Green Beret, former UFC fighter livestreams being waterboarded to promote Haspel CIA confirmation

Green Beret and former UFC fighter Tim Kennedy livestreamed a video of himself being waterboarded to promote President Trump’s nomination, Gina Haspel, for CIA director.

In a 41-minute-long video, Kennedy is voluntarily waterboarded by his friends multiple times while answering questions between sessions.

“The reason we are doing this … is for us to have a conversation. Right now, an amazing hero has been appointed to be director of the CIA and because of that, some of the things she has done are being attacked,” Kennedy said about Haspel.

Haspel’s nomination has repeatedly come under fire because of her role overseeing “enhanced interrogation techniques” — which have widely been considered torture — on detainees at a CIA black site.

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Between sessions, Kennedy argued that being waterboarded wasn’t torture and was simply uncomfortable.

“If I can change one person’s mind about what torture is and what I would do to protect American freedom, I will do this for years,” Kennedy said about waterboarding.

Kennedy also tweeted earlier this week, “Waterboarding is not torture.”

Kennedy criticized recent reports that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the man who has been charged with orchestrating the 9/11 attacks, recently requested permission to share information pertaining to Haspel’s nomination. He was reportedly waterboarded 183 times over 15 sessions while in U.S. custody.

“The terrorist is supposed to tell us who should run the CIA, that is an endorsement in my book,” Kennedy said.

While Kennedy said he weathered the repeated waterboarding without many issues, many people who have been waterboarded describe it as a terrifying experience that simulates the sensation of drowning.

“It felt like you were choking to death on water and couldn’t stop it from being that way,” Chris Jaco, a former military pilot, told HuffPost. Jaco was waterboarded in 1970 during Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) training at the Air Force Academy.

On Saturday, Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly (Ind.) became the second Democrat to say he will vote to confirm Haspel, making it more likely she will be confirmed to be CIA director.