Feature: Nominee with dark history makes 11th hour push to become top U.S. spy

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Both Gina Haspel's critics and supporters agree that she is a talented spy, and is willing to go the extra mile to get the job done.

But the quality that have helped her rise through rank and file in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has instead become a major pitfall as she tries to become the agency's first female director.

Since her nomination in March to head the CIA, her nomination has been constantly plagued with controversy, with a particular focus on her secretive, and sometimes dark, history.

During her 33-year-long career in the CIA, Haspel has served in Ethiopia, Turkey, Thailand, Azerbaijan, and Great Britain.

In each of those countries, she took on different missions and held various posts, but in every mission, she nearly always worked in the shadows.

The secretive nature of her work has become a major hurdle as she tries to persuade hesitant Senators to vote favorably on her nomination, at an unscheduled time after her hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday.

On both Monday and Tuesday, Haspel climbed Capitol hill, calling on a number of Senators, most of whom are key members of the Intelligence Committee, whose votes will determine if her nomination can be moved to the Senate floor. ( Haspel put on a spirited display during her hill tour, telling the press that the meetings allegedly went "great" or "excellent," while her aides wheeled a cart into Congress containing her work record for review.

But the effort has not yet yielded any results, with multiple Senators expressing their reservations after these meetings.

Martin Heinrich of New Mexico called for "more transparency," while Ron Wyden of Oregon said he was not satisfied with the documents, as they were produced under the watch of Haspel, the acting CIA director.

"This is self-serving declassification, a cover-up from A to Z," Wyden said in an interview with CBS news.

"I want the American people to know who this nominee is," he said.

Aside from the lack of transparency, Haspel's past involvement with torturing and the ensuing effort to erase her tracks was also problematic.

Haspel oversaw a secret CIA detention center in Thailand in 2002, where two al-Qaeda suspects were inhumanely interrogated, most notably by waterboarding. She later successfully convinced her boss to destroy the tape-recordings of these interrogations. However, a CIA memo cleared her of any wrongdoing.

To sooth lawmakers who claim to oppose these inhuman interrogating methods such as waterboarding, Haspel has pledged to ban the practice if she becomes the next CIA chief, according excerpts of her statement at the Wednesday hearing.

Despite the fierce opposition, Haspel has a powerful ally inside the White House. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly defended her on twitter, emphasizing on her being a successful spy while downplaying her tainted human rights record.

"Gina Haspel, my highly respected nominee to lead the CIA, is being praised for the fact that she has been, and always will be, TOUGH ON TERROR!" Trump tweeted Tuesday.

The White House also released a statement on the same day claiming that Haspel was merely a foot soldier who carried out the orders of her superiors to torture the suspects, and therefore, should not shoulder the complete responsibility.

"Policymakers who set up, approved, and were briefed on enhanced interrogation techniques are the ones who were responsible for the program," the statement said.

According to U.S. media, Haspel has considered withdrawing her nomination last week to avoid the gruelling hearing, but the White House has convinced her to stay on board.

If Haspel's nomination makes it to the Senate floor, it is expected to be one of the closest votes for a Trump nominee. The Republican Party commonly referred to as GOP, currently holds 51 seats, but with GOP senator Rand Paul of Kentucky refusing to endorse and John McCain absent due to illness, Haspel needs at least one supporter from across the aisle.

A number of Trump nominees passed the Senate vote on razor thin margins, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was saved by a tie-breaker by Vice President Mike Pence, while Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price both clenched 52 votes. Enditem