Gina Haspel is the right person to lead the CIA, the White House said today ahead of her potentially stormy confirmation hearing as the country's top spymaster.
"Her commitment to the agency is one of the reasons she is the right person to lead it," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said throwing her weight behind the nomination of Haspel as CIA director.
Haspel, 62, is currently the acting director of CIA. If confirmed by the Senate, she will be the first female head of the CIA. Several lawmakers have opposed her nomination citing her alleged role in torture and anti-terrorist programmes.
Early in the day, the CIA sent a classified box of information related to Haspel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence which is holding her confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Over the weekend, Sanders was sent to CIA headquarters in Langley to convince Haspel not to withdraw her nomination.
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"If she thought there was a problem, she wanted to do everything she could to protect the agency. She is 100 per cent committed to going through this confirmation process," Sanders said.
"We think that Acting Director Haspel is a highly qualified, uniquely positioned individual to lead the CIA and we're very confident in her ability to answer the questions that may come...We want her to get a fair hearing, a thorough hearing," Sanders said.
She said the White House is "fully confident" that Haspel can answer all questions raised about her record at the CIA at the confirmation hearing.
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