Sen. Jon McCain (R-Ariz.), who has been away from the Capitol battling cancer, is the most closely watched figure in the debate over GIna Haspel's nomination to lead the CIA. (Melina Mara / The Washington Post)
L.A. Times: John McCain was tortured as a POW in Vietnam. Will he help sink CIA nominee implicated in torture program?
Activists seeking to derail President Trump's nomination of Gina Haspel to lead the CIA are looking to Sen. John McCain to cast the deciding vote against her — assuming he is well enough to return to Washington.
The 81-year-old Republican was diagnosed with brain cancer in July and last cast a vote in the Senate on early December before he returned home to Arizona for treatment. He underwent surgery in Phoenix for an intestinal infection on April 15.
Haspel's critics are counting on McCain to speak out against her nomination, even if he can't cast a vote on the Senate floor, cementing his legacy as the country's most prominent critic of torture as he faces the twilight of his career.
"Sen. McCain is essential," said Matt Hawthorne, policy director for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. "He has more moral leadership on the issue of torture than anyone."
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WNU Editor: When it comes to Senator John McCain anything is possible. But from what I have read so far, much of the intel community appears to be backing Gina Haspel's nomination. Will Sen. John McCain decide to go against what the intel community wants and sink the nomination of the agency's first female CIA Director ..... we shall see.
