Greenwald uses Bergdahl to hit Obama, Democrats

[frazzled]

74. Greenwald does not understand the law

(which is perhaps why he's no longer practicing it).

Obama has not had access to the ability to transfer prisoners until very recently, when the new National Defense Authorization Act passed late last year (so it's only 6 months old) gave him the ability to do so.

Under the National Defense Authorization Act signed into law by Obama late last year, the administration gained some added flexibility in transferring detainees from Guantanamo Bay, but was required to notify Congress 30 days in advance. However, legislators had no power to block such a transfer.

Writing about the law last year, Benjamin Wittes of the Brookings Institution said it put the administration "in a position to move detainees out of Guantanamo as long as it is willing to be politically accountable for the problems they create and as long as they don't bring them to the United States."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/03/politics/bergdahl-swap-legality/

So here's the deal: NO, Glenn, Obama could not have done this during the first 5 years of his presidency. Now he has the ability to transfer prisoners out of Guantanamo to a foreign country, AT HIS OWN DISCRETION, and Congress can't stop him from doing so. All the law requires is that he write them a letter and tell them he's going to do it 30 days in advance. Oops, he didn't do that last part. What he was able to do this week he would NOT have been able to do for all these past years.

There is no conflict, no conundrum, and no hypocrisy involved in the pre-Bergdahl and post-Bergdahl positions. The law was changed.