Gibbs mute on terror suspect acquital

Jake Tapper:

Yesterday, despite repeated questioning, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs refused to answer whether the Obama administration will free Ahmed Ghailani if he's found not guilty in court. The Obama administration flew the accused terrorist from Guantanamo to New York yesterday to try him for his alleged role in the 1998 embassy bombings.

“I'm not going to get into hypotheticals about how certain cases may or may not play out,” Gibbs said.

The question is important on several levels. If he will be freed, that prompts questions of national security and whether civilian courts are as appropriate as other venues for such trials. If he won't be freed despite being found not guilty that undermines the credibility of the trial.

Today Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, asked, “if we’re going to treat this terrorist detainee as a common civilian criminal, what will happen to Ghailani if he’s found not guilty? And what will happen to other detainees the administration wants to try in civilian courts if they are found not guilty? Will they be released? If so, where? In New York? In American communities? Or will they be released overseas, where they could return to terror and target American soldiers or innocent civilians?”

McConnell continued: “If Ghailani isn’t allowed to go free, will he be detained by the government? If so, where will he be detained? Would the administration detain him on U.S. soil, despite the objections of Congress and the American people?”

McConnell said the questions about Ghailani resemble the questions about Guantanamo in general.

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There is more.

This is just more evidence of Obama's Gitmo screw up. The administration now admits what I said when the move to try this guy was first announced. This is supposed to be a way of getting the pubic to accept bringing the Gitmo detainees to the US, but as these questions demonstrate, they still do not have an answer to some serious questions about what will happen to these guys.

This is going to wind up being an ongoing screw up that will be a daily reminder of how inept this administration is on vital national security questions. They are so locked in to the failed lawfare policies of the past they are ignoring significant dangers to the American people. With the report today that some detainees are being given Miranda warnings, it just shows how much in the lawfare tanks these guys have jumped.