Trump CIA Pick Haspel to Face Questions Over Interrogation Role

Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Tuesday, saying he’s replacing the former Exxon Mobil Corp. chief with his Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo. In a tweet announcing the moves, the president also named Gina Haspel, who has served as Pompeo’s deputy since last year, as his pick to lead the agency. Haspel’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee will turn in part on her role in the CIA’s covert program under President George W. Bush in which suspected terrorists were subjected to harsh interrogation methods, including waterboarding, which simulates drowning. Haspel, 61, joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1985, according to the agency’s website. But for much of her career, Haspel was a working spy.