Gina Haspel | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2017 | |
| 7thDirector of the Central Intelligence Agency | |
| In office May 21, 2018 – January 20, 2021 Acting: April 26, 2018 – May 21, 2018 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy | Vaughn Bishop |
| Preceded by | Mike Pompeo |
| Succeeded by | Bill Burns |
| 6thDeputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency | |
| In office February 2, 2017 – May 21, 2018 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | David Cohen |
| Succeeded by | Vaughn Bishop |
| Director of the National Clandestine Service | |
| Acting February 28, 2013 – May 7, 2013 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | John Bennett |
| Succeeded by | Frank Archibald |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gina Cheri Walker (1956-10-01)October 1, 1956 (age 69) Ashland, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Spouse | |
| Education | University of Kentucky University of Louisville (BA) Northeastern University (Cert) |
| Awards | Presidential Rank Award Donovan Award Intelligence Medal of Merit |
Haspel's opening statement at her confirmation hearing to be CIA director Recorded May 9, 2018 | |
Gina Cheri Walker Haspel (born October 1, 1956) is an American national security expert who was the seventhdirector of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from May 21, 2018, to January 20, 2021. She was the agency's deputy director from 2017 to 2018 underMike Pompeo, and became acting director on April 26, 2018, after Pompeo becameU.S. secretary of state. She was later nominated and confirmed to the role, making her the first woman to become CIA director on a permanent basis.[1]
Haspel was born Gina Cheri Walker on October 1, 1956, inAshland, Kentucky.[2][3][4] Her father served in theUnited States Air Force.[4] She has four siblings.[4]
Haspel attended high school in theUnited Kingdom.[4] She was a student at theUniversity of Kentucky for three years and transferred for her senior year to theUniversity of Louisville, where she graduated in May 1978[3] with aBachelor of Science in languages and journalism.[4] From 1980 to 1981, she worked as a civilian library coordinator atFort Devens in Massachusetts. She received a paralegal certificate fromNortheastern University in 1982 and worked as a paralegal until she was hired by the CIA.[3][5][6]
Haspel joined the CIA in January 1985 as a reports officer.[2][7] She held several undercover overseas positions.[8][9] Her first field assignment was from 1987 to 1989 in Ethiopia,[7][10] Central Eurasia,[7] Turkey,[2] followed by several assignments in Europe and Central Eurasia from 1990 to 2001.[7][11] From 1996 to 1998, Haspel served asstation chief inBaku, Azerbaijan.[12]
From 2001 to 2003, her position was listed as Deputy Group Chief, Counterterrorism Center.[7]
Between October and December 2002, Haspel was assigned to oversee a secret CIA prison in Thailand Detention Site GREEN, code-named Cat's Eye, which housed persons suspected of involvement inAl-Qaeda. The prison was part of the US government's "extraordinary rendition" program after theSeptember 11 attacks, and used torture techniques such aswaterboarding. According to a former senior CIA official, Haspel arrived as station chief after theinterrogation of Abu Zubaydah but was chief during the waterboarding ofAbd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.[11]
On January 8, 2019,Carol Rosenberg, of theMiami Herald, reported that partially redacted transcripts from a pre-trial hearing ofGuantanamo Military Commission ofKhalid Sheikh Mohammed, seemed to indicate that Haspel had been the"Chief of Base" of a clandestine CIA detention site on theGuantanamo Bay Naval Station, in the 2003–2004 period.[13][14]
She has attracted controversy for her involvement in the use oftorture in 2002, as Deputy Group Chief of theCounterterrorism Mission Center. During that year, she was chief of a CIAblack site inThailand where prisoners were tortured[15][16][17] with so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques", includingwaterboarding.[15][16][17][18][19] At that time, theBush Administration considered the techniques legal based on aset of secret, now-rescinded legal opinions which expansively definedexecutive authority and narrowly defined torture.[20][21] Haspel's involvement was confirmed in August 2018 when aFreedom of Information lawsuit by theGeorge Washington University-basedNational Security Archive brought to light CIAcables either authorized or written by Haspel while base chief at the Thailand black site. The cables describe acts of deliberate physical torture of detainees, including waterboarding and confinement,[22] which Haspel personally observed.[23]
In late October 2002, Haspel became chief of base for that "black site" CIA prison located in Thailand.[24][25] She worked at a site that was codenamed "Cat's Eye", which would later become known as the place where suspectedal Qaedaterrorist membersAbd al-Rahim al-Nashiri andAbu Zubaydah were detained and tortured with waterboarding.[8][26] In early February 2017,The New York Times andProPublica reported that these waterboardings were both conducted under Haspel.[27][28] In March 2018, US officials said Haspel was not involved in thetorture of Zubaydah, as she only became chief of base after Zubaydah was tortured. ProPublica andThe New York Times issued corrections to their stories but noted that Haspel was involved in the torture of al-Nashiri.[25][27] In August 2018, cables from the site, dating from November 2002 and likely authorized by if not written by Haspel, were released due to a Freedom of Information lawsuit, and described the torture of Nashiri in detail, including slamming him against a wall, confining him to a small box, waterboarding him, and depriving him of sleep and clothing, while threatening to turn him over to others who would kill him. Interrogators involved would also call Nashiri "a little girl", "a spoiled little rich Saudi", and a "sissy".[29]
