WASHINGTON — Avril Haines, tapped by President-elect Joe Biden to be the top U.S. spy, is a former CIA No. 2 who would be taking over as the chief overseer of a U.S. intelligence community beset by low morale and charges its work has been used for political attacks.
A lawyer from New York, judo brown belt and licensed pilot who once tried unsuccessfully to fly a small plane across the Atlantic Ocean, Haines is the first woman named as director of national intelligence, a post created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to coordinate the work of the 17 U.S. intelligence agencies.
Republican and Democratic Senate sources said Haines is expected to win confirmation – but not witho…
Keep on reading: Biden’s pick for top spy brings experience from CIA and White House