Washington, May 18 (RHC)-- The U.S. Senate has confirmed Gina Haspel as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.  Haspel is a 33-year CIA veteran who was responsible for running a secret CIA black site in Thailand in 2002, where at least one prisoner was waterboarded and tortured in other ways during her tenure.  According to reports, Haspel also oversaw the destruction of videotapes showing torture at the black site.  

Haspel’s confirmation was approved by a vote of 54 in favor to 45 against, and came after six Democrats joined most Senate Republicans to approve as the head of the CIA. 

One senator who voted against the confirmation, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee who’s privy to classified briefings, said of Haspel: “There is much more that the full Senate and the public should know about Haspel’s background, and I am convinced that, if they did, her nomination would be rejected.”