WASHINGTON _ Under fire for her still-murky role in the CIA's imprisonment and torture of terrorism suspects after the 9/11 attacks, Gina Haspel pledged Wednesday that she would not allow the spy agency to restart the troubled program if she is confirmed as director.
"I want to be clear," Haspel told the Senate Intelligence Committee at her confirmation hearing. "Having served in that tumultuous time, I can offer you my personal commitment, clearly and without reservation, that under my leadership CIA will not restart such a detention and interrogation program."
After a 33-year career spent almost entirely undercover, Haspel pitched herself to the committee as an intelligence veteran who has the loyalty of the CIA workforce and the knowledge to run its espionage and other operations around the globe.
"I know CIA like the back of my hand," she said.
Haspel's confirmation is expected to hinge on how she answers questions about counterterrorism operations after the al-Qaida attacks of 2001, including her role running a then-secret CIA "black site" prison in Thailand in 2002 where suspects were waterboarded.
Pressed by the committee, Haspel addressed another controversial episode in her career _ her participation in the destruction of dozens of videotapes of harsh interrogations at the facility in Thailand.
Haspel confirmed that she drafted a cable for a supervisor who ordered the videotapes to be shredded in 2005. She cited a 2011 memo, which the CIA released prior to the hearing, that concluded she did not break agency rules.
She said senior CIA officials were worried that the videos could be used to identify undercover CIA officers who took part in the waterboarding and other abuses.
"There was a great deal of concern about the security risk posed to CIA officers" if the tapes were made public or fell into the wrong hands, Haspel said.
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the committee chairman and a supporter of Haspel, tried to separate the dispute over what the CIA called its enhanced interrogation tactics, which critics called torture, from the question of whether Haspel should be confirmed.
"Some may seek to turn this nomination into a trial about a long-shuttered program," he said. "This hearing is not about programs already addressed by executive order, legislation and the court of law," a reference to how the CIA now is required to use the same interrogation tactics as the U.S. military.
Burr said Haspel has "acted morally, ethically and legally."
In a scathing report, the Senate committee concluded several years ago that the harsh interrogations failed to produce intelligence that helped identify or break up other terrorist plots. Although the CIA largely disagreed with that conclusion, Haspel cited a different part of the report on Wednesday
"In retrospect it is clear ... that CIA was not prepared to conduct a detention and interrogation program," she said.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., pushed her further. "The president has asserted that torture works. Do you agree with that statement?" she asked.
"Senator, I _ I don't believe that torture works," Haspel said. "I believe that in the CIA's program, and I'm not attributing this to enhanced interrogation techniques ... valuable information was obtained from senior al-Qaida operatives."
"Is that a yes?"
"No, it's not a yes. We got valuable information from debriefing of al-Qaida detainees, and I don't think it's knowable whether interrogation techniques played a role in that."
Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat and the committee's vice chairman, said he knows the CIA used waterboarding and other abuses in a frantic effort to find and prevent any further terrorist attacks. But he expressed concern that President Donald Trump, who said last year that he would "bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding," might try to revive their use.
Warner worried that Haspel, if she is confirmed, would face "morally questionable requests" from "frankly in my view, a president who does not always seem interested in hearing, much less speaking, the truth."
Many details of the interrogation program remain classified, and the CIA has refused to say if Haspel participated in or oversaw the brutal questioning of suspects. That has infuriated Democrats on the committee.
"It's a cover-up from A to Z," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Tuesday
Haspel joined the CIA in 1985 and spent most of her career at postings in Europe, Africa and Central Asia. If confirmed, she would be the first woman to lead the nation's premier spy service, something she cited in her opening remarks.
"It is not my way to trumpet the fact that I am a woman up for the top job, but I would be remiss in not remarking on it _ not least because of the outpouring of support from young women at CIA who consider it a good sign for their own prospects," she said.
Haspel also would be the first CIA director in five decades who spent her career as an operations officer and rose to lead the agency. That has won her considerable support among CIA rank and file.
Several dozen current and former intelligence officials, including half a dozen former CIA directors and acting directors from Republican and Democratic administrations, have endorsed her nomination. But 100 former military officers, including numerous retired generals, have opposed her, citing her role in the use of torture.
Haspel has served as CIA acting director since Mike Pompeo was confirmed as secretary of state last month. She is expected to win approval from the Republican-controlled committee but she will face a tougher path in the full Senate, where she may need support from several Democrats.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has said he will oppose her, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been away from Capitol Hill battling brain cancer, potentially eliminating Republicans' slim 51-49 majority.
Several Democrats facing re-election in states that Trump won in 2016 are under particular pressure to vote for Haspel. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., one of those considered vulnerable in November, said Tuesday that he wouldn't support her.
"I'm not a huge fan of waterboarding," he told CNN.
