kraftiekortie wrote:
It's going to be the deputy of the outgoing CIA Director, who would be the first women CIA director ever.
Trump's pick for new CIA chief dogged by secret prisonsQuote:
Gina Haspel, the veteran CIA undercover officer President Donald Trump picked on Tuesday to head the agency, is supported by many in the U.S. intelligence community but has faced criticism for overseeing a secret CIA prison in Thailand where detainees were tortured.
ntelligence officers who served with her, and congressional officials said that in 2002, during Republican President George W. Bush’s administration, she was responsible for the secret prison code-named “Cat’s Eye.” Two suspected members of the al Qaeda militant group were subjected to waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques at the facility.
Three years later, still during Bush’s presidency, she carried out an order to destroy videotapes of the waterboarding, which simulates drowning and is considered a form of torture, according to those people.
Haspel is generally held in high regard at the CIA, working as deputy director under Mike Pompeo, whom Trump nominated to be the next secretary of state on Tuesday after firing Rex Tillerson from the post.
Her nomination faces an uncertain fate in the Senate, which Trump’s fellow Republicans control 51-49. She could be opposed by all the Democrats, and some Republicans may also oppose her, including Senator Rand Paul, who has called a news conference on Wednesday to discuss the nomination.
“The torture of detainees in U.S. custody during the last decade was one of the darkest chapters in American history,” said Republican Senator John McCain, who was himself tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. “Ms. Haspel needs to explain the nature and extent of her involvement in the CIA’s interrogation program during the confirmation process.”
Trump defended the torture of detainees during the 2016 presidential race, saying it “works.” He has not taken any action to reverse Obama’s policy, but Haspel’s nomination will fan concerns.
On Tuesday, some U.S. intelligence officials said reports of her alleged involvement in interrogations involving torture were false. But they did not immediately provide details.
They did not dispute her involvement in drafting orders to destroy videotapes of harsh interrogation techniques, which was reported in the book “Hard Measures,” by Jose Rodriguez, her boss in the agency at the time, and former CIA spokesman Bill Harlow.
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