Voting 54-45, the U.S. Senate confirmed 63-year-old Deputy CIA Director Gina Hapel as the first woman to run the 70-year-old spy agency. Working 33 years for the CIA, no one was more qualified by way of experience but some senators questioned Haspel’s moral fitness to run the department. Running a Black Site in Thailand from 2002-2006, Haspel used waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques, losing GOP votes of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ax), all believed that Haspel went beyond the pale approving enhanced interrogation techniques on her watch. Haspel replaces 54-year-old Mike Pompeo who’s moved from CIA to Secretary of State. During her May 9 confirmation hearing in the Senate Intelligence Committee, Haspel handled blistering questions about her participation in enhanced interrogation techniques.
Haspel responded to sharp questions from Democrats and Republicans about her acceptance of enhanced interrogation techniques at her Black Site in Thailand. Haspel explained that she operated within the law at the time to help, above all else, prevent another Sept. 11-type attack. Because the CIA was essentially blindsided Sept. 11, Haspel explained away her role in using enhanced interrogation techniques at her Black Site in Thailand. “The safety and security of the American people depend on capable intelligence leadership. Gin Haspel is the right woman at the right time,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). McConnell had no problem with Haspel approving enhanced interrogation techniques or continuing the same practice should circumstance warrant. During her confirmation hearing, Haspel refused to denounce former Bush-43 officials.
Proving clarification after her May 9 hearing to Democrat and Republican senators, Haspel confirmed that she would not support a program of enhanced interrogation techniques. “With the benefit of hindsight and my experience as a sentior agency leader, the enhanced interrogation program is not one the CIA should have undertaken,” Haspel wrote to Sen. Mark Warner (D-Vir.). Warner didn’t like Haspel’s response at her May 9 hearing, refusing to denounce enhanced interrogation techniques. “I believe she is some who can and will stand up to the president if ordered to do something illegal or immoral—like a return to torture,” Warner said, signaling he’d vote to confirm the nation’s first female CIA chief. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky), Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Az.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) all opposed Haspel’s confirmation because of her past use of enhanced interrogation techniques.
Hapsel, a 33-year-veteran of the CIA, knew the agency’s shock and humiliation in the wake of Sept. 11. How the CIA didn’t pick up on terrorist chatter an imminent deadly terror attacks is anyone’s guess. Sept 11 was slap-in-the-face to the CIA and other intel agencies. Former President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld pulled out all the stops allowing the CIA to collect as much intel as possible to prevent another Sep. 11-type attack. Paying Air Force psychologists 66-year-old Bruce Jensen and 68-year-old James Mitchell $81 million to reverse engineer the Air Force SERE [Survival, evasion, resistance and escape] manual, the Bush-43 White House was happy to get any edge on detainees from Afghanistan and Iraq. No one knew whether or not the enhanced interrogation techniques worked to gain valuable intel.
Haspel was grilled not only why she approved controversial techniques but why, years later, she approved the destruction of 92 videotapes documenting the procedures. In 2005, Haspel, while working at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virgina, wrote a cable calling for the destruction of the CIA tapes from her Black Site in Thailand. Haspel’s decision to destroy CIA evidence of enhanced interrogation techniques violated CIA and Air Force policy to destroy evidence, no matter what the excuse. Haspel told senators she backed destroying the tapes of enhanced interrogation techniques to protect covert CIA operatives involved. If Haspel wanted to protect CIA personnel, she would have never approved the tapes in the first place. Haspel approved the tape’s destruction to spare the CIA more embarrassment. Enhanced interrogation techniques aren’t too pretty look at on replay.
Approving Haspel today proved that senate committees can overcome partisan feuding to do the people’s business. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), one of Trump’s biggest critics on Capitol Hill, gushed with praise May 14 over Trump’s decision to open up the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. During an election year, Democrats in Congress wanted to show their support for the first woman to lead the CIA. Sen. Joe Donnally (D-Ind.), Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) eventually backed Haspel after she told Warner in letter she would not, under any circumstances, approve enhanced interrogation techniques again. When you consider the upheaval going on at the FBI, Haspel’s got her work cut out restoring CIA’ credibility, especially about assessing threats to the U.S. homeland.. Haspel has the skills and experience to restore the CIA to its past glory.
