Gina Haspel, President Trump's nominee for CIA director, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee this morning at her confirmation hearing.
She needs votes from Democratic and Republican senators to be confirmed as the next CIA director.
That could be a challenge for Haspel since Democrats argued that the public should know more about her record.
Still, many Democrats have signaled they would wait for the hearing before weighing in on whether they'll support Haspel -- at least publicly.
Some Democrats are now talking. Here's what they're thinking:
Gina Haspel, Trump's pick to lead the CIA, just went into a private meeting with senators following her public confirmation hearing.
During the public hearing, Haspel was grilled about her involvement in the CIA's interrogation tactics and her role in the destruction of tapes.
There has always been some level of concern that Haspel was in trouble, based on her past work for the agency and the public controversy it's inspired, according to one White House official. However, that official said they still believe she will be confirmed.
Democratic Sen. Jack Reed quizzed Gina Haspel on whether she would make personal pledge of loyalty to Trump if he should ask.
Haspel said she's worked closely with Trump and doesn't think that would happen.
"Senator, my only loyalty is to the American people and the constitution of the United States," she said.
Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris just asked Gina Haspel, Trump's nominee to be CIA director, whether she agrees with the President's remarks that torture works.
"I don't believe that torture works," she said.
After Haspel's lengthy response, Harris asked, "Is that a yes?"
Haspel quickly responded, "No, it's not a yes."
"We got valuable information from debriefing of Al Qaeda detainees, and I don't think it's knowable whether interrogation techniques played a role in that."
Sen. Kamala Harris pressed Gina Haspel if she felt the CIA's previous interrogation techniques were immoral, asking her multiple times to answer with a simple yes or no. Haspel wouldn't say.
Here's the exchange:
"I would not allow CIA to undertake activity that I thought was immoral, even if it was technically legal," Haspel said. "I would absolutely not permit it."
Capitol police removed a protester from the hearing after she interrupted Gina Haspel during question.
As the protester was escorted out of the building, you could hear her yelling, "bloody Gina! Bloody Gina!"
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who earlier stated she liked Gina Haspel "very much" but was troubled by her still-classified past, asked the nominee if she was "an advocate for destroying the tapes."
"Senator, I absolutely was an advocate," Haspel said, saying while she never watched the tapes — she described those as 92 individual tapes of one detainee being tortured — she knew CIA officers' faces were on them.
She said that "was very dangerous at a time when there were unauthorized disclosures exposing the program."
Stating she has a "very strong moral compass," Haspel said, "I support the higher moral standard that this country has decided to hold itself to. I would never, ever take CIA back to an interrogation program."