In his Tuesday post in support of Gina Haspel’s nomination to be director of the CIA, Benjamin Wittes wrote about “the insulation that Haspel stands to provide for the agency from a president hostile to the task of intelligence gathering and analysis.” For this and other reasons, Wittes argued, Haspel should be confirmed—even though President Trump has linked her nomination to his “enthusiasm for torture.” He also wrote that “barring revelations about her role” in running a Thailand “black site” at which detainees were tortured and in destroying interrogation tapes, he did not feel that Haspel’s involvement in the CIA’s rendition, detention and interrogation (RDI) program was disqualifying.
Source: Why We Don’t Support Gina Haspel for CIA Director: A Response to Benjamin Wittes
