Democrats have lost the debate over torture

Two key Dems will support Gina Haspel. No Images? Click here         Game Over: Gina Haspel On Track To Be Confirmed As CIA Director​ Gina Haspel is on track to become CIA director after two key Democratic senators announced they intend to support her confirmation. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday that he will support Haspel because she had satisfied his concerns in public and behind closed doors about her views regarding the CIA’s so-called enhanced interrogation program, which she helped oversee in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. In a letter to Warner on Monday, Haspel wrote that the agency shouldn’t have undertaken the controversial program ― in which agents used waterboarding against terror suspects during interrogations. Such methods, she said, “did damage to our officers and our standing in the world.” Warner, a centrist whose home state of Virginia houses the CIA’s headquarters, called his decision to support Haspel “difficult,” and said he respected the views of his colleagues who disagree with him. “I believe [Haspel] is someone who can and will stand up to the President if ordered to do something illegal or immoral—like a return to torture,” Warner said in a statement. Shortly after Warner’s announcement, moderate Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) also said that she intended to support Haspel as CIA director.  READ MORE     WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING? A day after announcing he had secured a new, six-figure lobbying job, former Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) said he has no intention of paying back tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars he used to settle a sexual harassment suit. READ MORE A mere 72 hours after the Chinese government agreed to put a half-billion dollars into an Indonesian project that will personally enrich Donald Trump, the president ordered a bailout for a Chinese-government-owned cellphone maker. READ MORE Newly sworn-in Federal Trade Commissioner Rohit Chopra called for his agency to be an “aggressive and effective enforcer” in a memo to staff taking aim at “recidivist” corporations ― what appears to be a not-so-subtle nod to the commission’s ongoing investigation into Facebook. READ MORE         ICYMI  Sen. Jon Tester represents a state President Donald Trump won in a romp. That hasn’t stopped him from opposing Trump nominees.   Selling planes to Iran could have saved lives. Exiting the nuclear deal will make that harder.   Hundreds of people took to the streets in cities across the country on Monday, as part of a new movement seeking to challenge racism and poverty in America.       Want more?  Georgia GOP Gov. Candidate Wants To Round Up Immigrants In ‘Deportation Bus’   Rabid Anti-Muslim Ex-FBI Agent Is Training Texas Police   Debbie Wasserman Schultz: The NRA Is ‘Just Shy Of A Terrorist Organization’   HuffPost is now a part of Oath and a part of Verizon. On May 25th 2018 we will be introducing a new Oath Privacy Policy which will explain how your data is used and shared. Learn More. How will Trump’s administration impact you? Sign up for our email and find out. Did a friend send you this? Subscribe here. Like what you see? Share it. Want more? Here are two other newsletters you'll love: The Morning Email and Must Reads. ©2017 HuffPost | 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 You are receiving this email because you signed up for updates from HuffPost Feedback | Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe   - - Preferences  |  Unsubscribe