Senators Press Holder on Use of Military Force on U.S. Soil

Source: nyt

Senators of both parties on Wednesday criticized Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. for the secrecy surrounding the Justice Department legal memorandums justifying drone strikes aimed at American citizens, while pushing him to say more about when the Obama administration believes it can use military force on United States soil.

As Mr. Holder came before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a department oversight hearing, the chairman of the panel, Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, said that he was considering issuing a subpoena to the executive branch to compel it to turn over the Justice Department documents. Mr. Leahy and others have been seeking them for more than a year.

“While the department’s success in disrupting threats to national security has been remarkable and its efforts to hold terrorists accountable commendable, I remain deeply troubled that this committee has not yet received the materials I have requested regarding the legal rationale for the targeted killing of United States citizens overseas,” Mr. Leahy said. “I am not alone in my frustration or in my waning patience. The relevant Office of Legal Counsel memoranda should have been provided to members of this committee. It is our responsibility to ensure that the tools at government’s disposal are used in a way that is consistent with our Constitution, laws and values.”

The ranking Republican on the panel, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, also expressed frustration over the administration’s refusal to allow access to the documents, which the administration recently showed to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of its effort to win confirmation of John O. Brennan to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/us/politics/senators-press-holder-on-use-of-military-force-on-us-soil.html