This text provides a biographical overview of Mike Pompeo, focusing on his background, career trajectory, and perceived connections to powerful individuals and organizations. The author traces Pompeo’s lineage, highlighting potential links to historical figures and prominent companies. Pompeo’s early life and education at West Point are discussed, followed by his legal career at Williams and Connolly. The narrative then shifts to his transition into business, co-founding Thayer Aerospace with West Point friends, which received funding from Koch Industries. The author suggests a strong influence of Koch Industries on Pompeo’s political career, detailing campaign donations and appointments. Pompeo’s roles as CIA Director and Secretary of State are mentioned, along with his controversial statements during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 election. The article concludes by emphasizing Pompeo’s perceived shrewdness and strategic alliances, particularly with his West Point classmates Brian Bulatao and Ulrich Brechbuhl, suggesting a coordinated rise to power with potential implications for Koch Industries.
Here is a list of subjects, names, references, locations, companies, etc., marked with double square brackets:
Mike Pompeo is presented as a significant figure within Donald Trump’s administration. His birth date is December 30, 1963, and his parents are Wayne Pompeo and Dorothy (nee Mercer). His ancestry is explored, noting a potential connection to the Bechtel Corporation through a great-great-grandmother named Bechtel, and a great-grandfather named Ulysses Grant Mercer. The Bechtel Corporation, described as the largest construction company in the US, is linked to the construction of Three Mile Island. Warren Abraham Bechtel is noted as its founder. Riley Bechtel, the current head of Bechtel, is mentioned as being on the board of JPMorganChase, the Trilateral Commission, and the National Petroleum Council. Pompeo’s paternal ancestors are noted as being Italian, migrating from the Abruzzo region.
The author refers to Geneanet for genealogical information, with specific links provided. An addition notes pompeo’s maternal grandmother, Grace Mae DOUGLASS, whose family is described as “kingmakers of Scotland” and related to the royal Stewarts. Further ancestral links are made to Mercers, Murrays, Grays, Elphinstones, Taylors, Bennetts, and Willis, Thatcher, Armstrong, and Maris surnames. Garner Ted Armstrong is mentioned as a close cousin. The name Bob Zimmerman is linked to Bob Dylan.
Conflicting information regarding Pompeo’s paternal line is presented, referencing an obituary from Fairhaven Memorial Party and Mortuary. This obituary names his grandfather as Salvatore Pompeo and his grandmother as Gladys Mozell Cullender, daughter of Joseph Smith Cullender and Parolee Catherine Ivey. Catherina Ivey is identified as the daughter of a Boyd, granddaughter of a Hale and a Bacon. The Bacon family is traced back to Sir John Bacon of Suffolk, and Sir Francis Bacon. The Cullender surname is linked to the Bury St. Edmunds witch trials in Suffolk, England in 1662, and to the cotton company Lees, Millington and Cullender of Manchester. Joseph Smith Cullender is related to Comptons, Burrs, Davidsons, Phillips, Greens, and Batemans, suggesting a possible link to the Mormon Joseph Smith, who is also linked to Mack and Gates surnames. The Cullender surname is connected to Livingstons, Earls of Callendar, and Grahams, Forbes, Hays, Drummonds, Stuarts. The 4th Earl of Callendar and Hamiltons are mentioned. The Boyds, Earls of Kilmarnock, are also referenced.
Pompeo graduated from Los Amigos High School in Fountain Valley, Orange County, California. His father worked for Standard Pressed Steel (SPS) for nearly 50 years. Pompeo then attended West Point, graduating at the top of his class. George Armstrong Custer, George Pickett, Edgar Allen Poe, James McNeill Whistler, Douglas MacArthur, and Robert E. Lee are mentioned as other figures associated with West Point or historical battles like Gettysburg. Pompeo served as an armour officer with the Seventh Cavalry in West Germany and left the army in 1991 as a captain. The First Iraq War and the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990 are referenced.
