From Fox News: A former CIA case officer who faced extradition to Italy for her alleged role in the rendition of a radical Egyptian Muslim cleric is now free after Trump administration officials intervened, according to a source close to the discussions.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo lobbied his counterparts in Portugal and Italy on behalf of Sabrina De Sousa who was convicted in absentia along with 25 other Americaxns after the post-9/11 rendition of an Egyptian cleric. He was later found guilty on terrorism charges. The CIA had no comment on the case.
The source said Friday that Pompeo worked behind the scenes to show that, on his watch, no CIA case officer would be left behind for executing a mission authorized at the highest levels of U.S. government.
De Sousa called her release "a huge and a very welcome development" in a statement Friday.
"I want to extend my deepest appreciation to the Trump administration for all their efforts on my behalf," she said. "Without their support I would be spending tonight in an Italian prison."
Former Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., who was once the Republican chairman on the House Intelligence Committee and who lobbied hard on behalf of DeSousa, told Fox News, "The Obama administration and former CIA Director John Brennan abandoned De Sousa the last seven years, and in six weeks, the Trump team made her freedom possible."
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