Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein
...Dem Senator-for-Life from Caliphornica. She has been a politician since about the time she was weaned. Feinstein was the author of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, and tried it a second time in 2012. Feinstein has chaired the Select Committee on Intelligence since 2009. At age 80, Feinstein is the oldest currently serving United States Senator....
said she has not seen any evidence that the Taliban would have killed Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl if details of an agreement had leaked, contrary to what Obama administration officials have said.
When asked whether there was a "credible threat" on Bergdahl's life if word had gotten out, the California Democrat responded: "No, I don't think there was a credible threat, but I don't know. I have no information that there was."
At a briefing Wednesday, administration officials told lawmakers that they couldn't give Congress advance notice on the Bergdahl deal because the Taliban vowed to kill him if any details about the prisoner exchange came out.
| The unnamed administration officials are, of course, lying... |
Feinstein and several other lawmakers have accused President Barack Obama of violating the law — specifically, a part of the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act — by not informing Congress of a prisoner exchange at least 30 days before.
| Champ did it because Champ wants to close Gitmo. Expect more of this Diane, especially if all you do in response is to shake your tiny fists in hapless rage... |
Top national security representatives House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) have blasted the administration for not keeping Congress in the loop. Rogers in particular said he hadn't been briefed on Bergdahl by the White House since 2011.
| Was he briefed by the Pentagon? |
Feinstein said White House deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken called her this week to apologize for not keeping her informed about the deal that returned Bergdahl to the U.S. and released five senior Taliban officials from Guantanamo Bay prison.
| Did he promise never to do it again? |
The senator added that the administration has an "absolute obligation" to fully investigate the nature of Bergdahl's capture. Some media reports and many Army personnel have suggested that the solder was a deserter given that he likely voluntarily walked away from his platoon.
She also said that she couldn't definitively say whether Bergdahl's life was in serious jeopardy, another argument that the White House has made to justify acting swiftly and without consulting Congress.
| Of course it wasn't. The Taliban knew that Bergdahl was a first-class bargaining chip. You generally don't slay the golden goose... |
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