Sen. Collins' Statement On GAO Finding Administration Acted Unlawfully In Bergdahl Swap

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report, which found that the Administration acted unlawfully when it transferred five Taliban commanders from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility without notifying Congress.  A law included in the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act requires that the Secretary of Defense notify the appropriate committees of Congress not later than 30 days before the transfer or release of individuals being held at Guantanamo Bay.
 
GAO conducted this legal analysis in response to a request from Senator Collins and eight of her colleagues on the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
 
Senator Collins issued the following statement:
 
“This GAO report confirms my belief that the Administration violated the law when it released and transferred these dangerous Taliban detainees without notifying Congress as the law clearly and unequivocally requires.  It is highly likely that these men will return to the fight against our country after their year in Qatar.  That is the assessment of the Administration’s own intelligence experts.

“It is extremely troubling that the President chose to ignore this notification requirement despite the previous bipartisan opposition to this ill-conceived swap.  The Administration’s argument that it couldn’t inform Congressional leaders of the swap because it might have compromised the transfer was completely disingenuous.  Dozens of administration officials knew about the swap well in advance.  It simply doesn’t make sense that Members of Congress, particularly the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, were not informed.  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.

“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.”