GOPs: ‘Halt All Releases’ from Gitmo After More Ex-Detainee Trouble

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PJ Media

WASHINGTON — GOP lawmakers are asking for a freeze on transfers from Guantanamo Bay and more information about past transfers after one detainee released to Uruguay went missing and another was named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the State Department.

As Congress blocks President Obama’s efforts to close the prison facility, the White House is trying to quickly deplete Gitmo’s population. The transfer of two detainees to Serbia was announced Monday, bringing the population down to 76. There were 242 terror suspects at Guantanamo when Obama took office.

On Wednesday, the State Department issued the designations of Aslan Avgazarovich Byutukaev, the ISIS leader in Chechnya, and Ayrat Nasimovich Vakhitov, a Tatar fighter from Russia.

“Vakhitov is associated with Jaysh al-Muhajirin Wal Ansar, a group that was designated by the U.S. Department of State as a SDGT under Executive Order 13224. Vakhitov has also used the internet to recruit militants to travel to Syria,” the State Department said.

Vakhitov was released to Russia along with six of his countrymen in 2004. The Russians later released the former detainees. Vakhitov threatened afterward that he would sue the U.S. for torture at Gitmo.

Judicial Watch: Obama Travel Cost Taxpayers over $79.5 million

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JUDICIAL WATCH

Obama Family’s 2015 Martha’s Vineyard Vacation Cost Taxpayers $465,420 in Secret Service Expenses Alone

Obama 2014 and 2015 trips to New York, Washington, California, Rhode Island cost taxpayers an additional $1,226,599.45 in Secret Service expenses

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained records from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security revealing the Obama family’s August 2015 vacation on Martha’s Vineyard cost taxpayers $465,420.49 in Secret Service expenses alone. This included $457,310.33 in hotels, $271.56 in car rentals, and $7,838.60 in air/rail travel.

The records were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on November 24, 2015. Judicial Watch sued The Department of Homeland Security, of which the Secret Service is a part, because it had failed to respond to 19 FOIA requests from Judicial Watch since July 21, 2014. (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:15-cv-01983)).

The new records reveal that Secret Service expenses for presidential travel included:`