“Historic day for our country…”
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White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders slammed Democrats in a Monday morning tweet and claimed their opposition to the new agency head was apart of the “war on women.”
“Historic day for our country: swearing-in ceremony for Gina Haspel, the first woman ever to serve as CIA director. Democrats are losing their war against women in the Trump administration,” Sanders wrote just a few hours before Haspel’s official swearing-in ceremony.
Several Democrats, and some Republicans, opposed Haspel’s nomination due to her past involvement in now-shuttered black sites, where she oversaw alleged “advanced interrogation” techniques such as waterboarding on detainees.
“Ms. Haspel’s role in overseeing the use of torture by Americans is disturbing,” John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in a statement in early May. ”Her refusal to acknowledge torture’s immorality is disqualifying. I believe the Senate should exercise its duty of advice and consent and reject this nomination.”
After hours of grilling from the Senate Intelligence Committee, Haspel sent a letter to ranking member Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) stating that she disagrees with the CIA’s use of such interrogation tactics.
“With the benefit of hindsight and my experience as a senior agency leader, the enhanced interrogation program is not one the CIA should have undertaken,“ Haspel wrote in a letter first obtained and published by CNN. She added that while unable to condemn those who had to ”make hard calls,“ she finds torture in all its forms ”immoral” and would not allow such practices under her tenure as CIA director.
Haspel’s nomination and subsequent confirmation make her the first female head of the department in U. S. history. During her swearing in, Haspel credited many women who came before her, adding that she “stands on the shoulders of heroines who never sought public acclaim but served as inspirations to the generations that came after them.”
Brittany Shepherd covers the White House for IJR. Before becoming the White House Correspondent, Brittany used to cover entertainment and pop culture… more
