New CIA Director Oversaw Torture of Dozens Under Bush

*CORRECTION: Since we aired this segment, Propublica published the following: ‘Correction: Trump’s Pick to Head CIA Did Not Oversee Waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah’. See full article HERE.

FEATURING MAHA HILAL – President Donald Trump in an unexpected tweet on Tuesday morning announced a major reshuffle of government agency heads starting with the firing of State Secretary Rex Tillerson. Tillerson would be replaced by CIA Director Mike Pompeo. And, Trump wrote, “Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen.”

But who is Gina Haspel? According to news reports following the surprise announcement, Haspel was a key figure in the CIA under the Bush Administration. The New York Times wrote that she is known for, “her deep involvement in the agency’s counterterrorism operations and showed her willingness to take part in the agency’s rendition, detention and interrogation program.”

In other words, Haspel was part of the CIA’s brutal torture program. And now, she may be confirmed as the new leader of the agency.

Maha Hilal, Michael Ratner Middle East Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and a co-principle investigator with the Torture Treatment Initiative at Tulane University.