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Bond, Sessions Urge Holder To Come Clean with Congress over the Release of Gitmo Terrorists
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Kit Bond (R-MO), Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged Attorney General Eric Holder to tell Congress what advice the Justice Department gave to the Administration’s Task Force that determined whether to release Guantánamo Bay terrorists.
“This Administration owes it to the American people to make sure that the process for releasing GITMO terrorists is not only objective, but prioritizes the safety of our citizens, troops, and allies,” said Bond.
“It is imperative for Congress to know whether the GITMO task force was able to perform its job objectively or if the Administration placed its thumb on the scale,” said Sessions. “These concerns are necessarily raised given the Administration’s politicized rushed to shut down GITMO and release dangerous inmates.”
Bond and Sessions specifically asked the Attorney General to provide to Congress any guidance from the Justice Department to the Guantánamo Detainee Review Task Force. Included in this request is any guidance recommending that certain categories of GTMO terrorists be presumed safe enough to release.
Both Senators have been highly critical of the Obama Administration’s decision to close the terrorist prison at Guantánamo Bay with no backup plan for the deadly terrorists housed there. Bond and Sessions emphasized that the threat posed by released terrorists should not be minimized, especially now that we know more than twenty percent of the detainees released from GITMO have gone back to the battlefield to kill our troops or plot attacks against Americans here at home.
The text of the letter is below.
The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
United States Attorney General
Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. 20535
Dear Attorney General Holder:
It has come to our attention that, in September 2009, you issued guidance to the Guantánamo Bay Detainee Review Task Force that Task Force participants should apply a presumption in favor of transferring or releasing certain detainees. The disposition of Guantánamo Bay detainees has oversight implications for both the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees. Therefore, we request that you provide, as soon as possible, both Committees with all guidance issued by the Department of Justice relating to detainee transfer decisions and the Task Force process, including but not limited to, the September 2009 guidance.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Sincerely,
Christopher S. Bond
Vice Chairman
Select Committee on Intelligence
Jeff Sessions
Ranking Member
Judiciary Committee
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