Paul Lewis — a senior Obama administration official — testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee that prisoners released from Guantanamo Bay have killed Americans.

“What I can tell you is unfortunately there have been Americans that have died because of detainees,” Lewis explained. “When anybody dies it is tragedy. We don’t want anybody to die because we transfer detainees.”

Lewis further stated that it is “the best judgment and the considered judgment of this administration and the previous administration that the risks of keeping Gitmo open” far outweigh the positives of shutting it down.

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