Laws Broken with Bergdahl Prisoner Swap, GAO Says
WASHINGTON D.C. (Worthy News)– The Government Accountabilty Office, a nonpartisan government watchdog agency, said that the Pentagon broke the law when it swapped five Taliban leaders for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl earlier this year, Fox News reported.
The Government Accountability Office, in a legal opinion issued at the request of congressional lawmakers, said the Defense Department violated the law by failing to notify key Capitol Hill committees at least 30 days in advance.
The GAO said the law in this case is “clear and unambiguous.” The agency said that while the Defense Department defended the legality of the controversial swap, “in our view, DOD has dismissed the significance of the express language” in the law.
The report comes several months after the Obama administration released five senior Taliban members from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Bergdahl, who had disappeared in 2009. Under the exchange terms, the five Taliban are to remain in Qatar for a year. — Source