CIA/NOMINATIONS/SENATE/TRUMP PEOPLE: “The U.S. Senate confirmed Gina Haspel on Thursday [5-17-18] to be director of the CIA, ending a bruising confirmation fight centered on her ties to the spy agency’s past use of waterboarding and other brutal interrogation techniques. Haspel, who will be the first woman to lead the CIA, is a 33-year veteran at the agency currently serving as its acting director. The tally was 54-45 in favor of her nomination in the 100-member chamber, where a simple majority was required for confirmation. Six Democrats joined President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans in voting for Haspel, and two Republicans voted no. Haspel was approved despite stiff opposition over her links to the CIA’s use of harsh interrogation methods, including waterboarding, a type of simulated drowning widely considered torture, in the years after the Sept. 11 attacks. An undercover officer for most of her CIA 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.”
-Patricia Zengerle, “U.S. Senate confirms Haspel to be first woman CIA director,” Reuters, May 17, 2018 12:42 pm