With Rex Tillerson out, Mike Pompeo will move from the head of the CIA over to Secretary of State and his deputy at the CIA, Gina Haspel, will take over as the new CIA Chief.

She’s a nightmare.

Obama actually could have imprisoned her back in 2009.

Haspel is a career intelligence officer, who spent much of her time undercover. But she’s perhaps best known for torturing two terrorism suspects while overseeing a black site in Thailand in 2002, including waterboarding one of them 83 times in one month and slamming his head repeatedly. She only ceased torturing him once it was apparent he had no evidence to provide. Three years later, an order signed by her, asked that the videotaped evidence be destroyed.

She had been subsequently blocked from a promotion at the CIA by Senate Democrats over her role in torture.

Gina Haspel, demoted under Obama Administration for human rights violations, is Trump's appointment as CIA head.

— Dr. Robert Fortuna (@bob42156) March 13, 2018

When Obama was inaugurated in 2009, there was some question over whether she could be imprisoned for war crimes.

If the Obama administration had operated under a different prosecutorial theory, Gina Haspel might be sitting in prison rather than preparing to become the next CIA director https://t.co/XhEzmLUdW4 pic.twitter.com/9VOyUflekq

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) March 13, 2018

And now she is head of the CIA.

Instead of an all-expense paid trip to The Hague, the person who oversaw the torture of two detainees is being promoted to CIA director. https://t.co/DJoQYFApvI

— (((Zach Heiden))) (@zlheiden) March 13, 2018

Mike Pompeo is no dream at the CIA, either. He wants to rip up the Iran deal, he has played down the Russian’s involvement in the 2016 election, and he is an advocate of regime change in North Korea. He was also a Benghazi freak, and he was a backer of Wikileaks:

Here is the since-deleted tweet from Mike Pompeo on July 24, 2016 pushing stolen Democratic emails and Wikileaks. Pompeo was head of House Intelligence Commitee at the time. 3 days later, Trump called on Russia “if you’re listening” to get Clinton’s email. pic.twitter.com/ZE5dLqrtI9

— Dafna Linzer (@DafnaLinzer) March 13, 2018

And remember: Trump has a hawk who apparently jibes with his own thinking running the State Department now and fewer and fewer voices of moderation to keep him in check. This might be a very dangerous combination, especially with talks with North Korea impending.

The fact that Rex Tillerson found out via Twitter that he got fired is incredibly funny, but Pompeo is an actual monster and it’s an indictment of America that new CIA director Gina Haspel isn’t in jail right now.

— Denizcan James (@MrFilmkritik) March 13, 2018

Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.

Previous Article

         

Rex Tillerson Fired as Secretary of State the Day After Calling Out the Russians

Next Article

         

Another White Dude Gets Yet Another Shot at Redemption