deny his confirmation as a federal judge in 1986. The
chamber's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said he would want Sessions to
answer "tough questions" about his civil rights positions.
The attorney general acts as the country's chief law enforcement officer
and head of the Justice Department. Civil rights groups slammed Sessions
as a poor choice to head a department charged with protecting voting
rights and running immigration courts.
"How can we trust someone in that role who has demonstrated he thinks
all forms of immigration are bad for America?" said Beth Werlin, head of
the American Immigration Council.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he strongly supported
Sessions for attorney general, calling him "principled, forthright, and
hardworking."
Sessions has been one of Trump's most enthusiastic backers on Capitol
Hill and the president-elect has hired several of Sessions' staffers,
including policy chief Stephen Miller and Rick Dearborn, who has a top
job managing the transition.
Also on Friday, the first set of transition “landing teams” were
starting work at the departments of State, Justice, Defense and the
National Security Council to begin hashing out the details of shifting
to a new administration.
ISLAMIST MILITANTS
Flynn, one of Trump's closest advisers, was fired from the Defense
Intelligence Agency in 2014, a move he has attributed to his outspoken
views about fighting Islamist militancy. Other officials who worked with
Flynn cited his lack of management skills and leadership style as
reasons for his firing.
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![](../images/111916pics/news_I13.jpg)
Donald Trump sits with U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) at Trump
Tower in Manhattan, New York, U.S., October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike
Segar/File Photo
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An Army intelligence veteran of three decades, Flynn was assistant
director of national intelligence under Obama. He views the 2003
invasion of Iraq as a strategic blunder and has refused to condemn
Trump's support for the renewed use of waterboarding. This is an
interrogation technique that simulates drowning, is widely
considered torture and was banned by Obama.
Pompeo, 52, a third-term Republican congressman and former U.S. Army
officer who founded an aerospace company, was a surprise pick to
lead the CIA.
A member of the House Intelligence Committee, Pompeo has called for
a revival and expansion of a now-defunct domestic spying program to
include "financial and lifestyle information" as well as phone
records. He has said that Edward Snowden, a former government
contractor who uncovered the spying program and who now lives in
Russia, should get the death penalty if he is ever tried and
convicted.
Pompeo has been one of the most aggressive critics of the Obama
administration's handling of a 2012 attack on U.S. diplomatic
facilities in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and
three other Americans.
Nevertheless, Democrats who have worked with him joined Republicans
in describing Pompeo as knowledgeable and hard working.
"While we have had our share of strong differences - principally on
the politicization of the tragedy in Benghazi - I know that he is
someone who is willing to listen and engage," Representative Adam
Schiff, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said on
Friday.
Trump met on Friday with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a
possible pick to head the Department of Homeland Security, and U.S.
Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a possible candidate for defense
secretary.
Trump is considering retired General David Petraeus, who resigned as
CIA chief in 2012 after an extra-marital affair, is being considered
for the post of defense secretary, the Wall Street Journal said.
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Trump was expected to spend the weekend in Bedminster, New Jersey,
the home of the Trump National Golf Club. On Saturday he was
scheduled to meet with Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential
nominee.
Romney was one of the fiercest Republican critics of Trump during
his unorthodox election campaign but is now under possible
consideration for secretary of state.
Admiral Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, is
the leading candidate to serve as Trump's director of national
intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported.
(Additional reporting by Emily Stephenson, Susan Cornwell, Patricia
Zengerle, Mark Hosenball and Dustin Volz in Washington; Writing by
Andy Sullivan and Richard Cowan; Editing by Frances Kerry and
Alistair Bell)
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