Trump's CIA pick likely endorsed after two key Dem votes

US President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Gina Haspel, is projected to secure enough votes to win Senate confirmation after two senior Democratic senators expressed support for the nominee.

Democratic Senators Mark Warner and Heidi Heitkamp announced on Tuesday that they would vote for Haspel to be the next CIA director, who has so far won "yes" votes from 10 of the committee's 15 members.

"Over the last year I've had the opportunity to work with Ms. Haspel in her role as Deputy Director, and I have always found her to be professional and forthright with the Intelligence Committee," said Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"Most importantly, I believe she is someone who can and will stand up to the President if ordered to do something illegal or immoral -- like a return to torture," he added.

Heitkamp, Democrat of North Dakota, also released a statement moments after Warner announced his position and backed Haspel.

"After meeting her and talking with former leaders in our intelligence community, I have concluded that Gina Haspel meets these standards. I am therefore planning to vote to confirm her as Director of CIA," Heitkamp said in her statement.

"But this was not an easy decision. Ms. Haspel's involvement in torture is deeply troubling…However, Ms. Haspel explained to me that the agency should not have employed such tactics in the past and has assured me that it will not do so in the future," she added.

Haspel is scheduled to face questioning by lawmakers in a final confirmation hearing on Wednesday at the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Haspel, a black ops veteran who joined the CIA in 1985, was once in charge of a clandestine interrogation operation in Thailand accused of torturing detainees. If approved by the Senate, Haspel would become the first woman ever to be director of the CIA.

She previously served at the CIA deputy director and led worldwide undercover spying operations.

Trump nominated the 61-year-old to lead the top US spy agency, after he tapped current CIA director Mike Pompeo to be secretary of state.

Progressive groups are fighting back against Haspel’s nomination, saying her involvement in the CIA’s torture program should “disqualify her” from the top position.

US Senator John McCain recently condemned the Haspel’s nomination to lead the CIA, saying she was involved in “one of the darkest chapters in American history.”

PressTV-Torture history dogs Trump’s pick for CIA

Gina Haspel, who joined the CIA in 1985, was once in charge of a black site in Thailand accused of torturing detainees.

The Senate Intelligence Committee released a report in 2014 about the CIA's detention and interrogation program and its use of various forms of torture on detainees between 2001 and 2006.

The report concluded that the interrogation methods were far more brutal and less effective than what the agency had publicly acknowledged.

The report also said that not a single terrorist attack was foiled as a result of the use of the so-called harsh interrogation techniques.

The CIA in April declassified an internal memo clearing Haspel of wrongdoing for the destruction of videotapes depicting the waterboarding of terrorism suspects in 2005.

The agency released the review in response to demands by lawmakers for more information on Haspel’s career.

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