Nominee for CIA director Gina Haspel attends the ceremonial swearing-in of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department on May 2, 2018, in Washington, DC. (Photo: Mandel Ngan / AFP / Getty Images)
The Trump administration’s push to install the CIA’s controversial deputy director, Gina Haspel, as the agency’s new director faces mounting scrutiny as Haspel is set to begin a Senate confirmation hearing this Wednesday. The Washington Post reports the hearing almost didn’t happen, after Haspel attempted to withdraw her name from consideration over opposition to her role in the CIA’s torture program under George W. Bush. Wednesday’s hearing will mark the first time Haspel has been forced to speak publicly about her role in the US torture program and the destruction of CIA tapes documenting the torture. Haspel’s nomination as CIA director has been “sold like a box of cereal” by the agency, says John Prados, senior fellow at the National Security Archive, but with no transparency about her record. As of now, says Prados, there’s no public document listing Haspel’s duties in her more than 30 years at the CIA.
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