Sanders on opposition to Haspel but not Brennan: ‘It’s not just the issue of torture’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday said he will oppose President Trump’s pick to lead the CIA, Gina Haspel, despite his past support for another CIA director nominee with ties to enhanced interrogation.

Sanders was pressed on CNN’s “State of the Union” over his 2013 vote to confirm former CIA Director John Brennan, who, like Haspel, has ties to a George W. Bush-era program that used methods that are now widely considered torture.

“I think Brennan did a good job in his position. I have serious reservations about this nominee, and I will oppose her,” Sanders said.

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“It’s not just the issue of torture,” he continued. “It goes, I think, deeper than that. That is, I think, the foreign policy we have seen from Mr. Trump.”

Brennan worked in the CIA during the George W. Bush administration, and served as CIA director under former President Obama from 2013-2017. Brennan has expressed support for Haspel and praised her credentials.

Haspel’s nomination has faced scrutiny over her role in overseeing the torture program, and the subsequent destruction of tapes documenting interrogations at a CIA black site.

Democrats have widely opposed the pick on those grounds, putting Haspel’s confirmation in shaky territory. 

However, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) have, in recent days, said they will vote for Haspel’s confirmation.