by Joel Gehrke
Attorney General Eric Holder can imagine a scenario in which it would
be constitutional to carry out a drone strike against an American on
American soil, he wrote in a letter to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
“It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance
in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution
and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize
the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United
States,” Holder replied in a letter yesterday to Paul’s question about
whether Obama “has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone
strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial.”
Paul condemned the idea. “The U.S. Attorney General’s refusal to rule
out the possibility of drone strikes on American citizens and on
American soil is more than frightening – it is an affront the
Constitutional due process rights of all Americans,” he said in a
statement.
Holder noted that Paul’s question was “entirely hypothetical [and]
unlikely to occur,” but cited the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
as the type of incidents that might provoke such a response.
“Were such an emergency to arise, I would examine the particular
facts and circumstances before advising the President on the scope of
his authority,” he concluded.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, an attorney and Judiciary Committee member, told The Washington Examiner last month that the drone policy so far outlined by the administration is too vague.
“That has the potential to swallow the rule,” Lee said after the
drone program white paper was leaked. “If you’re going to regard
somebody as presenting an imminent threat of an attack on the U.S.
simply because you have concluded that they are an ‘operational leader’
or they are involved in planning an attack in one way or another, you
find yourself giving way to much discretion to the government.”
Lee said that the White House should release the formal legal
analysis underpinning the drone program. “We know that in some instances
where the government has released its legal analysis, it gets it
wrong,” he said. MORE
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