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"Disturbing Pattern" Continues, Administration Broke The Law With Bergdahl Swap, GAO Says
"In our view, the meaning of the (law) is clear and unambiguous," the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) wrote, The Pentagon broke the law when it swapped Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a prisoner in Afghanistan for five years, for five Taliban leaders. As AP reports, the GAO charges that the administration failed to notify the relevant congressional committees at least 30 days in advance of the exchange, and furthermore, used $988,400 of a wartime account to make the transfer without express appropriation - breaking the Antideficiency Act. So it seems The White House's previous statement that it "acted lawfully" are once again false. As Republican Senator Susan Collins exclaimed, "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."
As AP reports, 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...
"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.
But, but, but they said it was lawful...
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."
So it must be a political witch-hunt... those cynical Republican abiders by the law...
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.
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."
This matter, it appears, is far from over...
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.
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Totalitarian enough for you yet?
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Wait, wut? ;-)
Racist !
IRS audit for the GAO in....5.......4.....3......2
So he had his fingers crossed when he vowed to protect and defend the constitution?
This is just awful, accusing a world class war criminal of a petty crime.
This is so beneath him.
Add that lawbreaking as the cornerstone of the abuse of powers gripe and you have your impeachment case pretty much wrapped.
But that won’t happen because they all work for the same people and IT AIN’T US..
Unfortunately, the sycophant MSM is reporting this as a DOD decision, when it was totally an Obozo directive. Gotta protect The One, don't ya know...
The government broke the law? Call the police!
Dial 911 already.
Name the last president that didn't break the law!
Name the last president who broke the law as flagrantly and as often. Pathetic arguement.
BREAKING NEWS... Head of GAO resigns due to scandal undercovered by NSA obtained documents. Obama nominates another Marxist hack to run GAO. (Just like he did with BLS. Can you say "Card Carrying Criminal Commie?" five times fast? :)
Uh, duuhhh... WTF would anyone epect from the incompetent corrupt arrogant narcissistic illegal indonesian kenyan alien muslim sociopathic pathological liar in chief only interested in its martha's vineyard celebrity grand imperi lifestyle on the backs of jard.?working tax paying US citizen serfs & peasants, and of course there will be accointability, right? Of course there will be.
Good. So impeach him now. Oh wait, Oligarch conrolled government and all that, so I guess they won't do it.
Dats Raysist
If they started impeachment this very second, they could/would not complete it before the 2016 Election.
The Wheels of DC turn very slowly (or not at all) when it comes to justice.
On the other hand, the wheels are very fast when it involves stripping of Liberties (think, Patriot Act @ 0330 Hrs)
just add it to the list of crimes
The Energizer Emperor.
I'm feeling a bit dizzy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhzkltz3ipI
Mmm, not to worry, given enough rope these idiots always find a way to hang themselves.
Is that dizziness accompanied by Body Aches, any Fever, any Vomiting, Bleeding From Orifices? Have you been to Western Africa lately? Take care! It was good having you around here for a while...
Bergdahl?
Shit!
I almost forgot episode 2090 of Barack Insane Obama's - "Where's the law, I seem to have misplaced it again, no worries... I'll come up with another whopper the American people will believe in again because they are so self indulgent and permanently brain damaged"!!!
Thanks for reminding me!!!
the usa president and most of their friends are completely above the law. it has been this way for a long time.
It's been standard operating procedure since the advent of government that rulers are basically above the law and the ruled are the target of the law.
To govern means to control, not to be controlled.
The guy that was released, that was in charge of explosives, was caught on camera in a Texas mall 3 weeks ago. He is supposed to be the one that designs the bombs for the upcoming ISIS mall bombings. I think the radio show said they are going to bomb 20 malls simultaneously. I sort of didn't believe it because why would anyone want to bomb a mall when nobody has money to go shopping.
<--- They hate us for our Macy's
<--- They hate us for our Sbarro
Malls are packed around here, dead eyed people wandering from store to store with 7 dollar Strarbucks mocha joka toka skimmed milk double latte ice coffee pretending they are starring in their own reality show. If they do pull something like that off it would be prison planet time 10 with TSA gropers in every mall feeling out the pre teen girls and soccer moms.
Best go long amazon but then again UPS drivers will be sworn in as TSA stooges and feel you up at your door when you step outside to retrieve your box.
Since public opinion is turning against para military style cops they need to throw the kitchen sink at the issue to get the american sheep back in line by blowing up Santa's Villiage at the local malls and taking out some lil chilens.
q99,
It's people like you that push other people to support this NSA crap.
If you're going to make a habit of trashing Texas why don't you get your facts.straight so someone might think you actually know something.
Here's an excercise for you: Drive to the Houston Galleria mall at lunchtime and find a place to park. Go on now, try it!
