Gina Haspel Sworn In As First Woman CIA Director Despite Torture Claims

Agencies

May 22, 2018

Washington, May 22: As he participated in the swearing-in of his new CIA director on Monday, President Donald Trump acknowledged the difficulties that Gina Haspel's nomination had faced but said her strong performance at her confirmation hearing turned things around.

"It took courage for her to say 'yes' in the face of a lot of very negative politics and what was supposed to be a negative vote," Trump said at a ceremony at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. "But I'll tell you, when you testified before the committee, it was over. There was not much they could say."

The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Haspel's nomination, 54 to 45, despite lingering concerns about the role she played in the brutal interrogation of suspected terroristscaptured after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Haspel, who succeeds Mike Pompeo, Trump's new secretary of state, is the first woman to lead the CIA. Trump noted the milestone in his remarks, adding: "That's big."

Trump praised Haspel, who rose through the ranks at the CIA, as "someone who has served this agency with extraordinary skill and devotion" for 30 years.

"Our enemies will take note," Trump said. "Gina is tough, she is strong, and when it comes to defending America, Gina will never, ever back down."

Trump had wavered in his backing for Haspel, at times expressing doubt in private meetings about whether she had the support to win confirmation, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Earlier this month, Haspel sought to withdraw after some White House officials worried that her involvement in the CIA's interrogation program could derail her chances.

Trump decided to push for Haspel to stay in the running, after first signaling he would support whatever decision she made, administration officials said.

In late 2002, Haspel, then a senior leader at the Counterterrorism Center, managed a secret detention facility in Thailand where two al-Qaida suspects were waterboarded (one of them before Haspel's arrival).

During her confirmation hearing, Haspel insisted she would never allow torture at the CIA again, and she said she would be guided in the future by her own "moral compass." But she resolutely avoided saying whether, at the time, she thought the secret detention and "enhanced interrogation" of suspected terrorists was moral.

From the moment she was nominated to succeed Pompeo, Haspel had faced major confirmation hurdles. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., announced from the outset that he would oppose her, while she faced deep skepticism from Democrats and other Republicans for her role in the enhanced interrogation program during the administration of George W. Bush.

Haspel, however, sailed through her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee without any major slip-ups, and former defense and intelligence officials under the Obama administration mounted a campaign to persuade swing Democratic votes.

On Thursday, six Democratic senators supported her nomination, and two Republicans voted against her - Paul and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake.

During remarks after she was sworn in Monday by Vice President Mike Pence, Haspel noted that "it has been nearly 50 years since an operations officer rose up through the ranks" to become CIA director.

After her two-month-long confirmation battle, Haspel added: "I think I know why that is."

"I want each of you to know that I took on the position of director because I want to represent you, as well as lead you," Haspel said to CIA employees present at the ceremony. "I want the current CIA leadership team to be role models and mentors for our next generation of officers."

Former senior intelligence officials attended the swearing-in ceremony, but former CIA Director John Brennan was not invited, according to people familiar with the matter. Brennan, who led the agency during President Barack Obama's administration, has become a fierce and vocal critic of Trump, accusing him of behavior that he recently characterized as "self-serving" and dangerous to democracy.

In various tweets in recent weeks, Brennan has called Trump a hypocrite and a liar. On Sunday, Brennan called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to prevent the president from ordering a Justice Department investigation into the probe of his presidential campaign's contacts with Russia.

"If Mr. Trump continues along this disastrous path, you will bear major responsibility for the harm done to our democracy," Brennan wrote in a tweet.

On Monday morning, Trump, in an apparent response, alleged that Brennan had orchestrated the Russia investigation as a "political hit job" against the president. (There is no evidence that Brennan was the source of the investigation.) Trump was quoting Dan Bongino, a former U.S. Secret Service agent and frequent Fox News commentator.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

US braces for historic showdown: Harris vs. Trump in razor-tight presidential clash

News Network

November 5,2024

Washington: The race between Democratic leader Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump for the White House has been truly unprecedented as it saw drama, tragedy, political comebacks, fierce rhetoric and a historically razor-tight contest.

As the fight reaches its crescendo with the big election day just a few hours away, many political observers billed the unpredictable race for the 47th President of the US as the most consequential one in decades while appearing to project a grim picture for the country’s future under a Trump presidency.

In her final days of campaign, Vice President Harris focused on a message of hope, unity, optimism and women rights whereas Trump remained fiercely combative in targeting his Democratic rival and even suggested that he may not accept the election outcome in case of a defeat.

Overall, it has been a roller-coaster ride for both 60-year-old Harris and 78-year-old Trump.

Trump received his party’s nomination in March and formally at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July — in a historic comeback after remaining in political wilderness for months following several court cases.

In effect, he became the first former president to get the nomination for the top office on the planet after being convicted of a felony.

“Trump has made one of the biggest political comebacks since Richard Nixon’s in terms of the political struggles that he has had in the last four years,” Communication Strategist Anang Mittal said.

Just days ahead of the RNC, Trump was shot at during a rally in Pennsylvania. He suffered an upper ear injury. Minutes later, a bleeding Trump raised his fist in defiance, images that drew a lot of emotional support from his die-hard supporters.

For Harris too, it has been a dramatic ride after Biden ended his re-election campaign in July, nearly weeks after he came under severe scrutiny following his incoherent performance at a televised debate with Trump.

While dropping out from the race, Biden, 81, endorsed Harris to succeed him as the Democratic candidate.

Finally in August, the Democratic National Convention formally nominated Harris as the party’s candidate for the presidential election.

The presidential election will be a chance to “move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past”, she said in a powerful speech at the Convention.

If Harris wins, she will become the first woman, first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to become the US President.

In the overall campaign, Harris has been projecting the election as the one to protect the country’s fundamental freedoms, safeguard constitutional values and ensure women’s rights.

On his part, Trump has maintained his signature aggressive rhetoric and promising to rebuild the economy and rid the US from illegal immigrants.

However, there has been strong criticism of the Republican leader’s roadmap to repair the economy.

"Donald Trump is offering a vision of crony rentier capitalism that has enticed many captains of industry and finance,” said Joseph E Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate economist, in a column in Project Syndicate.

"In catering to their wishes for more tax cuts and less regulation, he would make most Americans’ lives poorer, harder, and shorter,” he said.

With election day just a few hours away, there is no clarity on who has a better chance of winning the race.

"The elections are very close. They (the outcome) may change on the basis of a few thousands votes here or there. I think the big issue will be voter turnout tomorrow. That will determine the outcome in certain swing states,” said Executive Director of the US chapter of Observer Research Foundation Dhruva Jaishankar.

Kapil Sharma, a non-resident senior fellow at Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programmes, also echoed similar views.

“This election is probably one of the closest elections that I can remember. I have been working in Washington for over 30 years and I don’t recall an election being this tight,” he said.

More than 78 million Americans have already cast their votes as of Sunday, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab that tracks early and mail-in voting across the US.

Comments