Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl

By Jonathan Topaz, Jun. 2, 2014, Politico.com

The Obama administration on Monday faced a growing backlash against its deal to secure the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, as critics questioned the sergeant’s actions in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama’s use of executive authority to gain his release, and the implications for national security.

The escalating attacks on the deal were given new fuel by fresh reports that Bergdahl may have deserted.

“Bergdahl was a deserter, and soldiers from his own unit died trying to track him down,” Nathan Bradley Bethea, who served in Bergdahl’s battalion, wrote in a Daily Beast story. Bethea’s report said Bergdahl disappeared from his battalion in the middle of the night.

CNN cited a member of the soldier’s platoon who said he was “pissed off” at Bergdahl. “Bowe Bergdahl deserted during a time of war and his fellow Americans lost their lives searching for him,” the sergeant said.

On Monday, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon added that he felt the president “broke the law” under the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act by not informing Congress 30 days in advance about the release of detainees from Guantanamo Bay.

“My perception is, and I think the eyes of many, he broke the law by not informing Congress 30 days before,” McKeon said of Obama on MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown.” “You just had Ambassador Rice, she said they’ve been working on this for three years. She said Congress has been informed of this along the way. I don’t know who they were talking to. I have not been a part of this, and I’m the chairman of the committee.” McKeon was referring to National Security Adviser Susan Rice, who defended the legality of the administration’s actions on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

McKeon said that his committee will hold hearings on the issue, saying he hopes Democrats as well as Republicans will help investigate whether the White House violated the NDAA. “This is not a partisan issue. It’s just a matter of the law and breaking the law and not informing the Congress according to the law,” he said.

On the Senate side, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wrote Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) requesting an immediate hearing on the deal.

“While I appreciate that an American was released from captivity, this decision by the Obama administration has serious implications for our future national security,” he wrote in the letter obtained by Fox News. Graham is a member of the committee.

McCain, echoing Graham, supports a hearing on the deal.

“It’s worthy of a hearing,” McCain told reporters. “But, it’s done.”

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