Gina Haspel

President Trump’s nominee for CIA Director, Gina Haspel, answered questions from the Senate Intelligence Committee today. Democrat Sherrod Brown said he wants to see how Haspel will defend decisions and comments she’s made about her involvement with a post-9-11 interrogation program where the CIA waterboarded prisoners.

Haspel is the first woman nominated for the CIA's top job. Her covert career and links to waterboarding will likely make for an unusual Senate confirmation hearing with an uncertain outcome.

The current deputy director of the CIA is well-respected by intelligence professionals, but she is tied inextricably with the agency's dark chapters involving torture.