Donald Trump names Gina Haspel as first woman head of CIA

superbeets · Mar 13, 2018

Gina Haspel (Twitter/@1mjas)

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday named Gina Haspel as the first woman head of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Trump also replaced US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA director Mike Pompeo.
The resignation represents the biggest shakeup of the Trump Cabinet so far and had been expected since last October when reports surfaced about a falling out between Trump and Tillerson, 65, who left his position as chief executive of Exxon Mobil to join the administration.

US stock index futures pared their gains and the dollar also trimmed gains versus the yen while extending losses versus the euro amid the news.
Trump publicly undercut Tillerson's diplomatic initiatives numerous times, including on Monday when the former secretary of state's comments about Russia appeared to be at odds with those of the White House.
Tillerson also appeared out of the loop last week when Trump announced he would meet with North Korea's leader and become the first sitting US president to do so.
"Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!" Trump said on Twitter.

superbeets · Mar 13, 2018

Gina Cheri Haspel (born October 1, 1956) is an American intelligence officer, serving as the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump in February 2017.

On March 13, 2018, Haspel was nominated by President Trump to become the Director of the CIA, succeeding Mike Pompeo and will be the second woman to hold the position if confirmed.

She joined the CIA in 1985.

superbeets · Mar 13, 2018

Service with CIA

Haspel ran a "black site" CIA prison located in Thailand in 2002.[SUP][

[/SUP]The site was codenamed "Cat’s Eye" and held suspected al Qaeda members Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah for a time. The Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture specifies that during their detention at the site they were waterboarded and interrogated using no longer authorized methods.[SUP][

[/SUP]Declassified CIA cables specify that Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times in a month, was sleep deprived, kept in a "large box", had his head slammed against a wall and he lost his left eye. Zubaydah was deemed, by the CIA interrogators, to not be in possession of any useful intelligence (Interrogation of Abu Zubaydah).

Haspel later was the chief of staff to Jose Rodriguez, who headed the CIA's Counterterrorism Center. In his memoir, Rodriguez wrote that Haspel had "drafted a cable" in 2005 ordering the destruction of dozens of videotapes made at the black site in Thailand.

In 2013, John Brennan, then the director of Central Intelligence, named Haspel as acting Deputy Director of the National Clandestine Service, which carries out covert operations around the globe.

However, she was denied the position permanently due to criticism about her involvement in the Rendition, Detention and Interrogation program.

Haspel has also served as the Deputy Director of the National Clandestine Service for Foreign Intelligence and Covert Action.

Haspel is the recipient of the George H. W. Bush Award for excellence in counterterrorism, the Donovan Award, the Intelligence Medal of Merit and the Presidential Rank Award.

On February 2, 2017, President Donald Trump appointed Haspel deputy director of the CIA. On February 8, 2017, several members of the Senate intelligence committee urged Trump to reconsider his appointment of Haspel as Deputy Director.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse quoted colleagues Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich who were on the committee:

I am especially concerned by reports that this individual was involved in the unauthorized destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes, which documented the CIA’s use of torture against two CIA detainees. My colleagues Senators Wyden and Heinrich have stated that classified information details why the newly appointed Deputy Director is 'unsuitable' for the position and have requested that this information be declassified. I join their request.

On February 15, 2017, Spencer Ackerman reported on psychologists Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell, the architects of the enhanced interrogation program that was designed to break Zubaydah and was subsequently used on other detainees at the CIA’s secret prisons around the world. Jessen and Mitchell are being sued by Sulaiman Abdulla Salim, Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud, and Obaid Ullah over torture designed by the psychologists. Jessen and Mitchell are seeking to compel Haspel, and her colleague James Cotsana, to testify on their behalf.

On March 13, 2018, President Donald J. Trump announced via Twitter that he will nominate Haspel to be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, which would make her the first female CIA director.

superbeets · Mar 13, 2018

[h=2]Honors, awards, distinctions[/h]

Haspel has received a number of awards, including:

George H. W. Bush Award for excellence in counterterrorism
Donovan Award
Intelligence Medal of Merit, and
Presidential Rank Award, highest award in the federal civil service.

Haspel was the first female career CIA officer to be named Deputy Director of the agency.[SUP][

[/SUP]If Haspel is named as the CIA director, she will be the first female career CIA officer to become a director.

RunMaker · Mar 13, 2018

She looks and sounds like an incompetent librarian.

Michelangelo · Mar 13, 2018

Sounds OK to me. Pompeo likes her. Trump likes her. Even Brennan respects her. Works for me.

festeringZit · Mar 13, 2018

But wait, I thought Trump was a women hater?

superbeets · Mar 13, 2018

YIPPEE
.

New C.I.A. Deputy Director, Gina Haspel, Had Leading Role in Torture . Haspel was deeply involved in the torture of detainees and later took part in destroying videotapes of the interrogations.

Dave007inVegas · Mar 14, 2018

superbeets said:
YIPPEE
.

New C.I.A. Deputy Director, Gina Haspel, Had Leading Role in Torture . Haspel was deeply involved in the torture of detainees and later took part in destroying videotapes of the interrogations.