CIA's Gina Haspel an agency veteran tied to use of brutal interrogation measures

CIA Deputy Director Gina Haspel. Photo / AP

US President Donald Trump has nominated CIA veteran Gina Haspel to be the spy agency's next director.

He is tapping a woman who spent multiple tours overseas and is respected by the workforce but is deeply tied to the agency's use of brutal interrogation measures on terrorism suspects.

Haspel, 61, would become the first woman to lead the CIA if she is confirmed to succeed outgoing director Mike Pompeo, who has been nominated to serve as Secretary of State. Haspel's selection faced immediate opposition from some lawmakers and human rights groups because of her prominent role in one of the agency's darkest chapters.

Haspel was in charge of one of the CIA's "black site" prisons where detainees were subjected to waterboarding and other harrowing interrogation measures widely condemned as torture.

When those methods were exposed and their legality came under scrutiny, Haspel was among a group of CIA officials involved in the decision to destroy videotapes of interrogation sessions that left some detainees on the brink of physical collapse.

Trump announced the move on Twitter, saying that Pompeo would move to the State Department and that Haspel would "become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!"

Jameel Jaffer, formerly deputy legal director of the ACLU, said on his Twitter feed that Haspel is "quite literally a war criminal."

Haspel spent much of her 33-year CIA career in undercover assignments overseas and at CIA headquarters, including serving as the agency's top representative in London and as the acting head of its clandestine service in 2013.

Current and former US intelligence officials who have worked with Haspel praised her as an effective leader who could be expected to stand up to the pressures that Trump has often placed on spy agencies - including his denunciations of the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

Officials described Haspel as a consummate "insider" and said CIA employees would greet her appointment with some relief, because an intelligence veteran would be back in charge.

"The building will love the fact that she's an insider," said Mark Lowenthal, a former senior CIA officer.

Tillerson’s replacement at State by Pompeo could have significant consequences for US Middle East policy. Bottom line is that leaders in Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and UAE are likely very pleased with the news. THREAD

— Andrew Miller (@AndrwPMiller) March 13, 2018

Trump’s new pick for CIA head Gina Hapsel was involved in Bush-era torture policy. She oversaw the torture of Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and later took part in an order to destroy videotapes documenting their brutal interrogations at a secret prison in Thailand. https://t.co/kXFhQX11f3

— Jamil Dakwar (@jdakwar) March 13, 2018

Pompeo, a former member of Congress who spent his early career in business, had no profile in the intelligence community apart from his leading role on a congressional committee investigating the terrorist attacks on a US government facility in Benghazi, Libya. Career CIA officers have seen Pompeo as one of the most overtly political directors in the agency's history and a staunch public defender of the President.

Haspel, by contrast, has almost no public profile. But she is a visible presence inside CIA headquarters, running day-to-day operations while Pompeo handles the public-facing aspects of the job, making speeches and media appearances, and meeting with the president.

"This is not someone who has sharp elbows, but she is a sharp competitor," said a former senior intelligence official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss Haspel.