Wire: Holder Says Obama Administration Won't Free Terrorists

Off the Wire:

Attorney General punts when asked if Obama administration has authority to release terrorists into U.S.

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2009 -- Newswires reported this afternoon that the Obama administration will not release Guantanamo detainees the administration believes are terrorists into the United States, Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress Thursday.

"We don't have any plans to release terrorists," Holder testified at a Senate hearing on the administration's budget for the Justice Department, the Associated Press reported.

But Holder also said some of the detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, facility will be let go as the Obama administration believes some held there are not terrorists.

The wire report did not specify the criteria the Obama administration used for deciding who is and who is not considered a terrorist.

Lawmakers critical of Obama's plan claim Guantanamo detainees cannot legally be brought to the United States because federal law bars entry to anyone who has received terrorist training.

AP reported that Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., pressed Holder to say whether he believed he had the authority to release someone with terrorist training into the United States. The attorney general did not directly answer Shelby's question.

There are currently 241 detainees held at the detention center at the U.S. military base in Cuba.

(Report from newswire sources.)

Source: Holder: Administration won't free terrorists

Tags: Open Thread, Wire, Headlines, DOD, Military, War, United States, U.S., News
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension