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Government
BREAKING NEWS: Trump fires Rex Tillerson as secretary of state and replaces him with CIA boss Mike Pompeo
2018-03-13
[DailyMail]
  • Dramatic morning tweet by the president announces that Rex Tillerson has been fired as Secretary of State

  • Tillerson, the former boss of Exxon, had just been on a trip to Africa and was last seen boarding his Air Force place on Monday

  • His last public act was to blame Russia for the poisoning of its former spy Sergei Skripal at a British pizza restaurant - something White House had not done

  • Gina Haspel becomes first ever women to be Director of the CIA after clandestine career and involvement in 'black sites'

  • Tillerson had a troubled relationship with Trump but Washington Post reported he had actually been fired on Friday without the news leaking
Update at 10:00 a.m. ET: The text of the “dramatic” tweet:
Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!
Update at 10:30 a.m. ET:
Gina Haspel will need to face a Senate confirmation hearing.

Pompeo will not, because the Senate confirmed him as the CIA director just three days into the Trump administration.
There’s a nice biography of Mr. Pompeo at the link: West Point, engineering company backed by Koch brothers, four terms in the House including sitting on the Intelligence committee and that Benghazi thing.
Posted by:trailing wife

#21  Sorry, Gina is apparently not a person of color

Pink is a color - ergo, Haspel is a woman of color.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2018-03-13 20:25  

#20  Why?Are there a large number of gays at State?
Posted by JohnQC

I don't know John, but it was that way 25-30 years ago. Appears not much has changed.
Posted by: Besoeker   2018-03-13 19:05  

#19  #12--Why? Are there a large number of gays at State?
Posted by: JohnQC   2018-03-13 19:01  

#18  Sorry, Gina is apparently not a person of color, although I do not wish to pre-empt her identification as anything she he Gina chooses.
Posted by: Bobby   2018-03-13 18:13  

#17  But a women, right? And a black woman, at that? And the Dems will oppose her?

Will wonders never cease!
Posted by: Bobby   2018-03-13 17:45  

#16  Fox News keeps saying DEM wise it's going to be rough to get Gina Haspel's nomination approved. She oversaw the waterboarding....
Posted by: 3dc   2018-03-13 17:22  

#15  I liked Secretary Tillerson. I hope that POTUS handled it like an adult and showed him respect.
Posted by: Crotle Julet3576   2018-03-13 17:20  

#14  LGBT Activists Are LIVID About Trump Naming CIA Director Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State

Sending a protest message via AEA appears to be the only viable option. Solo won't garner much press however. I recommend even numbered groups of six or more, the.... buddy system as it were.

Posted by: Besoeker   2018-03-13 16:58  

#13  Livid "activists"? Must be a day ending in 'y'.
I am glad to see Tillerson go, he seemed to be bucking PDT and was being obstructive (at least as seen from the really cheap seats).
Posted by: Whiskey Mike   2018-03-13 16:51  

#12  The change already bearing fruits: LGBT Activists Are LIVID About Trump Naming CIA Director Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2018-03-13 15:39  

#11  Didn't like how Till wrote off our Syrian allies now being destoyed by Turk/Al Qaeda.
Posted by: Omeger Gray6606   2018-03-13 15:19  

#10  
Iran deal imperiled as Trump ousts Secretary Tillerson:

Israeli officials tell The Jerusalem Post that they believe Trump is serious in his threat to withdraw from the deal. The US-E3 talks dominated Trump's conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House last week.

The talks are scheduled to continue in Berlin on Thursday.

IOW Trump fired Tillerson in order to 'imperil' the Iran deal.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660   2018-03-13 14:48  

#9  Be amusing to see how many commentators who wrote that Tillerson was totally unsuited to the job now suddenly think the exact opposite...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2018-03-13 13:56  

#8  Till didn't clean house fast enough?
Posted by: Procopius2k   2018-03-13 11:36  

#7  I haven't been overly thrilled with the CIA this past year so this strikes me as odd. Maybe I'm wrong and just lumping CIA with FBI in my head.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2018-03-13 11:26  

#6  Let's see what actions Haspel may take. I suspect there may be a string of retirements coming out of McLean, possibly Foggy Bottom as well.
Posted by: Besoeker   2018-03-13 11:09  

#5  Iran deal imperiled as Trump ousts Secretary Tillerson
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2018-03-13 11:07  

#4  Yea, but who's going to watch the CIA?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2018-03-13 11:04  

#3  Trump wants Pompeo handy for his trip to Korea. T-Rex's turtle appears to have an extensive resume of overseas assignments, which is excellent. A pox on the Klingon beltway homesteaders.
Posted by: Besoeker   2018-03-13 10:43  

#2  Fired? Maybe. The MSM likes to find scandal/chaos in this WH where none exists. Tillerson said he planned to leave in a year when he signed on. It's been 14 months. Recently, it was reported that Tillerson cut short a trip in South Korean because he was sick.
Posted by: JohnQC   2018-03-13 10:36  

#1  I have been less than thrilled with Tillerson and Pompeo is definitely less friendly with radical Islam.

So... tentative yay
Posted by: DarthVader   2018-03-13 10:36  

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