Haspel played a role in thedestruction of 92 interrogation videotapes that showed the torture of detainees both at the black site she ran and at other secret agency locations.[25][30][31] A partially-declassified CIA document shows that the instruction for a new method of record keeping at the black site in Thailand, re-recording over the videos, took place in late October 2002, soon after Haspel's arrival.[32][33]
In December 2014, theEuropean Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), anon-governmental organization that uses litigation to seek enforcement of human rights, asked that criminal charges be brought against unidentified CIA operatives after the US Senate Select Committee published its report on torture by US intelligence agencies.[34] On June 7, 2017, the ECCHR called on thePublic Prosecutor General of Germany to issue an arrest warrant against Haspel over claims she oversaw the torture of terrorism suspects. The accusation against her was centered on the case of Saudi national Abu Zubaydah.[35][36][37][38][39] No such arrest warrant was issued.[40]
On May 1, 2018,Spencer Ackerman, writing inThe Daily Beast, reported that former CIA analyst Gail Helt had been told some of the controversial torture recordings had not been destroyed, after all.[41] On May 9, 2018, the day prior to Haspel's confirmation vote,The New York Times reported thatKhalid Sheikh Mohammed, architect of the 9/11 attacks, requested to submit six paragraphs of information for the Senate committee to review before its vote.[42] She testified many years later to the U.S. Senate about this subject:[43]
I don't believe that torture works....Having served in that tumultuous time, I can offer you my personal commitment, clearly and without reservation, that under my leadership CIA will not restart such a detention and interrogation program.
After her service in Thailand, she served from 2004 to 2005 as Deputy Chief of the CIA'sNational Resources Division.[7][10]she served as an operations officer in Counterterrorism Center near Washington, D.C.[7] She later served as the CIA's station chief in London and, in 2011, New York.[11][44]
Haspel served as the deputy director of the National Clandestine Service, deputy director of the National Clandestine Service for Foreign Intelligence and Covert Action, and chief of staff for the director of the National Clandestine Service.[9]
In 2005, Haspel was the chief of staff toJose Rodriguez, Director of the National Clandestine Service. In his memoir, Rodriguez wrote that Haspel had drafted a cable in 2005 orderingthe destruction of dozens of videotapes made at the black site in Thailand in response to mounting public scrutiny of the program.[11][26] At the Senate confirmation hearing considering her nomination to head the CIA, Haspel explained that the tapes had been destroyed in order to protect the identities of CIA officers whose faces were visible, at a time when leaks of US intelligence were rampant.[45]
In 2013,John Brennan, then the director of Central Intelligence, named Haspel as acting director of theNational Clandestine Service, which carries out covert operations around the globe.[46] However, she was not appointed to the position permanently due to criticism about her involvement in the Rendition, Detention and Interrogation program.[47] Her permanent appointment was opposed byDianne Feinstein and others in the Senate.[11][44]
On February 2, 2017, President Trump appointed Haspel Deputy Director of the CIA,[48] a position thatdoes not require Senate confirmation.[8] In an official statement released that day,House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence ChairmanDevin Nunes (R-CA) said:[49]
With more than thirty years of service to the CIA and extensive overseas experience, Gina has worked closely with the House Intelligence Committee and has impressed us with her dedication, forthrightness, and her deep commitment to the Intelligence Community. She is undoubtedly the right person for the job, and the Committee looks forward to working with her in the future.
On February 8, 2017, several members of theSenateintelligence committee urged Trump to reconsider his appointment of Haspel as deputy director.[50] SenatorSheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) quoted colleaguesRon Wyden (D-OR) andMartin Heinrich (D-NM) who were on the committee:
I am especially concerned by reports that this individual was involved in the unauthorized destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes, which documented the CIA's use of torture against two CIA detainees. My colleagues Senators Wyden and Heinrich have stated that classified information details why the newly appointed Deputy Director is 'unsuitable' for the position and have requested that this information is declassified. I join their request.
