Posted on 05/09/2018 2:34:33 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Who could have guessed that Joe Manchin would be the first Democrat to flip and support Gina Haspel? Come on, man. Manchin was practically sending up semaphores even before making this announcement:
“I have found Gina Haspel to be a person of great character,” Manchin said in a statement. “Over her 33 year career as a CIA operations officer, she has worked in some of the most dangerous corners of our world and I have the utmost respect for the sacrifices she has made for our country. She has earned the trust of her colleagues in the intelligence community and her intellect, steady temperament, vast knowledge of threats we face, and dedication to our country are undeniable. These attributes make her supremely qualified to serve as our next CIA Director.”
Earlier today, I noted that Manchin had even gone so far as to tease out Haspel’s upcoming testimony. When reporters mentioned that Haspel was sure to get questioned about her offer to withdraw, Manchin told them to stay tuned. “I think she’s going to have a great answer for you on that one,” he replied. PR firms couldn’t have teed it up better for Haspel.
So what was the answer? If the question came up at all, it didn’t rise to a level of a headline. Neither the New York Times or Washington Post note any exchange with Haspel on her withdrawal. The biggest news, as predicted, was Haspel’s pledge to not allow a restart of “enhanced interrogation techniques” now explicitly barred by law and executive order, although she mainly parried attempts to pin her down on the morality of those policies.
The biggest question — now that Manchin’s on board — is whether Susan Collins will endorse Haspel. If she does, that should be enough to cinch the endorsement from the Senate Intelligence Committee and give her at least enough votes to get to 50 for confirmation. Haspel seemed to fumble a question from Collins relating to waterboarding. I’d bet this was not the answer Collins wanted to hear:
Sen. Susan Collins: "If the CIA has a high-value terrorism suspect in its custody, and the president gave you a direct order to waterboard that suspect, what would you do?"
Gina Haspel: "Senator, I do not believe the president would ask me to do that." https://t.co/2sCnbIWeO2 pic.twitter.com/ywlV2J7MJ1
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) May 9, 2018
Ahem. Trump practically pledged to bring it back while on the campaign trail, only retreating from that position after the election, thanks to a lecture from James Mattis. Haspel may be right that Trump wouldn’t ask her to do it now, but that’s a mighty whimsical peg on which to hang one’s hopes. Haspel did better when asked again about it by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM):
When Heinrich followed up on the point about restarting such a program, she seemed more direct.
“I would not restart under any circumstances [such] an interrogation program at CIA,” she said. “Under any circumstances.”
Anyway, Collins’ vote will matter to other Senate Democrats who might be on the fence about Haspel. Without Collins, the others might not cross the aisle, and then the best Haspel might do is 49 votes. Hopefully the nominee is spending some time with Collins in order to ensure that this exchange didn’t do any damage.
Update: Just as predictably …
JUST IN: Sen. Kamala Harris says she intends to vote against Gina Haspel for CIA director: “I will not vote to confirm her” https://t.co/ZVtCTxZOCg pic.twitter.com/9SRHIaxr4g
— CNN (@CNN) May 9, 2018
Comma-la is a no? Who would have guessed?
Joe knows he’s toast if he doesn’t appear somewhat supportive of Trump.
Harris is no different than Obama. IMO
Lol camel-a harris (i know its spelled wrong) kicks off the Dem womens war on women. Perhaps the current crop of GOP senate candidates could include it in their campaign ads...
I don’t know why he’s doing this, but I’ll certainly take his vote.
Of course the ho is a no.
I wish bobble head Collins would join McCain on the great journey he’s about to begin.
Willie Brown’s c**k holster is a “no”. Big surprise.
Kamala is black and aginst anything white
Kamala Harris is a disgrace to California but heck the majority of the elected officials in this state are Commies..besides, she wants to run for President..she wants to be a bigger Commie than Bernie Sanders
When is the vote ?
He is doing it because he has a tough election coming up.
Given the right circumstances, God forbid please, Harris has the mentally ill mindset to worse, much worse, than nobama.
Kameltoe Harris is voting no?
“Comma-la is a no?”
Comma-la is a ho.
Only liberals would pull out sympathy for an islamic terrorist, against an American patriot.
Only liberals.
Gina Haspel handled Harris beautifully on the questions Kammy wanted “yes or no” answers to.
Harris is an attention whore. She’s going to pop up everywhere.
Go ask willy and his willy
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