Obama to Insert Himself Into the Process of Choosing Trial Location for KSM

He’s not doing it because he believes it’s the right thing to do, he’s doing it in hopes of securing congressional funding.

The Washington Post: President Obama is planning to insert himself into the debate about where to try the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, three administration officials said Thursday, signaling a recognition that the administration had mishandled the process and triggered a political backlash.

Obama initially had asked Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to choose the site of the trial in an effort to maintain an independent Justice Department. But the White House has been taken aback by the intense criticism from political opponents and local officials of Holder’s decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian courtroom in New York.

Administration officials acknowledge that Holder and Obama advisers were unable to build political support for the trial. And Holder, in an interview Thursday, left open the possibility that Mohammed’s trial could be switched to a military commission, although he said that is not his personal and legal preference.

“At the end of the day, wherever this case is tried, in whatever forum, what we have to ensure is that it’s done as transparently as possible and with adherence to all the rules,” Holder said. “If we do that, I’m not sure the location or even the forum is as important as what the world sees in that proceeding.”

Administration officials said the president’s involvement has to do with securing congressional funding for the costly trial before bipartisan efforts to strip financing for the case against Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators gain greater momentum. They said it was a matter of national security, not just politics.

There you have it – bipartisan opposition to his plan to try this enemy combatant on American soil. Congress already got around this problem by creating the military tribunals, but Obama and Holder have decided against that approach. Maybe he should just admit he was wrong and scrap the plans for a civilian trial altogether.

William Teach thinks they should have the trial in Chicago, where the federal courthouse is only a few miles from Obama’s home. Knowing Obama he’ll find the reddest city in the reddest state, where he has no political clout anyway.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 8:18 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.