Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) upset about Bergdahl dad's tweet: “I am still working to free all Guantanamo prisoners. God will repay the death of every Afghan child.”

Machin might be wanting to separate himself from Obama because he is toxic in West Virginia, but this is still strong language.  Whether it means anything in practice is debatable.  From The Hill newspaper:

Did Bergdahl or his father attempt to make inappropriate contact with the Taliban?Some lawmakers are demanding answers about what efforts Bergdahl or his father, Robert, made to contact the Taliban.
Bergdahl’s team leader told CNN that radio and cellphone intercepts revealed chatter about an American looking to speak to the Taliban.
Time magazine reported that Robert Bergdahl was in contact with the Taliban and commissioned an Afghan tailor to make the traditional outfit his son wore when he was handed over to American special forces.
Days before Bergdahl was released, his father posted a note on Twitter addressed to a Taliban spokesman claiming, “I am still working to free all Guantanamo prisoners. God will repay the death of every Afghan child.”
The tweet was later deleted.
“We’re dealing with a soldier that should be looked in[to] more extensively,” said Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), a Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. “There’s a lot to be answered here and there’s a lot of peculiar behavior that has gone on between the family, this soldier and his actions.”
Manchin cited Robert Bergdahl’s tweet.
“When his father puts out a statement on Twitter four days before he was released, it was very disturbing,” he said. . . .

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Obama story on Bergdahl unraveling: questions on Obama's claims about Bergdahl's health and threats to his life

CNN: Taliban Told Special Ops Bergdahl Doesn't Have Any Serious Health Issues, Medical Officials in Germany confirm that his condition is certainly not one of life or death, questions raised about Obama administration's initial explanation for not telling Congress about trade with Taliban.


Of course, the Obama administration seems to realize that their initial story isn't working out too well so now they are claiming that they had to make the deal quickly because "the Taliban threatened to kill Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl if the pending deal to free him was made public."  From Fox News:

. . . But one senior source told Fox News that this claim is "ridiculous," since "notifying Congress does not make it public."  A member of the Senate Intelligence Committee added: "This is BS." Congressional sources argue that leaders of the congressional intelligence committees -- who were kept in the dark here -- were able to keep the secret when they were told "months in advance" about plans to go after Usama bin Laden. Sources tell Fox News such lawmakers are "regularly trusted with sensitive information that is not made public." Fox News is also told that these notifications can be classified -- further ensuring such information would remain private. Asked about the notion that a threat on Bergdahl's life was the reason for not notifying Congress, one House Republican aide said, "That's a flimsy, and frankly offensive, argument." . . . .

NBC has a devastating news story about the Obama administration claims available here.

Some other information
Bergdahl Squad Leader: After He Deserted, the Accuracy of IED Attacks Against Us Improved

Bergdahl Squad Leader: If 'Bergdahl Hadn't Deserted Us,' Six Americans Might Still Be Alive


Hillary Clinton defends the trade.  Even Diane Sawyer seems surprised when Hillary says it "doesn't matter" how Bergdahl ended up in the situation that he did

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So Obama may have given Hillary a heads up on Bowe Bergdahl's swap but not Congress?

So did Obama have time to set up a lunch with Hillary Clinton to discuss the swap of five high profile terrorists for Bowe Bergdahl?  How can Obama then argue that he had to move too quickly to inform congress?

. . . President Obama met with his former secretary of State for lunch on Thursday, two days before it was announced that Bowe Bergdahl had been released from captivity in exchange for five high-profile Taliban prisoners.
They are also suspicious that Obama may have informed Clinton, the likely Democratic frontrunner for the White House in 2016.Republicans are furious that they were not told of the deal in advance, and argue that this broke U.S. law.The White House has said it will not give a read out of Obama’s lunch with Clinton, calling it a private event.
But that has only made Republicans more curious about the timing between the lunch, and the controversial prisoner swap.
“If Mrs. Clinton remains politically active, people will want to know what her advice was on the subject,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), a senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said questions about the meeting are fair game. . . .

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