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News > World

US: White House Fears CIA Director Nominee Will be Rejected

  • White House declined to comment on Gina Haspel’s offer to withdraw her nomination.

    White House declined to comment on Gina Haspel’s offer to withdraw her nomination. | Photo: Reuters FILE

Published 7 May 2018
Opinion

Haspel has been implicated in the CIA's destruction of some 100 videotapes that documented interrogations using torture techniques.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director candidate Gina Haspel sought, on Friday, to withdraw her nomination amid controversy surrounding her involvement in the interrogation of terrorist suspects.

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According to multiple reports from Reuters and The Washington Post, White House officials are concerned that Haspel's role in a program which employs the use of condemned torture techniques, such as waterboarding, will adversely affect her confirmation to the position.

The waterboarding is believed to have taken place at a covert CIA detention facility in Thailand. Haspel has also been implicated in the agency's destruction of some 100 videotapes that had documented the interrogations.

Former President George W. Bush authorized the Rendition, Detention and Interrogation Programme after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Senior officials in U.S. President Donald Trump's administration are of the opinion that the Senate would reject the nomination, The Washington Post said. Late Friday, Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short and Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders were engaged in discussions with Haspel regarding the effects of her affiliation to the program on her nomination the Post reported.

Sanders declined to comment on Haspel’s offer to withdraw. “She is the best of the best,” Sanders said, adding that Haspel was a “patriot.”

“There has been a fascinating phenomenon over the last few weeks. Those who know the true Gina Haspel — who worked with her, who served with her, who helped her confront terrorism, Russia and countless other threats to our nation — they almost uniformly support her,” said Ryan Trapani, a CIA spokesman.

“That is true for people who disagree about nearly everything else. There is a reason for that. When the American people finally have a chance to see the true Gina Haspel on Wednesday, they will understand why she is so admired and why she is and will be a great leader for this agency.”

A 51-49 party split and absence of Republican Senator John McCain, paired with resistance from Democrats, complicates and makes uncertain the appointment of Haspel.

Haspel has served the CIA for 33 years and tenured as the agency’s deputy director. Haspel would become the first woman to lead the CIA, should her nomination be confirmed.

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