The Central Intelligence Agency has declassified an internal memo clearing US President Donald Trump’s choice to head the spy agency of wrongdoing for the destruction of videotapes depicting the waterboarding of terrorism suspects in 2005.
The CIA released the review in response to demands by members of Congress for more information on the career of Gina Haspel, who faces a rocky confirmation hearing in the Senate on May 19 over her involvement in the agency’s harsh interrogation program and torture.
Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein, Martin Heinrich and Ron Wyden have sent several letters to the CIA demanding a public accounting of Haspel’s record.
The declassified memo is the conclusion of a “disciplinary review” conducted in 2011 by former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell. It came after the Justice Department demanded a review of the waterboarding incident as a special prosecutor failed to bring charges against anyone…