We show that, under a division condition, the tangential Cauchy-Riemann cohomology of a compact Lie group with a left-invariant CR structure can be computed on a suitable maximal torus. As a consequence, we conclude that the tangential Cauchy-Riemann cohomology is finite-dimensional. We also show that, for a class of CR structures, this division condition is necessary for the total cohomology to be finite-dimensional. The proof combines Fourier analysis on compact Lie groups, highest-weight representations and Lie algebra cohomology. This not only generalizes but provides completely new proofs for the analogous result due to Pittie and for its extensions to Levi-flat CR structures, obtained by Jacobowitz and Jahnke.