Idiot yankees....
Man I've always thought there was a "disturbing pattern" of things since that one day in December of 1913.....
Devverdolomte
There has been a disturbing pattern well before 1913. Remember the Maine!
I'd say the shit show really got started around November 6, 1860. But probably earlier still...
The only thing disturbing is that it took the GAO this long to announce it.
It's disturbing that it will get whitewashed by the next, distraction Du Jour and golf photos of the house teleprompter.
Thats a fact.
Do I give a flying fuck about the Ukraine? No. Gaza? No. ISIS? Tangentially, yes. Ferguson? Hell no. Ebola?...lol...really?
I care about the destruction of our society, our values, our rights, our people...while this asshole presides over the whole damned thing...laughing his ass off, playing golf.
Hear hear.
Tangentially and economically as "TAX" FUCKING DOLLARS finance most of what you listed in one form or another.
Correction. Laughing its fudge packing azz... ouch, TMI that one..
THE ORB OF TITLEIST!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e_2huuENII
That they did it at all is astounding.
Decider II
Dont waste your breath, and save your outrage, this will be outdone and forgotten about next week...
Correction. Bottling it up and holding it in increases risk for peptic ulcer disease, depression & maybe cancer. Azzhoes generally don't get cancer.
Who gives a fuck. I want to know why the fuck he didn't use a pitching wedge instead of 9 iron on 17. And that drive on 8 was a crime.
Who makes dese rules. Golf is a game of finesse. Get it? Finesse!
BO
Obammie follows the golf rules in the same spirit as this guy
http://cdn.hark.com/images/000/439/092/439092/original.jpg
I'm sure mother Bergdhal chowed on Michelle Obama.
Along with father Bergdhal letting Barack toss his salad.
"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."
Doesn't everyone?
Lemme check on that; brb.........Yep it's all good bitchez....
-Eric Holder, criminal at large-
Who makes dese laws? BO
"I passed several laws" BO
I must give kudos to the GAO. Took some guts that the "opposition party" apparently lacks. The GAO has often criticized Executive Office actions or budget projections or similar, but I simply cannot recall it EVER calling out a President like this. Essentially accusing him of criminal acts.
Let's get the attorney general on this stat....!!
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
This administration is the biggest bunch of criminals since the last....
I would imagine that Obama and his sycophant supporters do not see this as disturbing at all. I think they see this as confirmation that they are accomplishing their goals. Not just the specific policies but the beheading of the constitution and rule of law.
WINNING!
More scandal and illegal activities, where do you want to stack this outrage? Instead you should contemplate your 7 days of being wedded to the fantasy that unarmed teen Gentle Giant had his hands in the air when he was shot in the back while minding his own business. keep pounding the keyboards boys, you'll go far.
He wasn't shot in the back, he didn't have his hands up. Quit watching CNN.
re-read
"wedded to the fantasy"
Affirmative action conviction? Justice in the traditional sense is dead. We have now reverted to another time when justice was handed out by a mob, a rope and a tree. You would think Black Americans would have some historical perspective on this, but revenge and retribution in the name of justice is very warming for the administers. Social justice, economic justice, racial justice but no damned justice. Political correctness demands our own destruction. What is interesting is that they are not willing to actually war with whites. Instead they demand we annihilate ourselves.
I just KNEW there was something dodgy about that Obamao guy and now the GAO proves me right!
I wonder what the president would take in trade for my chevy pickup truck?
Offer him the bumper first.
Maybe a "grill".
50 MPH will suffice.
Prediction: Hollywood makes a Bergdahl Movie,
Long before a Bradley Manning movie.
Brad Pitt as Bowe.
Impeach already
Does it matter, what the government does, or doesn´t ? They will draw everything their way. Or somebody at the GAO will get killed.
http://www.storyleak.com/blackwater-threatened-to-kill-state-dept-offici...
Accountability office, what a joke name.
“Just Us” is treading very close to the line where “the people”, individually and collectively represented by their local and state governments, no longer acknowledge the legitimacy and benefit of federal laws and regulation.
When the social contract between the people and their government is no longer recognized as beneficial and just, chaos and revolution ensues.
I wonder what NSA has on the general that is reviewing Bergdahl's case. Must be he goosed some Spec4 when he was a captain after 36 hours of combat duty. Bergdahl deserted. Maybe he was a traitor too but you would need an enemy to come in and state the facts but desertion means he should be in the stockade and not promoted or eligible for $350,000 in back pay. I remember stories when he first walked off. Said he went to town to see his native girl friend. Just left his weapon, body armor and sensitive stuff and walked off.
By James Hall
Global Research, June 25, 2014
http://www.globalresearch.ca/another-secret-trade-agreement-tisa/5388505