Broke the Law

For John, BLUF:  We just don't leave folks behind.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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It is The Washington Examiner♠ (Mr Charles Hoskinson reporting), "Report:  White House broke law, deceived Congress in Bergdahl-Taliban swap".

Here is the lede plus 2 paragraphs:

The Obama administration broke the law and misled Congress in the swap last year of five Taliban leaders for a captured U.S. soldier because President Obama wanted to further his pledge to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the House Armed Services Committee said Thursday in a report.

The 108-page report also said key Defense Department officials who might have raised red flags on the swap for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl were left out of the decision-making process.

"Our report finds that the administration clearly broke the law in not notifying Congress of the transfer," said House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas.

For me the swap for Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl was the right thing to do.  We need to bring all our Service members home.  Even if we expect we might later find them guilty of this or that military offense.  It is the proper thing to do.

As a side note, Sgt Bergdahl has been in the news lately.

Regarding the Administration's obsession with closing the prison at GITMO, I agree that we should move them to some Supermax here in the US, preferably in some Northern Tier state.  But, Congress has spoken and the idea that the President can ignore Congress is pernicious.  I would say that the President is confusing Congressional intransigence with disrespect for the office of President.  The President is an administrator of the law, not a maker.  Of course the US Congress bears some responsibility for this situation, in that it passes too much "rule making" authority to Executive Offices.

But, as to Sgt Bergdahl, here is a case where admitting that the Administration crossed the line and promising to not do it in the future would be a reasonable thing to do, but that is just me.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Per Wikipedia, The Washington Examiner is a political journalism publication based in Washington, D.C., ….  It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is owned by Philip Anschutz.