Trump appoints Pompeo to replace fired Tillerson
President Donald Trump uses Twitter to fire Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and names CIA Director Mike Pompeo for the top diplomatic position. Sen. John McCain has concerns about the nomination of deputy director Gina Haspel to head the CIA.
U.S. Sen. John McCain voiced his concerns Tuesday with President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the CIA, saying she needs to make clear her view on torture, which was used on prisoners during her career at the agency.
For McCain, an Arizona Republican who leads the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gina Haspel’s nomination revives his long-standing opposition to torture, shaped by his own experience as a prisoner during the Vietnam War and crystallized during the rhetorical battles over its use by the U.S. under the Bush administration after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“The torture of detainees in U.S. custody during the last decade was one of the darkest chapters in American history,” McCain said in a statement Tuesday. “Ms. Haspel needs to explain the nature and extent of her involvement in the CIA’s interrogation program during the confirmation process.”
Haspel is currently the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Trump nominated her to head the spy agency after nominating its director, Mike Pompeo, to replace Rex Tillerson, who was fired as secretary of State.
McCain’s concerns with Haspel suggest a contentious fight ahead over Haspel’s nomination. Some Democrats also have indicated similar misgivings about torture at the CIA on Haspel’s watch.
“Ms. Haspel’s background makes her unsuitable to serve as CIA director,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
“Her nomination must include total transparency about this background, which I called for more than a year ago when she was appointed deputy director. If Ms. Haspel seeks to serve at the highest levels of U.S. intelligence, the government can no longer cover up disturbing facts from her past.”
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and chairman of the Intelligence committee, was supportive of Haspel’s nomination and indicated a desire to move swiftly on it.
“I know Gina personally and she has the right skill set, experience, and judgment to lead one of our nation’s most critical agencies,” he said. “I’m proud of her work, and know that my committee will continue its positive relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency under her leadership. I look forward to supporting her nomination, ensuring its consideration without delay.”
Haspel “oversaw the torture of two terrorism suspects and later took part in an order to destroy videotapes documenting their brutal interrogations at a secret prison in Thailand,” according to a New York Times profile of her last year.
Haspel seems to have at least one important Democrat open to her nomination, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who is also a member of the Intelligence committee.
Feinstein blocked Haspel’s promotion within the agency over the destruction of the videotapes.
“It’s no secret I’ve had concerns in the past with her connection to the CIA torture program and have spent time with her discussing this,” Feinstein said. “To the best of my knowledge, she has been a good deputy director, and I look forward to the opportunity to speak with her again.”
McCain, who as Armed Services chairman is an ex officio member of the Intelligence committee, noted that Pompeo discussed his views on torture last year.
McCain predicted Pompeo would serve “honorably” as secretary of State if confirmed.
“During his own confirmation proceedings for director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo repeatedly committed that he would comply with the law that applies the Army Field Manual’s interrogation requirements to all U.S. agencies, including the CIA,” McCain said.
“The American people now deserve the same assurances from Gina Haspel, whose career with the agency has intersected with the program of so-called ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ on a number of occasions.”