On February 15, 2017,Spencer Ackerman reported on psychologistsBruce Jessen andJames Mitchell, the architects of the "enhanced interrogation" program that was designed to break Zubaydah and was subsequently used on other detainees at the CIA's secret prisons around the world. Jessen and Mitchell are being sued by Sulaiman Abdulla Salim,Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud, and Obaid Ullah over torture designed by the psychologists. Jessen and Mitchell are seeking to compel Haspel, and her colleagueJames Cotsana, to testify on their behalf.[51][52]
On March 13, 2018, PresidentDonald Trump announced that he would nominate Haspel to be theDirector of the Central Intelligence Agency, replacingMike Pompeo, who he had tapped to become the new Secretary of State.[53] Once confirmed by the Senate,[54] Haspel became the first woman to serve as permanent Director of the CIA (Meroe Park served as Associate Deputy Director from 2013 to 2017, and acting director for three days in January 2017).[55][56]Robert Baer, who once supervised Haspel at the CIA, found her to be "smart, tough, and effective. Foreign liaison services who have worked with her uniformly walked away impressed.".[57]
Republican senatorRand Paul said that he would oppose the nomination, saying: "To really appoint the head cheerleader for waterboarding to be head of the CIA? I mean, how could you trust somebody who did that to be in charge of the CIA? To read of her glee during the waterboarding is just absolutely appalling."[58] Soon after Paul made this statement, the allegation that Haspel had mocked those being interrogated was retracted. Doug Stafford, an aide for Paul, said: "According to multiple published, undisputed accounts, she oversaw a black site and she further destroyed evidence of torture. This should preclude her from ever running the CIA."[59]
Republican senator and former presidential candidateJohn McCain called on Haspel to provide a detailed account of her participation in the CIA's detention program from 2001 to 2009, including whether she directed the use of so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" and to clarify her role in the 2005 destruction of interrogation videotapes.[60][61][62] In the Senate, McCain was a staunch opponent of torture, having beentortured as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. McCain further called upon Haspel to commit to declassifying the 2014Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.
Multiple senators have criticized the CIA for what they believe is selectivity in declassifying superficial and positive information about her career togenerate positive coverage, while simultaneously refusing to declassify any "meaningful" information about her career.[63][64]
More than 50 former senior U.S. government officials, including six former Directors of the CIA and three formerdirectors of national intelligence, signed a letter supporting her nomination. They included former Directors of the CIAJohn Brennan,Leon Panetta andMichael Morell, former Director of theNSA and CIAMichael Hayden, and former Director of National IntelligenceJames Clapper.[65][66][67] In April, a group of 109 retired generals and admirals signed a letter expressing "profound concern" over Haspel's nomination due to her record and alleged involvement in the CIA's use of torture and the subsequent destruction of evidence.[68]Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting criticized press coverage that portrayed Haspel's nomination as a victory for feminism.[69] On May 10,The Washington Post Editorial Board expressed its opposition to Haspel's nomination for not condemning the CIA's now-defunct torture program as immoral.[70] On May 12, the first two Senate Democrats,Joe Donnelly of Indiana andJoe Manchin of West Virginia, announced their support for Haspel's nomination.[71]
On May 9, 2018, Haspel appeared before theSenate Intelligence Committee for a confirmation hearing.[72]
On May 14, Haspel sent a letter to SenatorMark Warner of Virginia stating that, in hindsight, the CIA should not have operated its interrogation and detention program.[73] Shortly thereafter, Warner announced he would back Haspel when the Senate Intelligence Committee voted on whether to refer her nomination to the full Senate.[73]
She was approved for confirmation by the Senate Intelligence Committee on May 16 by a 10–5 vote, with two Democrats voting in favor.[74] The next day, Haspel was confirmed by the full Senate, on a mostly party-line, 54–45 vote.[75] Paul andJeff Flake of Arizona were the only Republican nays, and six Democrats — Donnelly, Manchin, Warner,Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota,Bill Nelson of Florida, andJeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire — voted yes.[76] McCain, who had urged his colleagues to reject her nomination, did not cast a vote, as he was hospitalized at the time.[76]
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Haspel was officially sworn in on May 21, 2018, becoming the first woman to serve as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency on a permanent basis.
