Meet Gina, a spy for over 30 years, a devoted public servant and a devotee of Johnny Cash. “She’s dedicated her life to protecting our nation.” Meet Gina, a spy for over 30 years, an overseer of torture, and a destroyer of valuable documents. “She believes that waterboarding should be something that we use.” This is Gina Haspel, the nominee to head the C.I.A. with two distinct storylines about her. A C.I.A. P.R. blitz aimed at bolstering her nomination tells us most of what we know about Haspel. “Gina Haspel is the best prepared person ever to be nominated for this job.” “A nonpartisan person.” “She’s got a spine of steel.” “Her only goal is to live out the agency’s mission.” The C.I.A. tells us that she joined towards the end of the Cold War. She wanted adventure and meaning in her life. We don’t get too much detail. We know she first deployed to Africa, then later overseas during the Gulf War. At one point she helped catch two terrorists linked to an embassy bombing. They don’t say where. But pretty much everything else about her 33 years at the agency is classified. And all the while, the C.I.A. says she remained a big fan of her alma mater’s basketball team: the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Now critics of Haspel are more concerned with what the C.I.A. isn’t saying about her. “America shouldn’t be known for torture.” “She was supportive of the program.” “A cover-up from A to Z.” “A dirty past.” After 9/11. she managed a secret C.I.A. prison in Thailand. And at that prison she oversaw the torture of a detainee. And then, later, she helped execute an order to destroy videotapes of brutal interrogations. Here’s her then-boss explaining why he didn’t want the tapes kept: “It would make the C.I.A. look bad.” And it would actually, in my view, it almost destroyed the clandestine service because of it.” The president decided to focus on ‘good Gina.’ Gina the trailblazer. “Gina, by the way, who I know very well – who I worked very closely with...” will be the first woman director of the C.I.A.” Critics worry that the president’s embrace of torture won’t get any pushback from Haspel. “What do you think about waterboarding, Mr. Trump?” “I said, I love it.” “And I’d bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.” “Torture works, O.K., folks.” Haspel recently gave a very rare public appearance on Capitol Hill. Her aim: to woo some of her critics. She smiled and appeared approachable, more public servant than controversial public official.