Late last week, President Obama announced the
release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held by the Taliban in
Afghanistan for more than five years. The government apparently
negotiated with the Taliban—a group characterized by federal law as
a non-state terrorist organization—on a deal that required the U.S.
to release five former senior Taliban officials from the American
prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
It’s likely that Obama violated federal criminal law in the deal
he cut, writes Andrew Napolitano. While it’s not a crime to release
a prisoner who has been acquitted, it is criminal to release an
untried prisoner whom the government reasonably believes will aid a
terrorist group.
The president may argue that he enjoys the constitutional
authority to make these prisoner swaps. Yet he’s sworn an oath to
enforce all federal laws faithfully. He cannot knowingly or legally
exclude himself from the obligation to comply with laws with which
he disagrees, argues Napolitano.
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