I watched the confirmation hearings for Gina Haspel yesterday and noticed something unusual for a person in such a role she will play when confirmed as Director - she says “no” when responding to questions that need that answer. I know that is odd, but very few Washington people do it, and she did it more than once.
When Senator Feinstein asked her if she was the person referred to in a popular book as a former operations officer who took a leading role in interrogations of prisoners, I knew what answer Feinstein was looking for. When Haspel said “No”, and she is trained to say little more than that unless asked more, I could see the Senator look up like she wasn’t sure she heard the reply correctly. But the difference here is that the Senator went on with the same line of questioning even after she was told her answer, and the additional information that the author of that book had weeks ago changed that story and admitted he was wrong. She was desperate for a different answer.
Other Senators asked the same question a different way, tacitly admitting they were not listening to the answer to the previous question. Unlike Haspel who seemed to have the facts well documented in front of her, the staffers for the Congressional offices did not have the same level of preparation. Shame on them.
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