Gina Haspel

John McCain is probably dying. And from his death bed he's talking about torture and why his colleagues in the Senate should reject "Bloody Gina" Haspel to head the CIA.

(FAIR) — As the war over Gina Haspel’s nomination to lead the Central Intelligence Agency has waged on this week, we’ve been gifted an incredible batch of corporate media apologias for the CIA’s decades-long legacy of torture, extrajudicial killings and civil liberties violations. Perhaps most remarkably, these outlets have spent hundreds of words arguing that Haspel should […]

I’m not going to sit here with the benefit of hindsight and judge the very good people who made hard decisions who were running the agency in very extraordinary circumstances.
— Gina Haspel, May 9, 2018.

Gina Haspel, President Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA director, acknowledged during her confirmation hearing that she was a staunch advocate for the destruction of CIA torture videotapes in 2005.
Ninety-two tapes of the interrogations of Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri were destroyed. Jose Rodriguez, who was the director of the CIA’s clandestine service, wrote in his memoir that Haspel, his chief of staff, helped draft the cable that ordered the destruction.

A retired CIA analyst turned antiwar activist was forcibly removed from the Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Ray McGovern, supporter and endorser of the Women’s March on the Pentagon, demanded answers during Gina Haspel’s confirmation hearing but was prevented from receiving them.

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern was forcibly removed from Wednesday’s US Senate confirmation hearing for Gina Haspel, nominee for CIA director, RT reports.
The hearing was broadcast live on several major U.S. television news networks. McGovern and other anti-torture activists were present at the hearing, including a woman who was seen on live television shouting “Bloody Gina!” prior to McGovern being dragged out of the room by Capitol Police.

2nd UPDATE: After refusing to directly answer questions about her history as an alleged torturer, Ray McGovern decided to ask Gina Haspel a question or two of his own and he wound up in jail for it, reports Joe Lauria.…Read more →

Whether or not the Senate confirms Gina Haspel as CIA director, her very nomination defines Donald Trump as a fatally callous leader contemptuous of human rights and the rule of law, argues Robert Scheer. By Robert Scheer Leave it to…Read more →

When the Senate Intelligence Committee begins questioning CIA director-nominee Gina Haspel on Wednesday they should ask these questions, especially whether torture was used to build a rationale for war, argues Sam Husseini. By Sam Husseini Gina Haspel’s nomination to be…Read more →

With torture-overseer Gina Haspel set to face the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday instead of a judge, the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity urge committee members to vote against her nomination. MEMORANDUM FOR: Members of the Senate Select Committee on…Read more →