President backs CIA pick with torture past
UNITED States President Donald Trump tweeted support for his controversial pick to head the Central Intelligence Agency yesterday, after reports she might withdraw her nomination to avoid a Senate grilling over her past involvement in torture.
Gina Haspel – who has a long career in the CIA’s clandestine service and serves as its deputy director – ran the agency’s “black box” interrogation cell in Thailand after the September 11 attacks.
She is set to face a tough confirmation hearing tomorrow after a number of politicians, including Republican senator John McCain, raised reservations over her past involvement in the torture of detainees.
McCain was tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
“My highly respected nominee for CIA Director, Gina Haspel, has come under fire because she was too tough on terrorists,” the Republican president tweeted.
“Think of that, in these very dangerous times, we have the most qualified person, a woman, who Democrats want OUT because she is too tough on terror. Win Gina!”
Citing senior officials, The Washington Post said on Sunday that Haspel had indicated she would withdraw her nomination over the prospect of a tough Senate hearing that could damage the top espionage body’s reputation and her own.
Trump had decided to push her to stay the nominee, the paper said.
Haspel, 61, is widely respected in the intelligence community as a disciplined, non-political field agent who took on hardship positions and unsavory jobs.
After becoming the CIA’s deputy director a year ago, Trump nominated her for the agency’s top job to replace the former director Mike Pompeo, recently confirmed as the top US diplomat.
Numerous reports said key al-Qaeda suspects Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri were brutally interrogated and repeatedly waterboarded in 2002 in Thailand.
Haspel was reportedly involved in the CIA’s destruction of videotapes recording the interrogations.