McCain urges Senate to reject Trump's CIA pick Haspel

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US Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, said on Wednesday the Senate should reject President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency.

McCain, who as a prisoner of war in Vietnam was tortured by his captors, said in a statement that acting CIA Director Gina Haspel, who testified on Wednesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, failed to address his concerns about the agency's post-9/11 harsh interrogation program for terrorism suspects.

Gina Haspel, nominee to be CIA director, at a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, US, May 9, 2018. /VCG Photo

"I believe the Senate should exercise its duty of advice and consent and reject this nomination," said McCain, who has been undergoing treatment for brain cancer and has been absent from the Senate for months.

Tight margins in Senate

To be confirmed as the first woman to head the CIA, Haspel needs 51 votes in the 100-seat Senate, where Trump's fellow Republicans hold a 51-49 majority.

She has strong support among Republicans, but at least one, Senator Rand Paul, has said he opposes her.

After the hearing, Haspel's chances for confirmation were boosted when Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat on the intelligence panel, announced his support.

Another committee moderate, independent Angus King, announced that he would vote against.

Haspel interrogated

Haspel was grilled by lawmakers on Wednesday over her role in the agency's past harsh interrogation system, pledging she would never restart the program or follow any morally objectionable order from Trump.

The US Senate confirmation hearing was dominated by questions about her part in the spy agency's use of methods such as waterboarding, a type of simulated drowning widely considered torture, more than a decade ago under President George W. Bush. She also was pressed about the destruction of videotapes documenting the tactics.

Senator Kamala Harris questions Gina Haspel, nominee to be CIA director, during a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, May 9, 2018. /VCG Photo

"Having served in that tumultuous time, I can offer you my personal commitment, clearly and without reservation, that under my leadership, on my watch, CIA will not restart such a detention and interrogation program," Haspel told the Senate Intelligence Committee.

An undercover officer for most of her 33-year career, Haspel in 2002 served as CIA station chief in Thailand, where the agency conducted interrogations at a secret prison using methods including waterboarding. Three years later, she drafted a cable ordering the destruction of videotapes of those interrogations.

When pressed, Haspel often stuck to scripted answers or avoided questions by saying they involved secret information. She later testified at a closed-door classified session.

Republican Senator Susan Collins asked Haspel what she would do if Trump, who has advocated the return of waterboarding, gave her a direct order to use it on a "high-value terrorism suspect."

Gina Haspel at the Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, May 9, 2018. /VCG Photo

"I do not believe the president would ask me to do that," Haspel said, without directly answering the question. Collins, a moderate Republican, said later she would vote for Haspel's confirmation.

Asked how Haspel's comments squared with Trump's belief that waterboarding works, White House spokesman Sarah Sanders said Trump would let Haspel make her own decisions.

"The president has confidence in Gina Haspel to lead the CIA and wants to see her do exactly that," Sanders told reporters.

Democratic Senator Kamala Harris asked if Haspel believed the previous interrogation techniques were immoral, and requested a "yes or no" answer. Haspel did not give it.

Haspel said the CIA had learned "tough lessons," and in retrospect she believed it was unprepared to conduct the detention and interrogation program employed after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

She also told the senators: "I don't believe that torture works."

(With input from agencies)

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