PLAYING POLITICS

GOP Blasts Bergdahl Exchange

Cruz and McCain lead the charge.

The Obama administration is facing increasing scrutiny from congressional Republicans for its decision to release five Guantanamo Bay detainees for America’s lone POW, Bowe Bergdahl. The GOP is worried the deal is the first step in emptying out Gitmo entirely, Josh Rogin reports. “They’ve lined up all the dominoes to be able to move a lot more detainees out of Guantanamo and this could be just the beginning,” said one Senate aide. Meanwhile, Ted Cruz called the prisoner swap “very disturbing” and said “What does this tell the terrorists? That if you capture a U.S. soldier, you can trade that soldier for five terrorists.” John McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said it is “disturbing that these individuals would have the ability to reenter the fight” because they are “the hardest of the hard-core.” National Security Adviser Susan Rice defended the decision, noting, “In all likelihood, [the returned Taliban detainees] will not pose a national-security risk.” Bergdahl is expected to return to the U.S. this week.