Grassley Continues to Press for Release of Justice Department Analysis of Transfer of Dangerous Gitmo Detainees

Statement

Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following statement after Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Defense Department General Counsel Stephen Preston testified before the House Armed Services Committee about the recent transfer of five senior-level Taliban commanders from Guantanamo Bay. Last week Grassley asked the Obama administration to release the legal analysis done by the Justice Department for disregarding the legislation the President signed into law that required congressional notification 30 days before release or transfer of any detainee there. Grassley requested that Attorney General Holder make these advice documents public by June 19.

"Today we heard for the first time the Obama administration provide public testimony before Congress about the release of the five Gitmo detainees. That testimony confirmed that the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel gave written advice to the White House and the Defense Department justifying the Obama administration's failure to notify Congress about its intention to release these dangerous detainees.

"I'm glad members of both parties in the House have joined my request to make public the Office of Legal Counsel's advice on this issue. Such a controversial decision needs sunshine in order to have credibility, especially in light of the Obama administration's shifting story about the facts that supposedly justified release of these terrorist detainees without the required notification to Congress."

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