Gina Haspel, the president's controversial pick to lead the CIA, played a role in the agency's torture program under the George W. Bush administration.

A decorated 33-year veteran of the agency, Haspel ran a secret prison in Thailand during which time at least one detainee was tortured. She later took part in an order to destroy videotapes of the interrogations.

Haspel's nomination, which comes after Trump selected CIA Director Mike Pompeo to become secretary of state, has drawn new attention to the agency's stance on torture.

President Donald Trump's controversial nominee to lead the Central Intelligence Agency helped oversee the agency's torture program under the George W. Bush administration, a record that will be the subject of debate during her confirmation hearing.

Gina Haspel, who joined the CIA in 1985 and spent most of her career undercover, oversaw the torture of a terror suspect — authorized by the Bush administration and later outlawed by President Barack Obama and Congress — at a secret CIA prison in Thailand in late 2002. She also helped facilitate the "extraordinary rendition program," in which the US government handed detainees over to foreign officials, who detained and tortured them in secret prisons.

On Tuesday, Trump nominated Haspel to become the agency's first female director after he fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and asked CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace him.

During the time that Haspel ran the Thai prison, known as a "black site," one detainee, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, was waterboarded three times.

Shortly before Haspel took over control of the prison, another detainee, Abu Zubaydah, was waterboarded 83 times and subjected to other "enhanced interrogation techniques," before interrogators determined he did not possess any useful information.

In 2005, Haspel signed her name on a cable ordering the destruction of 92 video tapes of Zubaydah's interrogations — a decision that became the subject of a lengthy criminal investigation by the Justice Department that did not result in charges. (This decision was made after a federal court in 2004 explicitly ordered the government to preserve all records relating to detainee abuse abroad).

The CIA says the decision to destroy the evidence was made by Haspel's then-superior, Jose Rodriguez, who ran the agency's clandestine service, but Rodriguez wrote in his 2013 book that Haspel drafted the order.

Hundreds of terror suspects were tortured and abused by the CIA and Department of Defense in the years following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. And while the Bush administration's program, which violated longstanding US and international law, has been widely condemned both domestically and around the world, no government official has ever been prosecuted for involvement in it.

'She was up to her eyeballs in torture'

Human rights and civil liberties advocates slammed Haspel's nomination on Tuesday. Twenty-nine leading groups sent a joint letter to lawmakers expressing their "grave concerns" about Haspel's role in the torture program.

"It is clear by her wrongdoing that she demonstrated disregard for the rule of law and fundamental human rights," the letter said.

The advocates asked that all of the records concerning Haspel's involvement in rendition, detention, and interrogation program be declassified and made public before her nomination is advanced.

"Gina Haspel was a central figure in one of the most illegal and shameful chapters in modern American history," Christopher Anders, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) Washington office, told Business Insider. "She was up to her eyeballs in torture: both in running a secret torture prison in Thailand, and carrying out an order to cover up torture crimes by destroying videotapes."

Human Rights First spokeswoman Raha Wala said in a Tuesday statement that "no one who had a hand in torturing individuals deserve to ever hold public office again, let alone lead an agency."

Protesters gather in front of the Supreme Court in January 2017 to mark 15 years since the first prisoners were brought to the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The CIA's current views on torture are unclear

Under Trump, it's not entirely clear where the CIA's leadership stands on the issue of torture.

Pompeo has said that waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" do not constitute torture. And he has defended intelligence officials and others who engaged in these practices as "heroes" and "patriots" simply protecting their country. Although Pompeo has said he would never authorize the use of torture as head of the CEO,

Trump repeatedly expressed his support for torture, including waterboarding, on the campaign trail, although he later appeared to move away from that position.

"Would I approve waterboarding? You bet your ass I would. In a heartbeat," Trump said during a 2016 campaign rally. "I would approve more than that. It works."

'I do think at the end of the day she will be confirmed'

Haspel is widely respected within the agency and her promotion to deputy director earlier this year was praised by a long list of current and former intelligence leaders, including those who served under Obama. The widely-held view among agency officials and loyalists is that those who carried out Bush's torture program were simply following orders.

Former CIA Director John Brennan, who led the agency under Obama, praised Haspel as someone with "a lot of integrity," despite her record, during a Tuesday interview on MSNBC.

"She was involved in a very, very controversial program," he said. "I know that the Senate confirmation process will look at that very closely. I do think there's going to be close scrutiny given to her nomination. But I do think at the end of the day she will be confirmed and should be confirmed."

Haspel will face a difficult nomination process and what will likely be a bruising confirmation hearing given the many concerns about her record.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein blocked Haspel's nomination to lead the CIA's clandestine service in 2013 over concerns about her role in the interrogation program and the destruction of evidence. And many called for her to be blocked from taking the deputy director position, even though the promotion did not require congressional confirmation.

Republican Sen. John McCain, an outspoken opponent of torture, called on Haspel to explain her role in the torture program and clarify her stance on current law regarding torture.

"The torture of detainees in U.S. custody during the last decade was one of the darkest chapters in American history," McCain said in a Tuesday statement. "Ms. Haspel needs to explain the nature and extent of her involvement in the CIA's interrogation program during the confirmation process. 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."

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Haspel oversaw a CIA prison in Thailand during the time when Abu Zubaydah, a detainee, was waterboarded 83 times and subjected to other "enhanced interrogation techniques." The New York Times, the source of this information, later amended its reporting. Haspel took control of the prison after Zubaydah's torture took place. Business Insider regrets the error.