Torture claims, videos shadow Trump’s CIA pick

Bloomberg

Gina Haspel spent three decades working in secret. Now the lifelong spy is preparing for a bruising public debut as she fights to become President Donald Trump’s CIA chief amid criticism of her involvement in alleged torture programs and role in destroying videotapes of interrogations.
Haspel testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee for her confirmation hearing on Wednesday. She’s already acting CIA director, taking over after Mike Pompeo became secretary of state, and she’s received repeated public backing from Trump, the CIA and former directors of the agency as they seek to ensure her support in the narrowly divided Senate.
“This is a woman who has been a leader wherever she has gone,” Trump said in a Twitter posting. “The CIA wants her to lead them into America’s bright and glorious future!”
But Haspel’s opponents, including human rights groups and some former military and intelligence officials, say the Central Intelligence Agency hasn’t fully disclosed her role in “enhanced interrogation” programmes after the September 11 attacks. Senators including Kentucky Republican Rand Paul say they won’t support her.
“Gina Haspel’s record on torture, including running a CIA ‘black site’ prison in Thailand, should disqualify her from consideration,” Paul said when Haspel’s nomination was made.
The hearing is reopening the unresolved debate over waterboarding and other harsh techniques. Trump revived that debate as a presidential candidate—saying “torture works”— to convince voters he’d be tough on terrorists, according to Gregg Bloche, a professor at Georgetown University’s law school.
“Given that Trump chose to do that, it’s critical that there be this conversation,” Bloche said. He said “there’s a huge amount still to be learned” about Haspel’s previous work, which is
“a perfect test of what she might face right now.”