CIA Director Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that officials from the agency met recently with Russian intelligence agents as part of efforts to “keep Americans safe,” responding to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) insinuations that the meetings were improper. “While Russia remains an adversary, we would put American lives at greater risk if we ignored opportunities to work with the Russian services in the fight against terrorism,” Pompeo wrote to Schumer. Matt House, a spokesman for Schumer, said Pompeo never denied that “sanctions were discussed with the Russians”—a reference to the Trump administration’s decision on Monday to not impose new congressionally mandated sanctions against Russia.
