Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took a cue from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday, angrily asking “what difference does it make?” when asked when President Obama first informed him of the trade of five dangerous Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay for likely Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl.
Reid made the remarks during a press conference Thursday afternoon, after a reporter asked the Nevada senator about the way the transfer was rolled out — specifically the lack of a 30-day notification of Congress, as required by law.
“Listen,” Reid said. “The timeline was very, very brief here . . . We all know that the president had a very short period of time to make a decision. He made a decision to bring him home, and I’m glad he did, because in my opinion — based on nothing in the classified briefing — in my opinion, every day that he was there was a day closer to his dying.”
“How come it seems that you were the only one who got a heads-up the day before?” an unidentified reporter asked.
“I’m not sure I’m the only one,” Reid replied angrily. “It seems they made a big deal over nothing. The whole deal is — is — is it Friday or Saturday. What difference does it make? What difference does it make?”
GOP lawmakers have called the failure of the White House to notify Congress a serious breach of law. South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has warned that another Gitmo transfer without congressional notification could result in impeachment proceedings against President Obama.
[h/t Mediaite]