Haspel dodges on whether harsh interrogation was ‘immoral’

President Trump’s pick to lead the CIA declined to directly answer repeated questions on Wednesday about whether she views the controversial interrogation techniques used by the CIA following the Sept. 11 terror attacks as “immoral.”

Pressed repeatedly by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) to provide a “yes or no answer,” current acting CIA Director Gina Haspel said she supports the “higher moral standards” that the U.S. has embraced since renouncing the use of the techniques.

“I believe CIA did extraordinary work to prevent another attack with the legal tools we were provided,” she added, however.

{mosads}In a testy exchange, Harris accused Haspel of not answering her question.

“Senator, I think I’ve answered the question,” Haspel said.

“No, you’ve not,” Harris said.

In a separate exchange, Haspel said while she does not believe “torture works,” valuable information was obtained from CIA detainees after Sept. 11.

“I don’t think it’s knowable whether interrogation techniques played a role in that,” she said.

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