TPMDC Military commisions
Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame
New York Trial For Somali Terrorism Suspect Reignites Gitmo Debate
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is pushing back against GOP criticism of the Obama administration's decision to bring Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, the Somali man facing terrorism charges, to New York for trial.
Feinstein, an influential and respected voice on intelligence and national security issues, said the intelligence panel has been kept fully informed on Warsame's interrogations and the intelligence they produced, adding that she agreed with the decision to try him civilian court.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, Dianne Feinstein, Eric Holder, Guantanamo Bay, Justice Department, Mark Kirk, Military commisions, Mitch McConnell, Senate intelligence committee
Barack Obama
Father of 9/11 Hero Has Searing Words For Holder
David Beamer
The father of 9/11 hero Todd Beamer tore into Attorney General Eric Holder for standing by his earlier decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in New York civilian courts even as he reversed course and announced Monday that KSM and his co-conspirators would be tried in military commissions.
Holder and the White House got a thorough drubbing by critics and supporters alike Monday for reversing course and breaking a campaign promise to close the detainee prison facility at Guantanamo Bay and try KSM and 9/11 co-conspirators in civilian courts. But one of the most searing critiques came Tuesday morning from David Beamer, the father of Todd Beamer, the renowned hero of United Airlines flight 93 who fought the terrorists before the plane crashed in Shanksville, Pa.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 9/11, Barack Obama, Eric Holder, House Republicans, James Sensenbrenner, Justice Department, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Military commisions, Todd Beamer, detainees, families of 9/11 victims
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Obama Praised, Pummeled on Gitmo and KSM
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
President Obama took a long-awaited drubbing on his broken campaign promise of closing the detainee prison facility at Guantanamo Bay after news broke Monday that Attorney General Eric Holder had reversed plans to try 9/11 conspirators in federal court in New York City and will instead have them stand trial before military commissions at the U.S. base in Cuba.
The administration's decision is a 180-degree about-face from earlier plans announced in November 2009.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 9/11, Chuck Schumer, Eric Holder, House Judiciary Committee, Justice Department, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Lamar Smith, Lindsey Graham, Military commisions
'Obama's Wars'
McCain, Graham Lead Effort to Strip Holder of Detainee Authority
Attorney General Eric Holder
Six senators, led by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), are pushing for sweeping changes to the nation's laws governing detainees and the war on terror, including one that would strip Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department as a whole of the power to make decisions about where to try suspected terrorists.
The group of senators, which includes Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Scott Brown (R-MA), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), are working with Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee on a bill that would usher in comprehensive detainee policy changes and would, among other things, affirm the military's right to detain, hold and interrogate detains at its discretion without the involvement of the Department of Justice or Holder.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 'Obama's Wars', Barack Obama, Department of Justice, Eric Holder, Guantanamo Bay, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, Kelly Ayotte, Laura Ingraham, Military, Military commisions, Saxby Chambliss, Scott Brown, Senate, Terrorism, War On Terror, detainees
Guantanamo Bay
Republicans Move To Strip Detainee Authority From Holder And Future Attorneys General
Attorney General Eric Holder
Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are teaming up with Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee to write legislation that would take decisions about trying detainees out of the attorney general's hands and hand that power to the secretary of defense.
In the wake of the White House's new executive order allowing Guantanamo detainees to be held indefinitely, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) unveiled legislation that would, among other things, affirm the military's right to detain, hold and interrogate detainees at its discretion without Department of Justice or Attorney General Eric Holder involvement.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Buck McKeon, Eric Holder, Guantanamo Bay, House Armed Services Committee, House Republicans, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Military commisions
Lindsey Graham
Graham: Obama's Gitmo Decree Is 'Confusing, Illogical'
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
President Obama signed an executive order Monday that ends a two-year ban on military trials at Guantanamo Bay, but one of the biggest critics of his detainee policy is still confused about what the decree means for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-declared mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and his co-conspirators.
"[The administration's policy on Guantanamo] has been on again and off again, and I can't tell from this order where KSM is going to go," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told TPM Monday evening. "He would gladly tell you he did it. He and his co-conspirators should be handled through the law of war and treated like our enemies."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 'Obama's Wars', 9/11, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, Eric Holder, Guantanamo Bay, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Lindsey Graham, Military commisions, Peter King, detainees
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