US President Donald Trump has defended his nominee to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, Gina Haspel, after she offered to withdraw amid questions over her role in the agency’s torture program.
“My highly respected nominee for CIA Director, Gina Haspel, has come under fire because she was too tough on Terrorists,” Trump tweeted on Monday.
My highly respected nominee for CIA Director, Gina Haspel, has come under fire because she was too tough on Terrorists. Think of that, in these very dangerous times, we have the most qualified person, a woman, who Democrats want OUT because she is too tough on terror. Win Gina!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2018
Trump’s tweet came as Haspel, who spent three decades in the CIA’s covert services, faces stiff opposition in Congress over her history of involvement in the torture of al-Qaeda suspects after the September 11 attacks.
Haspel, a black ops veteran who joined the CIA in 1985,…