GAO:
Pentagon Violated Law With Bergdahl Swap
Associated Press | |
WASHINGTON --
The Pentagon broke the law when it swapped Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a prisoner in Afghanistan for five years,
for five Taliban leaders, congressional investigators said Thursday.
The nonpartisan
Government Accountability Office said the Defense Department failed to notify
the relevant congressional committees at least 30 days in advance of the
exchange -- a clear violation of the law -- and used $988,400 of a wartime account
to make the transfer. The GAO also said the Pentagon's use of funds that hadn't
been expressly appropriated violated the Antideficiency Act.
"In our
view, the meaning of the (law) is clear and unambiguous," the GAO wrote to
nine Republican senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and
various committees. "Section 8111 prohibits the use of 'funds appropriated
or otherwise made available' in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act,
2014, to transfer any individual detained at Guantanamo Bay to the custody or
control of a foreign entity' except in accordance" with the law.
The GAO said the
relevant committees received phone calls from May 31 -- the day of the transfer
-- to June 1, with written notification coming on June 2.
Five senior
Taliban were released from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo in exchange for Bergdahl, who had
disappeared from his post in Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan on June
30, 2009. The five Taliban are to remain in Qatar for a year.
Spokesman Rear
Adm. John Kirby defended the Pentagon's actions, saying that as Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel stated in his congressional testimony earlier this year,
the Defense Department "acted lawfully in the operation to recover Sgt.
Bergdahl, a judgment that was supported by the Justice Department."
"The
administration had a fleeting opportunity to protect the life of a U.S. service
member held captive and in danger for almost five years," Kirby added.
"Under these exceptional circumstances, the administration determined that
it was necessary and appropriate to forgo 30 days' notice of the transfer in
order to obtain Sgt. Bergdahl's safe return."
Lawmakers,
especially Republicans, were angry with President Barack Obama and members of
the administration for failing to notify them about the swap. Some in Congress
have said Bergdahl was a deserter and the United States gave up too much for
his freedom. Several lawmakers have cited intelligence suggesting the
high-level Taliban officials could return to the Afghanistan battlefield.
The
administration has defended the swap and its decision to keep Congress in the
dark, saying concern about Bergdahl's health and safety required speedy action.
Sen. Susan
Collins, R-Maine, a member of the Intelligence Committee, said it was
"completely disingenuous" for the administration to suggest that
notifying Congress might have compromised the transfer because dozens of
administration officials knew well in advance.
"It's not
hard to imagine that the president didn't notify us until after the fact
because he knew the proposed transfer would have been met with
opposition," Collins said in a statement Thursday. "The president's
decision is part of a disturbing pattern where he unilaterally decides that he
does not have to comply with provisions of laws with which he disagrees."
The Joint Chiefs
of Staff has unanimously supported the exchange, insisting that the United
States has a sacred commitment to men and women who serve that it will never
leave anyone behind on the battlefield. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman
of the Joint Chiefs, said the swap in May was "likely our last, best
opportunity" to free Bergdahl.
Bergdahl is
doing administrative duties at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio while an investigation into
how he was captured by the Taliban is conducted.
Last month, a
bitterly divided House Armed Services Committee voted to condemn Obama for the
swap. The Republican-led panel backed a nonbinding resolution that disapproves
of the exchange and faults Obama for failing to notify Congress 30 days in
advance of the swap, as required by law.
The bipartisan
resolution raised national security concerns about the transfer of the five
Taliban, who had been held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
for more than a decade, and the "repercussions of negotiating with
terrorists." The measure also expresses relief that Bergdahl has returned
safely to the United States.
The full House
is expected to consider the measure in the fall, just a few weeks before the
midterm elections.
-- Associated
Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/08/22/gao-pentagon-violated-law-with-bergdahl-swap.html?comp=7000023317843&rank=8
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