Legality of Prisoner-for-Hostage Swap

Congressional Republican leaders asked the Government Accountability Office to review the Department of Defense's actions in releasing five prisoners from Guantanamo to Qatar in exchange for the Taliban releasing Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

In a report released yesterday, the GAO concluded that the actions violated a section of the Defense Appropriations Act and the Antideficiency Act. News coverage:

• GAO: Pentagon violated law with Bergdahl swap, AP, Aug. 21, 2014
• Bill Chappell, U.S. Prisoner Swap For Bergdahl Broke The Law, GAO Says, NPR, Aug. 22, 2014
• Philip Bump, The GAO says the Bergdahl swap was illegal. In the past, that hasn’t resulted in much, The Fix (Washington Post blog), Aug. 22, 2014 ("A review of the GAO's past determinations of illegality shows that the consequences of those decisions vary widely — and that the substance of the charge has always fallen far short of allegations that the chief executive violated federal legislation.")