Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R., NH) took the Obama administration to task over its handling of Al Qaeda member and terror suspect Abu Anas al-Liby on the Senate floor Tuesday, saying the President had "put the political goal" of closing the Guantanamo Bay facility above "gathering information to make sure that America is protected."
Responding to claims from administration officials that Al-Liby was brought to the mainland United States for health concerns, Sen. Ayotte shot back, "If he did have medical issues, guess what? Guantanamo Bay actually has top-rate medical facilities…and the same medical services," the Senator noted, "that uniformed Americans receive."
Sen. Ayotte lamented the fact that Al-Liby – who she noted had worked with Osama Bin Laden and knows the current head of Al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri – and the intelligence information he possesses has likely been lost after he was granted a lawyer in Federal District Court.
KELLY AYOTTE: We will never know full what Mr. Al-Liby knows because after a week -- a week -- on the ship where our intelligence officials were given an opportunity to speak to him, he was transferred to Federal District Court and today in Federal District Court he pled not guilty to the bombings, the 1998 bombings at the embassy. He was given a lawyer, and we know when these terrorists are given a lawyer, it gives them an opportunity to say ‘I won't talk to anyone anymore because I have a lawyer.’ …
I hope that the administration will stop doing this. We can't put politics above intelligence gathering to protect our country.