Monday, May 14, 2018

Last week, a White House press aide, Kelly Sadler, in a meeting dismissed opposition by Senator John McCain to United States President Donald Trump’s choice for Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director, Gina Haspel, by invoking McCain’s brain cancer prognosis. The Hill reported Sadler negating the concerns by saying, “It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway.” which garnered bi-partisan criticism since Friday, with Monday’s announcement the White House would discipline Sadler and the leakers internally going forward.

Trump nominated Haspel to fill the vacated seat of current CIA Director Mike Pompeo, whom Trump promoted to Secretary of State after the firing of Rex Tillerson last March. To take the position, Haspel must undergo a confirmation hearing, before the Senate grants directorship. Senator McCain has expressed concerns over Haspel’s association with black site prisons and enhanced interrogation techniques which met international criteria for torture. Haspel is a career CIA operative with much of her history classified for national security, so most of her testimony in front of McCain is to occur behind closed doors.

McCain, age 81, discovered he had glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of brain cancer, after receiving a surgical procedure to remove a blood clot from his upper left eye. The clot had initially been thought to be a recurring malignant melanoma mass developed during McCain’s imprisonment during the Vietnam War. The late Senator Ted Kennedy, Democrat from Massachusetts, suffered from the same cancer until his death on August 25, 2009. There is no known cure for glioblastoma, but McCain is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation at the Mayo Clinic with input from the Barrows Neurological Institute located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona with goal of extending life.

During McCain’s imprisonment, he was subjected to multiple physical and mental torture techniques including waterboarding, leaving him with permanently disfigured bones and other injuries. As McCain is a ranking member of the politically powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, Haspel must answer McCain’s questions about her level of knowledge and activity surrounding the interrogation program before being approved by the full Senate.

Sadler’s statement, confirmed by two White House sources to Fox News’s producer Fin Gomez, is not the first publicly controversial statements directed at McCain by Trump and his aids. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump made his most notable disparaging comments about McCain’s service record during the 2015 Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa, saying, “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”

The White House never denied Sadler’s statement, but initially released, “We respect Senator McCain’s service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time.” Prominent colleagues in Congress have criticized Sadler’s remarks. Longtime supporter Senator Lindsey Graham’s statement, “Ms. Sadler, may I remind you that John McCain has a lot of friends in the United States Senate on both sides of the aisle. Nobody is laughing in the Senate.” Former Vice President Joe Biden also gave his support, stating, “People have wondered when decency would hit rock bottom with this administration. It happened yesterday.”

Wife Cindy McCain responded with a Tweet, “May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren.” Meghan McCain, daughter and The View co-host, regularly visits and is the most public defender of her father from the Trump Administration’s differences. Sadler reached out to Meghan McCain Friday morning and apologized about the statement over the phone saying she would issue a public apology. However the promised public apology was never distributed. Meghan McCain spoke out against the White House and Sadler’s inaction later Friday with, “I don’t understand what kind of environment you’re working in when that would be acceptable and then you could come to work the next day and still have a job.”

During Monday’s press briefing, Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah announced all further disciplinary actions would be taken internally. Shah introduced the leakers as also being complicit stating, “When you work in any work environment…if you aren’t able in internal meetings to speak your mind, or convey thoughts, or say anything that you feel without feeling like your colleagues will betray you, that creates a very difficult work environment.” Shah’s sentiment was reiterated by a Trump tweet, “The so-called leaks coming out of the White House are a massive over exaggeration put out by the Fake News Media in order to make us look as bad as possible. With that being said, leakers are traitors and cowards, and we will find out who they are.”

McCain did not address Sadler’s statements directly, but reiterated his stance on Haspel’s record, “Ms. Haspel’s role in overseeing the use of torture by Americans is disturbing. Her refusal to acknowledge torture’s immorality is disqualifying … I believe the Senate should exercise its duty of advice and consent and reject this nomination.” Haspel will continue to meet with Senators in open and closed door testimony. Her confirmation by the full Senate is being held until prominent Senators are satisfied with her answers.

[edit]