Who the Heck is Gina Haspel?

On March 13, 2018, US President Donald Trump nominated Ginal Haspel to be the new head of the CIA. Not unlike many of President Trump's choices, this nomination came with its fair share of controversy.

During the confirmation hearing of outgoing CIA Director Mike Pompeo, he was asked by Californian Democrat and member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, if he would follow commands by then President-elect Donald Trump to use torture tactics. Pompeo answered, "absolutely not," and that he couldn't even imagine being asked to do so by then President-elect. We can definitely expect the same questions to be asked of Gina Haspel.

So who is Gina Haspel anyway?

Haspel rose to fame after the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers in New York City. She was sent to oversee a secret prison—also known as, CIA blacksite in Thailand. This blacksite soon became infamous for its torture tactics. In December of 2016, a lawsuit brought by three torture victims issued a subpoena to remove "Gina Doe" from office. "Gina Doe" had been overseeing two CIA members, James Mitchell and John "Bruce" Jessen, who have been credited as being the "architects" of the US extreme interrogation techniques. Mitchell and Jessen were accused of committing vicious acts toward terrorist suspects, including the act of water-boarding. 

Although the description of "Gina Doe" was kept vague it was soon made clear that "Gina Doe" was indeed, Gina Haspel. Only two months after the subpoena was brought to court, Donald Trump, appointed Haspel deputy director of the CIA. People were quickly able to link Gina Haspel to her mysterious past of "Gina Doe". 

Haspel was never made to share what she knew about the "interrogation activities" of Mitchell and Jessen, who would eventually reach a settlement with the victims. Mitchell and Jessen turned the case around, saying that they were the victims who were being forced to take the blame for the agency's actions toward terrorist suspects. Even though, they are the ones who would profit from the brutality of the system that they designed. 

No official confirmation of Gina Haspel's role ever came to light and it has been stated that she was not present for the water-boarding of one of the victims. It is clear, however, through various news outlets, that she did play a role in later torture instances though. 

When Gina Haspel was assigned to be deputy director, many urged for the documents of the case and Haspel's past to be unveiled. With her promotion to Director of the CIA, many will now have the official chance to confront the former mystery woman about her past.

Haspel was able to hide her past because there is no confirmation hearing for deputy, but this will not be the case this time around.