Profile

Gina Haspel


Listen Later

Donald Trump's choice for CIA director, Gina Haspel. Mark Coles profiles the controversial figure whose nomination has forced her out of the shadows to face difficult questions.

Gina Haspel describes herself as a typical middle-class American but the testimony of former colleagues reveals a skilled intelligence operative with an empirical mind, a taste for adventure and a talent for infiltrating terrorist cells.

At her confirmation hearing this week she was commended as an intelligence professional with unwavering honesty but was also grilled about the use of "enhanced interrogation" techniques, the waterboarding of terrorist suspects at a CIA base she ran and the subsequent destruction of evidence. The interrogation issue could block her confirmation by the Senate.

Mark Coles talks to former colleagues and security experts about the agent who's spent 30 years trying not to be noticed but who now needs to convince US Senators that she's right for the top job.

Presenter: Mark Coles

Producers: Estelle Doyle and Diane Richardson
Editor: Helen Grady.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

ProfileBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1

4.1

98 ratings


More shows like Profile

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,913 Listeners

From Our Own Correspondent by BBC Radio 4

From Our Own Correspondent

376 Listeners

More or Less by BBC Radio 4

More or Less

863 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,067 Listeners

In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,576 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,808 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,729 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,018 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,952 Listeners

Desert Island Discs by BBC Radio 4

Desert Island Discs

1,996 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

488 Listeners

Last Word by BBC Radio 4

Last Word

49 Listeners

The Week in Westminster by BBC Radio 4

The Week in Westminster

32 Listeners

The Media Show by BBC Radio 4

The Media Show

33 Listeners

Front Row by BBC Radio 4

Front Row

129 Listeners

Start the Week by BBC Radio 4

Start the Week

159 Listeners

Private Passions by BBC Radio 3

Private Passions

52 Listeners

The Briefing Room by BBC Radio 4

The Briefing Room

75 Listeners

Political Thinking with Nick Robinson by BBC Radio 4

Political Thinking with Nick Robinson

108 Listeners

Death in Ice Valley by BBC World Service

Death in Ice Valley

2,734 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,245 Listeners

The Bomb by BBC World Service

The Bomb

1,010 Listeners

This Cultural Life by BBC Radio 4

This Cultural Life

100 Listeners

When It Hits the Fan by BBC Radio 4

When It Hits the Fan

45 Listeners

Radical with Amol Rajan by BBC Radio 4

Radical with Amol Rajan

48 Listeners