Mike Pompeo is facing a confirmation hearing so tough, he asked Hillary Clinton for advice

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

CIA Director Mike Pompeo has called Hillary Clinton "morally reprehensible." He has said her handling of the 2012 Benghazi attack was "worse, in some ways," than Watergate, and has asserted that she was more concerned with her "legacy" in its wake.

Now, he's asking her for advice.

Pompeo, tapped by President Trump to replace the ousted Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, has reached out to Clinton — along with every other living former secretary — to prepare for a difficult Senate confirmation hearing, Politico reported.

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Clinton, perhaps unexpectedly, didn't just hit ignore on the call. There were "lengthy" discussions between former state secretaries and the potential secretary-to-be, sources told Politico.

Maybe it's because Clinton sees a "glimmer of hope" in her adversary, as she said earlier this week. Pompeo didn't uproot career intelligence officials when he joined the CIA, Clinton noted, adding that she hoped he could "rebuild" the State Department that Tillerson "decimated."

Pompeo will sit before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.