Meghan McCain slammed Rep. Liz Cheney, R- Wyo., on Twitter Thursday after the congresswoman touted the success of various torture techniques and enhanced questioning programs as she responded to Sen. John McCain’s criticism of Gina Haspel, President Trump’s nominee for CIA director.
“The Enhanced Interrogation Program saved lives, prevented attacks, & produced intel that led to Osama bin Laden. The techniques were the same as those used on our own people in the SERE program,” Cheney tweeted at Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. “No one should slander the brave men & women who carried out this crucial program.”
“My father doesn’t need torture explained to him,” Meghan McCain said in response to Cheney. John McCain spent more than five years in captivity as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, where he was tortured.
My father doesn’t need torture explained to him. https://t.co/ajrtr7Vn5A
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) March 15, 2018
Cheney was responding to a tweet from McCain in which he called on his fellow senators to scrutinize the record and involvement of Haspel in programs where people in U.S. custody were tortured.
“The torture of detainees in U.S. custody during the last decade was one of the darkest chapters in American history,” McCain wrote. “The Senate must do its job in scrutinizing the record & involvement of Gina Haspel in this disgraceful program.”
Haspel, 61, came under fire last year after she was elevated to CIA deputy director. Various lawmakers and human rights organizations accused her of overseeing the secret prisons where suspected terrorists were held and questioned with “enhanced interrogation techniques,” which are also referred to as torture.
“Ms. Haspel needs to explain the nature and extent of her involvement in the CIA’s interrogation program during the confirmation process,” McCain said in a statement Tuesday. “I know the Senate will do its job in examining Ms. Haspel’s record as well as her beliefs about torture and her approach to current law.”
McCain’s support could be critical to getting Haspel confirmed, although he has been out for cancer treatment. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has said he would oppose Haspel, and with McCain out, Republicans can’t lose any other GOP votes or she will likely not be confirmed.
