WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s choice to be the first female director of the CIA is a career spymaster who once ran an agency prison in Thailand where terror suspects were subjected to a harsh interrogation technique that the president has supported.
Trump tweeted Tuesday that he has selected Gina Haspel to replace Mike Pompeo, who will replace Rex Tillerson as secretary of state.
Haspel has extensive overseas experience and most recently has been deputy director of the CIA.
She briefly ran a secret CIA prison where accused terrorists Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri were waterboarded in 2002. That’s according to current and former U.S. intelligence officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the issue.
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