07 May 2018 - Trump's Nominee for CIA Director Offered to Withdraw Amid Concerns Over Past Role in Torture Program
CIA Nominee Gina Haspel Faces A Senate Showdown
Greg Myre (NPR, 06/05/2018)
Gina Haspel's appearance before the Senate intelligence committee on Wednesday promises to be a very unusual confirmation hearing.
Most every nominee for a top government job has a long public record that is open for scrutiny. Not so with Haspel, who would be the first woman to lead the CIA.
She is a spy's spy. She spent 32 years undercover at the agency and was named deputy director last year.
Gina Haspel considered withdrawing as CIA nominee, sources say
Kelly O'Donnell and Ken Dilanian (NBCNews, 07/05/2018)
Gina Haspel, President Donald Trump's nominee to be the permanent CIA director, broached the idea of withdrawing her nomination on Friday over concerns that reopening the debate over brutal interrogations could damage the spy agency, two U.S. officials told NBC News.
Haspel, who faces a confirmation hearing Wednesday, decided to go ahead after a weekend phone call with Trump and after White House officials went to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to reassure her that she had their support, the officials said.
Raj Shah, the White House's principal deputy press secretary, told NBC News: "Acting Director Haspel is a highly qualified nominee who has dedicated over three decades of service to her country. Her nomination will not be derailed by partisan critics who side with the ACLU over the CIA on how to keep the American people safe."
Report: Gina Haspel offered to withdraw nomination as next CIA director
Jessica Estepa (USA Today, 06/05/2018)
Gina Haspel sought to withdraw her nomination as the next CIA director, following ongoing questions about her role in using torture while interrogating suspected terrorists, according to a new report.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that Haspel, the deputy director of the agency, told the White House Friday she was interested in pulling her nomination if it meant a confirmation hearing that could prove damaging to both her and the CIA could be avoided.
Haspel has worked for the CIA for 33 years. During that time, Haspel reportedly was in charge of a secret prison in Thailand in 2002, where terrorism suspects were waterboarded and subjected to other "enhanced interrogation techniques."
Gina Haspel, nominee to head CIA, sought to withdraw over questions about her role in agency interrogation program
Carol D. Leonnig, Shane Harris and Josh Dawsey (The Washington Post, 06/05/2018)
Gina Haspel, President Trump’s nominee to become the next CIA director, sought to withdraw her nomination Friday after some White House officials worried that her role in the interrogation of terrorist suspects could prevent her confirmation by the Senate, according to four senior U.S. officials.
Haspel told the White House she was interested in stepping aside if it avoided the spectacle of a brutal confirmation hearing on Wednesday and potential damage to the CIA’s reputation and her own, the officials said. She was summoned to the White House on Friday for a meeting on her history in the CIA’s controversial interrogation program — which employed techniques such as waterboarding that are widely seen as torture — and signaled that she was going to withdraw her nomination. She then returned to CIA headquarters, the officials said.
Taken aback at her stance, senior White House aides, including legislative affairs head Marc Short and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, rushed to Langley, Va., to meet with Haspel at her office late Friday afternoon. Discussions stretched several hours, officials said, and the White House was not entirely sure she would stick with her nomination until Saturday afternoon, according to the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.