Congress Warns Of Impeachment For Obama’s Terrorist Prisoner Release
Thursday, June 5, 2014 8:02
Obama warns on possible second prisoner release
As controversy grows over the release of five hardened Taliban detainees in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the Obama administration is considering springing yet another prisoner from Guantanamo Bay.Fouzi Khalid Abdullah al-Awda appeared via a video feed before a review board Wednesday morning in northern Virginia, often smiling as his private counsel Eric Lewis made the case for his release.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned Wednesday that Republican lawmakers would call for President Obama’s impeachment if he released more prisoners from Guantanamo Bay without congressional approval.
Republicans worry Obama may try to shut down the prison camp unilaterally after congressional opposition has repeatedly stymied efforts to pass legislation to close it.
“It’s going to be impossible for them to flow prisoners out of Gitmo
now without a huge backlash,” Graham said. “There will be people on our
side calling for his impeachment if he did that.”
Graham served as a House prosecutor during former President
Clinton’s 1998 impeachment trial. Congress tried to build in a
safeguard against Obama making unilateral decisions on releasing
terrorist detainees by including language in the National Defense
Authorization Act requiring the administration to alert Congress of
such moves at least 30 days in advance.Obama did not follow that law when he swapped five senior Taliban commanders for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.Sen. Carl Levin (Mich.), the Democratic chairman of the Armed Services panel, said Obama had a plausible legal argument for ignoring the law.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday applauded Obama’s decision to release five Taliban leaders because it would hasten the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.“My own personal opinion, Guantanamo has been there far too long, and I think that we should get them out of there as quickly as we can,” he said.
Reid noted that Democrats have tried to pass legislation to close the prison camp and transfer the detainees to the United States to face criminal trials but have been “held up from doing so by Republicans.”
“So I’m glad to get of these five people, send them back to Qatar, and I think the arrangements made there are, as far as I understand, what’s been explained to me, adequate,” he said the Taliban militants released over the weekend.The former detainees must spend at least a year in Qatar, which helped mediate the exchange, under the terms of the deal.
Graham, a member of the Armed Services Committee who face a contested primary next week, said he has added language to the pending defense authorization bill that would require an up-or-down vote in Congress to approve the closure of Guantanamo.
The bill also includes a provision barring the administration from transferring detainees to Yemen, he noted. White House and Pentagon officials held a classified briefing for senators on Wednesday night, but it did not satisfy skeptics. source – The Hill
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