President Trump presided over the swearing-in ceremony Monday for Gina Haspel, the first female director of the CIA, and called it a “proud milestone.”
“I know that you will thrive as the agency’s director and help keep our nation safe and strong and proud and free,” Mr. Trump said at the ceremony at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
Ms. Haspel, a CIA veteran who rose through the ranks to head the agency, overcame a contentious confirmation process in which she was pilloried for her involvement in enhanced interrogation or torture of terrorism suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The Senate confirmed her nomination Thursday in a 54-45 vote, with six Democrats voting yes. Two Republicans, Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted no.
“It has been nearly 50 years since an operations officer rose up through the ranks to become the director, and after the experience of the last two months I think I know why that is,” Ms. Haspel said, drawing laughs from the crowd at Langley.
Mr. Trump said that she was taking the helm of the CIA at a pivotal moment in the country’s history.
“We are reasserting American strength and American confidence. And by the way, America is respected again. You see that,” he said. “Instead of apologizing for our nation, we are standing up for our nation, and we are standing up for the men and women who protect our nation.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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