Pompeo earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1994, serving as an editor for the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy and the Harvard Law Review. He then worked at Williams and Connolly in Washington DC, founded by Edward Bennett Williams. The firm’s clients and cases are listed, including Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, James Patterson, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Bob Woodward, Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney, Alan Greenspan, Katharine Graham, Ben Bernanke, Paul Ryan, Tim Russert, Barbra Streisand, Jack Welch, Khaled Hosseini, Bill Walton, Mitch McConnell, Jake Tapper, Enron, Vinson & Elkins, Grokster, Vioxx, Microsoft, Colonel Oliver North, the Iran-Contra Affair, John Hinckley, Ronald Reagan, Google, Disney, Samsung, Intel, Bank of America, The Carlyle Group, Medtronic, Genentech, Eli Lilly, and 21st Century Fox. Edward Williams was friends with Ben Bradlee and Robert Maheu, an associate of Howard Hughes. Williams also served as treasurer of the Democrat National Committee from 1974-77. Vice President George H. W. Bush attended his funeral.
Pompeo moved to Wichita, Kansas in 1998, where he co-founded Thayer Aerospace with West Point friends Brian Bulatao, Ulrich Brechbuhl, and Michael Stradinger. The company acquired aircraft-part manufacturers in Wichita and St. Louis. Thayer Aerospace was renamed Nex-Tech Aerospace and sold to Highland Capital Management, whose clients included Lockheed Martin, Gulfstream Aerospace, Cessna Aircraft, Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems, and Raytheon Aircraft. Pompeo then became president of Sentry International, an oilfield equipment manufacturer and partner of Koch Industries.
The Koch brothers, Charles Koch and David Koch, are prominently featured. David Koch died in 2019. Koch Industries, Inc is described as an American multinational corporation based in Wichita, Kansas, with subsidiaries in various industries. Its holdings include Infor, Invista, Georgia-Pacific, Molex, Flint Hills Resources, Koch Pipeline, Koch Fertiliser, Koch Minerals, Matador Cattle Company, i360, and Guardian Industries. Koch Industries employs 120,000 people in 60 countries and is the largest non-Canadian landowner in the Athabasca oil sands. It is the second-largest privately held company in the United States after Cargill.
Pompeo represented Kansas’s 4th congressional district from 2011 until his appointment as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in January 2017. He won the Republican primary by defeating Jean Schodorf, with support from Common Sense Issues and Americans for Prosperity, a Koch brothers funded group. In the general election, he defeated Raj Goyle, a member of the Kansas House of Representatives. The campaign is noted for a controversial Twitter post about Goyle. Pompeo received donations from Koch Industries and its employees in both the 2010 and 2012 elections.
Pompeo was appointed CIA Director in February 2017 and Secretary of State in April 2018. His role as Secretary of State is described as the third-highest official in the United States executive branch. His political and religious views are mentioned, including his statement that “politics is a never-ending struggle … until the Rapture” and “Jesus Christ as our saviour is truly the only solution for our world.”
During a press conference about the COVID-19 pandemic, Pompeo referred to the situation as a “live exercise” in reference to the Chinese government. Trump is quoted as responding, “Should have let us know.” Pompeo also made a controversial remark about a “smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” later claiming it was a joke.
Pompeo appointed Brian Bulatao as COO of the CIA and later as Under-Secretary for Management at the State Department. He also appointed Ulrich Brechbuhl as the Counsellor of the State Department. The author suggests that these appointments by the West Point graduates effectively put them in key positions within US foreign policy decision-making, with potential implications for Koch Industries.
The author’s initial opinion of Pompeo as a “buffoon” is revised to that of a “very shrewd operator” who strategically cultivates relationships with the wealthy and powerful. The text concludes by inviting readers to draw their own conclusions about Pompeo’s rise to power, his connections, and his sense of humor. The author refers to Miles’s other papers and suggests there are many “interesting things to watch” as they unfold.