A Controversial Record of Torture, but Maybe Not a Deal-Breaker for Democrats
Deputy CIA Director Gina Haspel oversaw one of the agency’s infamous “black sites” over a decade ago and has been harshly criticized for it. Now, she may be Democrats’ best option.
A key domino effect of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s dismissal on Tuesday was the nomination of Deputy CIA Director Gina Haspel—a career officer who has been sharply criticized for the role she played in the CIA’s now-banned torture programs and the tape recordings of which she helped to destroy. Haspel oversaw a CIA black site in Thailand where two terrorism suspects were tortured, and her name was on the cable that ordered the videotapes of their interrogations to be destroyed in 2005.
But Haspel will walk into her Senate confirmation hearings with one trait that could win over skeptical Democrats: She is not a Trump
