Intelligence Agency Veterans Urge Trump To Withdraw Haspel Nomination

Two dozen former U.S. intelligence officers urge President Trump to rescind Gina Haspel’s nomination to lead the CIA, citing torture that she oversaw while supervising a black site prison, as well as her role in destroying evidence.

Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)
By Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)
gina haspel torture

MEMORANDUM FOR: The President FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity SUBJECT: Request to Withdraw Nomination of Gina Haspel EXECUTIVE SUMMARY With respect, we veteran intelligence officers from CIA and other agencies urge you to withdraw the nomination of Gina Haspel for CIA director. From what is already known of her

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The State Department’s Future Under CIA Leadership

Diplomacy is for wimps. Let’s show all those upstart nations and that upstart commander-in-chief who’s boss.

Geoff Dutton
By Geoff Dutton
President Donald Trump, accompanied by CIA Director-designate Rep. Michael Pompeo, left, waits to speak at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. (AP/Andrew Harnik)

I wonder how Rex Tillerson feels about being the first high-level federal official to be fired publically and online, in one brutal tweet. I’m sure he expected the hammer to come down on him, but not like that. And I wonder if he will come forward to describe what led up to it. Unlikely, as he’s an extremely wealthy and still influential corporate

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Trump’s Tainted CIA Nominations Recall Failure to Prosecute Bush-Era Torture

President Donald Trump’s nominations of Gina Haspel to lead the CIA and Mike Pompeo to be America’s top diplomat are the latest indications of steadily eroding human rights standards in the United States and the rollback of the rule of law that has characterized U.S. counterterrorism policies since Sept. 11, 2001.

Nat Parry
By Nat Parry
Iraqi Torture

President Donald Trump’s nominations of Gina Haspel to lead the CIA and Mike Pompeo to be America’s top diplomat are the latest indications of steadily eroding human rights standards in the United States and the rollback of the rule of law that has characterized U.S. counterterrorism policies since Sept. 11, 2001. Haspel, a CIA operative who

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Trump’s CIA Pick Gina Haspel Oversaw Secret Prison, CIA Torture

“To allow someone who had a direct hand in this illegal, immoral and counterproductive program is to willingly forget our nation’s dark history with torture.”

Deb Riechmann
By Deb Riechmann
This March 21, 2017, photo provided by the CIA, shows CIA Deputy Director Gina Haspel. Haspel, who joined the CIA in 1985, has been chief of station at CIA outposts abroad and led both CIA torture programs and secret prisons. (CIA via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Gina Haspel's colleagues describe her as a seasoned veteran who would lead the CIA with integrity. Human rights advocates see her as someone who supervised torture at a secret prison. President Donald Trump's pick to be the next — and first female — director of the clandestine agency has conflicting public reputations. If

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CIA Cables Reveal New Deputy Director’s Role On Torture

Gina Haspel, President Trump’s choice for the CIA’s number two position, was more deeply involved in the torture of Abu Zubaydah than has been publicly understood, according to newly available records and accounts by participants.

Raymond Bonner
By Raymond Bonner
The Central Intelligence Agency flag is displayed, partially cast in a shadow. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

In August of 2002, interrogators at a secret CIA-run prison in Thailand set out to break a Palestinian man they believed was one of al-Qaida's top leaders. As the CIA's video cameras rolled, security guards shackled Abu Zubaydah to a gurney and interrogators poured water over his mouth and nose until he began to suffocate. They slammed him

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