Battle over CIA torture program looms at Gina Haspel’s confirmation hearing
WASHINGTON – On Monday, nearly two months after President Donald Trump nominated Gina Haspel to lead the CIA, a stack of binders full of classified material about her three decades as a U.S. spy was delivered to a secure room on Capitol Hill.
The question is whether the last-minute peek behind the curtain will be enough to satisfy skeptics on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is expected to grill Haspel at her confirmation hearing Wednesday, or in the full Senate, which then will decide if she becomes the first woman to run the intelligence agency.
Trump reiterated his support Monday after The Washington Post revealed that Haspel had considered withdrawing her nomination to avoid damage to the CIA. In a tweet, Trump called her “highly respected” and said Democrats opposed her “because she is too tough on terror.”
At issue is Haspel’s still-unexplained role after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when she briefly ran a then-secret CIA prison known as a “black site” in Thailand. Two terrorism suspects were waterboarded and subjected to other forms of abuse at the facility – one before Haspel arrived, one while she was there in 2002 – in an effort to gain useful intelligence.
The CIA later banned those socalled “enhanced interrogation techniques,” which critics called torture. It has refused to say precisely whether Haspel was directly involved in their use, or her views on them.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA., the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence The Central Intelligence Agency has declassified more information about Acting Director Gina Haspel’s career.
Committee, criticized Haspel on Monday for not disclosing more about her 33 years at the CIA.
“The agency has opened itself up to the criticism that it is only releasing favorable materials while suppressing related items that could reflect negatively,” he wrote to Haspel, who is now the CIA’S acting director, in a letter obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-ore., a member of the committee, also called for greater disclosure.
“This is not how you run a democracy,” he said in a telephone interview. “In a democracy, if there are no sources and methods involved, you have an open debate about nominees. I have read the classified material. I believe a significant amount can be declassified without compromising our country’s security. And senators need to answer to an informed public.”
U.S. intelligence officials have
defended keeping Haspel’s record secret, arguing that it’s appropriate for senators to review her classified background behind closed doors before making a decision.
“There’s literally not a single question they could have that could not be answered in a classified or unclassified form,” said one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the process.
Haspel’s confirmation is far from assured, and she may need Democratic votes because Republicans have only a slim majority and support from several remains in doubt. Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY., has vowed to oppose her, and Sen. John Mccain, R-ariz., is being treated for brain cancer in Arizona.
It’s not impossible. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whom Haspel would replace at the CIA, faced a similar problem before he was confirmed last month. But Paul dropped his resistance, as did Democrats facing re-election battles this November in states that voted handily for Trump. The final tally was 57-42.
As with Pompeo, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., hasn’t directed members of his caucus to vote one way or another on Haspel. That could allow some Democrats political breathing room to back her. None has publicly supported her so far.
“Unfortunately, in this environment we expect every vote will be close,” said Marc Short, the White House’s director of legislative affairs.
Despite the political gantlet, Haspel has drawn unusual support from current and former colleagues in the intelligence community. In statements, interviews, podcasts and letters, dozens have publicly backed her nomination.
The White House has been distributing long lists of endorsements, including one on Monday from Mark Sparkman, a former CIA officer.
“She is unafraid to speak the truth, regardless of the setting or audience,” Sparkman wrote in an op-ed in the Hill. “She is a consummate professional who always puts mission and the interests of the republic first.”
In his podcast last week, Michael Morell, who served twice as CIA acting director, described Haspel’s career of high-stakes clandestine operations, including one that led to the arrest of two suspects in the bombing of two U.S. embassies in east Africa in August 1998. Morell also said, “She has done some of the agency’s best work against the Russians.”