Although he mounted a spirited defense of the prisoner exchange that secured Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s release, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told members of the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that the administration “could have done better” in its execution of the deal.
In his opening remarks, Hagel told the panel that President Obama made the “final decision” on the prisoner swap, further pushing back on House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon’s (R-CA) contention that the White House was making the defense secretary the “fall guy.”
“I would never sign any document or make any agreement, agree to any decision that I did not feel was in the best interest of this country,” Hagel said. “Nor would the President of the United States, who made the final decision with the full support of his national security team.”
Hagel then addressed the swiftness of the decision to go ahead with the swap, telling the committee he recognized the “speed with which we moved has caused great frustration, legitimate questions and concern.”
“We could have done a better job, could have done a better job of keeping you informed,” Hagel said.
The administration has defended its decision to forgo its obligation to notify Congress 30 days before a prisoner release, but Hagel called it “an extraordinary situation” and said it was uncertain that the U.S. could successfully transfer the five Taliban figures held at Guantanamo Bay unless Bergdahl was in hand.
Hagel also said that Bergdahl was in hand only a few hours after the arrangements were finalized.
“There are legitimate questions about this prisoner exchange and Congress obviously has an important constitutional role and right and responsibility to play in all of our military and intelligence matters,” Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, told the committee.
CNN’s Jim Acosta noted that the “could have done a better job” line was not in Hagel’s prepared remarks.
BTW.. Not in prepared remarks -> @JimAcostaCNN: Hagel: “we could have done a better job of keeping you informed.”
— Jim Acosta (@JimAcostaCNN) June 11, 2014
