Sen. Rand Paul remains opposed to Gina Haspel's candidacy for CIA director despite the retraction of a story he quoted earlier in the week against her, Politico reports.
ProPublica on Thursday retracted its story that Haspel oversaw the waterboarding and other techniques, seen as torture, of a suspected terrorist at a base in Thailand; Haspel assumed leadership of the clandestine base after the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah.
Still not good enough for Paul, R-Kentucky.
"Senator Rand Paul was quoting a Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter. Regardless of the retraction of one anecdote, the fact remains that Gina Haspel was instrumental in running a place where people were tortured," Politico quoted Doug Stafford, Paul's chief strategist.
"According to multiple published, undisputed accounts, she oversaw a black site and she further destroyed evidence of torture. This should preclude her from ever running the CIA," Stafford said.
ProPublica stands by its reporting that Haspel pushed to destroy tapes of Zubaydah's waterboarding.
With just a one-seat majority in the Senate, Republicans are likely going to need Democrats to vote for Haspel to get her confirmed.
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