GOP senator: Obama Gitmo review ‘reckless, illegal’

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) slammed the Obama administration Tuesday, calling its inspection of Colorado facilities as potential places to relocate Guantanamo Bay detainees “reckless” and “illegal.” 

 

“The Obama Administration’s decision to explore transferring Guantanamo terrorists to Colorado is reckless, illegal, and wrong,” he said in a statement. “Why the administration is choosing to ignore the public and ignore the law in an ill-conceived attempt to bring these prisoners onto U.S. soil is a question that they must answer.”

{mosads}The freshman senator’s remarks come as a Pentagon team began visiting facilities in Colorado in an effort to find potential spots to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees.

The Pentagon said last month that it would view at least two sites in Colorado: Colorado State Penitentiary and the Federal Correction Institute in Florence.

Gardner also doubled down on his push to get the administration to explain why it wants to transfer Guantanamo detainees into the United States. He sent a letter to President Obama on the issue last week, but said he hasn’t received a response. 

The administration’s decision to examine Colorado comes after teams also looked at facilities in South Carolina and Kansas earlier this year. 

Obama first pledged to close the Cuban facility during his 2008 presidential campaign. However, he has faced multiple roadblocks including restrictions from lawmakers on where detainees can be sent. 

Administration officials have acknowledged that to close Guantanamo Bay, detainees deemed too dangerous to release would likely have to be moved into the United States. 

But an annual defense bill, which is currently headed to the president’s desk, bans Obama from transferring detainees to U.S. facilities, as well as to Yemen, Syria, Libya and Somalia. 

The president has threatened to veto the bill over a separate budget fight.