On January 29, 2019, during aSenate Intelligence Committee hearing, Haspel reported that the CIA was "pleased" with thefirst Trump administration's March 2018 expulsion of 61 Russian diplomats following thepoisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Haspel added that the CIA did not object to theTreasury Department's decision in December 2018 to remove sanctions on three Russian companies tied toRussian oligarchOleg Deripaska, a close associate of Russian PresidentVladimir Putin. On the subject ofrecent relations betweenNorth Korea and the United States, Haspel stated, "I think our analysts would assess that they value the dialogue with the United States, and we do see indications thatKim Jong-un is trying to navigate a path toward some kind of better future for the North Korean people."[77]
By May 2019, Haspel had hired many women in senior positions.[78]
In December 2020, she became the subject of adeath hoax. According to social media claims, Haspel was either killed, injured, or arrested in a CIA raid on aserver farm inFrankfurt. Severalfact-checking projects debunked these claims, and were unable to find any evidence that Haspel had died or that a raid had taken place.[79][80][81] The CIA announced her retirement after 36 years of service, via a tweet, on January 19, 2021, one day prior to the presidential transition from Trump toJoe Biden.[82][83]William J. Burns had been selected by Biden on January 11 to succeed Haspel pending Senate confirmation.[84] Burns was sworn in as the new director on March 19, 2021.
After retiring from the CIA, Haspel[85] joined the law firmKing & Spalding in July 2021, where she has advised clients on information technology and cybersecurity.[86] As of 2024, her title at King & Spalding was "Senior National Security Advisor."[87]
Haspel has received a number of awards, including the George H. W. Bush Award for excellence in counterterrorism,[88] theDonovan Award, theIntelligence Medal of Merit, and thePresidential Rank Award[9]
Haspel married Jeff Haspel, who served in theUnited States Army,c. 1976; they were divorced in 1985.[2][4][89] She resides inAshburn, Virginia.[90]
Even the most basic facts about Ms Haspel's life are hard to establish. She was born Gina Cherie [sic] Walker in Kentucky in 1956. At 20, she married Jeff Haspel, an army officer, but they were divorced by the time she joined the CIA in 1985 as a reports officer, specializing in Russia. By 1988, she was listed as "acting head of administration" at the US embassy in Addis Ababa. ... Her subsequent postings remain classified but she was based in Ankara in 2003 and was CIA station chief in New York.
She became a spy before the internet age and remained in that secret life for three decades, leaving behind no digital profile. ... So it falls to the agency to share something about her and her interests.
The claim by Rita Radostitz, a lawyer for Khalid Sheik Mohammed, appears in one paragraph of a partially redacted transcript of a secret hearing held at Guantánamo on Nov. 16. Defense lawyers were arguing, in a motion that ultimately failed, that Haspel's role at the prison precludes the possibility of a fair trial for the men accused of orchestrating the 9/11 attacks who were also held for years in covert CIA prisons.
And so again, our evidence here is that there is a change, a significant change, a sea change in the classification guidance once Gina Haspel becomes in a position of power within the CIA. And we don 't know for sure, and we cannot tell you for sure that she is who requested that change in the classification guidance.
Media related toFile:Redacted-transcript-of-closed-9-11-trial-hearing (2018-11-16).pdf at Wikimedia CommonsBut the now-retired analyst, Gail Helt, said she memorialized their conversation in a notebook she kept at the time, a copy of which The Daily Beast has seen. Haspel's nomination has compelled her to disclose what she heard, Helt said.
Trump's pick of 30-year veteran Gina Haspel to serve as deputy director of the CIA – which is not a Senate-confirmable position – has reinvigorated fears that the administration is weighing a return to the use of banned techniques now considered torture, such as waterboarding and sleep deprivation.
In a court filing on Tuesday, attorneys for two CIA contract psychologists who helped design the agency's brutal interrogations for terrorism suspects have asked a federal judge to order Gina Haspel, a career CIA officer recently appointed as the agency's No2 official, to provide a deposition discussing her allegedly pivotal involvement in an episode the CIA has tried repeatedly to put behind it.
The government asked the court to permit it to formally submit on 8 March its state-secrets argument preventing them and another CIA witness, James Cotsana, from being deposed. It is believed to be the first assertion of the state secrets privilege under the Trump administration.
The CIA's first female director since its 1947 founding, she has put in place her own leadership team—which also includes many women—and so far has avoided having President Trump's political allies embedded in the agency's senior ranks.
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Bennett | Director of the National Clandestine Service Acting 2013 | Succeeded by Frank Archibald |
| Preceded by | Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency 2017–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | 7thDirector of the Central Intelligence Agency 2018–2021 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
