Gina Haspel, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, has been sworn in as the agency's first female director. The 61 year old is re
Gina Haspel, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, has been sworn in as the agency’s first female director. The 61 year old is replacing Mike Pompeo, who recently became U.S. secretary of state. Trump’s selection of Gina Haspel sparked controversy, given her oversight of harsh detainee interrogations after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America. She also wrote a memo authorizing the spy agency’s destruction of videotapes showing what many legal scholars said was the torture of terror suspects.
During her Senate confirmation hearing, Gina Haspel repeatedly declined to say whether harsh interrogation techniques were morally wrong. Earlier last week, however, she wrote a letter to the committee’s top Democrat, Mark Warner of Virginia, saying the CIA should not have conducted abusive interrogations. Her confirmation by a vote of 54-45, ended a tumultuous nomination process in which lawmakers revisited the CIA’s past interrogation practices.
Six Democrats voted in favor of Haspel, while two Republicans opposed her nomination to replace Pompeo. Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont announced his opposition to Haspel shortly before the vote, calling some of her known record disturbing.
“I do not question Ms. Haspel’s commitment to our national security. But I do question her fidelity to a core value of our nation that all people have certain inalienable rights,” Leahy said in a statement, adding that the basic dignity of human beings “is incompatible with inhumane practices like torture.”
As Director of the CIA, Gina Haspel will be the first operations officer in more than five decades to lead the Agency.
