It's Official: Obama Administration Broke the Law

An agency of the government headed by Barrack Obama has slapped his wrist for violating a law passed by Congress.  Despite the unprecedented finding, the president and his jelly spine allies in the media have acted as if it was a joke, brushing aside the charges like a cow swatting flies with its tail.

However, it is no laughing matter when the administration is caught red-handed operating outside the law.  If this had happened on George W. Bush's watch, the media would have been apoplectic.  But this president is the media's anointed one.  Obama got off with a few stories buried in the media clutter.

The agency at the epicenter of the controversy was the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a non-partisan group that serves as a Congressional watchdog.  As its name implies, the agency is supposed to insure the accountability of the federal government to the American people.

Earlier this year, a group of Senate Republicans, including many who serve on key committees, requested a GAO review of the actions by the Department of Defense in its handling of a prisoner exchange involving five Taliban leaders held at Guantanamo Bay and Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

Under the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2014, section 8111 required the administration to give at least 30 days notice before the transfer of any Guantanamo Bay prisoners and prohibited the use of government funds to relocate the detainees without advance notice to congressional committees.

Before issuing its opinion, the GAO asked the Department of Defense to provide the relevant facts and its legal view on the matter.  The department tried to justify its action by asserting the transfer was lawful, even while admitting that it failed to meet the requirement for notification.

Susan A. Poling, the GAO's general counsel, wasn't buying what defense officials were selling, despite obvious pressure to support the administration.  In her tersely worded verdict, she concluded that the defense department violated the law as approved by Congress and signed by President Obama.

When the announcement was made, government officials ran for cover.  They did what guilty parties always do--they attempted to skirt the issue.  Instead of addressing the actual violation, the White House trotted out spokespersons to opine on the constitutionality of the administration's actions.

White House mouthpiece Eric Schultz led the verbal assault complaining the "GAO report does not address the lawfulness of the administration's actions as a matter of Constitutional law."  But the GAO's counsel wrote in her opinion that her responsibility was not to consider the law's constitutionality.

After the initial flurry of denials, the administration slunk back into the shadows.  They figured most Americans weren't paying attention to some arcane defense appropriation law.  Even if they were, the reliably compliant media would hide the details from the public.

Of course, this is not the first time the administration and its titular leader President Obama have shown disdain for the law.  The prisoner exchange is just the latest example.  If President Obama didn't like the defense appropriations language, he could have vetoed the measure when it reached his desk.

Instead, Obama chose to ignore the law he signed. No amount of excuses and sleights of hand will change that fact.  But in today's America there is no penalty for the nation's chief executive to violate the law.  Is it any wonder the president's polling numbers are lower than the ocean floor?

Congress and the American people must demand more accountability from the executive branch of government.  If law-breaking is allowed to continue unabated, even Democrats may rue the day when they sat idly by as their president made a mockery of duly approved and signed legislation.

After all, the next president may be a Republican.  Then we'll see if Democrats adhere to the same cavalier attitude about following the law.