Washington: President Donald Trump is attending the swearing-in of the CIA’s first female director.
The ceremony for Gina Haspel is taking place on Monday morning at agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
A veteran spy, Haspel won Senate confirmation last week after overcoming concerns about her role in the agency’s use of harsh interrogation techniques after 9/11.
The 33-year CIA employee was backed by many in the CIA rank and file and senior intelligence officials, including former CIA directors and national intelligence directors. Opponents argued it was wrong to reward someone who supervised a covert detention site in Thailand where terror suspects were harshly interrogated.
Trump tapped the 61-year-old Kentucky native to lead the nation’s premier intelligence agency after he nominated then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo to succeed Rex Tillerson as secretary of state.
