LANGLEY, Va. - New CIA Director Gina Haspel pledged to send more spies into the field during her swearing-in Monday as President Donald Trump offered praise for the rank-and-file, who felt snubbed during his first visit to the headquarters of the premier U.S. intelligence agency.
"We must learn from the past, but we cannot dwell in the past," said Haspel, whose ascent from undercover operative to the top job was challenged because of her role in a program to harshly detain and interrogate terror suspects after 9/11.
Incoming Central Intelligence Agency director Gina Haspel participates in a swearing-in ceremony at CIA Headquarters, Monday, May 21, 2018, in Langley, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)"We must constantly learn, adjust, improve and strive to be better. We demand it of ourselves and America deserves nothing less," she said, drawing loud applause from her co-workers assembled inside the headquarters at Langley, in northern Virginia.
Haspel, 61, succeeds Mike Pompeo, whom Trump tapped to become secretary of state. Pompeo was present at the swearing-in and the oath was administered by Vice President Mike Pence.
Critics said Haspel's role in the nonbanned program should have disqualified her from becoming CIA director, although she has vowed not to restart it. Her supporters cited her three decades of experience at the spy agency both domestically and at many posts abroad.
Haspel, who has spent 33 years with the CIA, pledged to boost foreign language proficiency, strengthen the CIA's partnerships with intelligence agencies in the U.S. and abroad and deploy more officers to the field. She said the CIA also needed to focus on strategic threats to U.S. national security as well as the ongoing one from global terrorism.
As the first female CIA director, Haspel said she was indebted to female intelligence officers who blazed the trail for women in the field. "I stand on the shoulders of heroines who never sought public acclaim, but served as inspirations to the generations that came after them," she said.
She also referenced her rocky confirmation during which lawmakers had called for her mostly classified past career to be open to public scrutiny.
"It has been nearly 50 years since an operations officer rose up through the ranks to become the director, and after the experience of the last two months, I think I know why that is," Haspel joked.
Trump said she showed courage during the Senate confirmation process in the face of "very negative politics."