Boehner: Obama WH Again Ignored 'Laws It Finds Inconvenient' with Taliban Release

Boehner: Obama WH Again Ignored 'Laws It Finds Inconvenient' with Taliban Release

In the wake of a Government Accountability Office report that concluded the Obama administration broke the law when it released five Taliban Guantanamo prisoners for Bowe Bergdahl, House Speaker John Boehner slammed the administration’s propensity to ignore laws.

“[I]t is yet another reminder of this White House’s stubborn and dangerous practice of simply ignoring laws it finds inconvenient,” Boehner said in a statement. “As news reports continue to suggest that the president is contemplating re-writing the law again, he should take into account the fact that this nonpartisan, independent agency has confirmed he exceeded his authority.”

Thursday the GAO concluded that the Obama administration violated the law, “because it did not notify the relevant congressional committees at least 30 days in advance of the transfer.” Additionally, the watchdog said it violated the Antideficiency Act, “because DOD used appropriated funds to carry out the transfer when no money was available for that purpose.”

According to Boehner, “everyone capable of reading the English language already knew” the administration broke the law when it released the Taliban terrorists without notifying Congress.

“At a time when we are grappling with the evil terror of the self-proclaimed ‘Islamic State’ in Syrian and Iraq – a group whose leader was once an American detainee, before being released – it is difficult to imagine a more potentially serious lapse in judgment by the Obama administration,” he continued. 

The House Speaker added, “Every time the president unilaterally re-writes the law and ignores the Constitution, he does damage to the institutions of our democratic government, and undermines further the bonds of trust between that government and the American people.”

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