Senator John McCain (R., Ariz.) sent a letter to President Trump’s nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel, Friday asking that Haspel provide “a detailed account” of her role in overseeing the agency’s post-9/11 interrogation program.
Haspel — who was nominated to replace Mike Pompeo as CIA director following his nomination to serve as secretary of state — has been roundly criticized for her complicity in the use of waterboarding and other forms of so-called enhanced interrogation.
McCain, who suffered torture at the hands of the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, asked that Haspel clarify the ways in which she failed to stop the use of enhanced interrogation methods and that she provide the names of officials who directed her to destroy evidence related to interrogation sessions conducted during her tenure.
“Over the course of your career with the intelligence community, you have served in positions of responsibility that have intersected with the CIA’s program of so-called ‘enhanced interrogation techniques,’” McCain wrote in the letter. “We now know that these techniques not only failed to deliver actionable intelligence, but actually produced false and misleading information. Most importantly, the use of torture compromised our values, stained our national honor, and threatened our historical reputation.”
McCain has also asked that Haspel commit to declassifying a report on enhanced interrogation authored by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) in 2014.
Though neither lawmaker has said definitively they would oppose Haspel’s confirmation, Feinstein echoed McCain’s skepticism in a Friday statement. The California Democrat said she was very “wary” of elevating Haspel to lead the CIA given that she served in a series of senior roles during the height of the agency’s reliance on enhanced interrogation techniques. “Her experience may have served her well as deputy, but the top position is another matter entirely,” Feinstein said.
Haspel’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee is expected to take place in April.