Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt says he's still concerned that the Obama administration plans to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba and move the detainees to the U.S. mainland, possibly even to Fort Leavenworth. Schmidt says housing the suspected terrorists in Leavenworth could present security issues for the local community outside the prison walls.
The attorney general released new documents on Thursday that he acquired from the U.S. Defense Department. And Schmidt says those documents raise concerns.
"The sheer volume of documents produced so far plainly shows that federal planning to move terrorist detainees to the U.S. mainland has been extensive," Schmidt says. "And because we even now do not know the full extent of federal preparations, we have to remain intensely vigilant through the final weeks of the current federal administration to ensure that detainees are not transferred to Fort Leavenworth."
Schmidt says the documents he obtained this week are heavily redacted, making it difficult to read all of the information they contain. However, he says it appears that both the military prison at Fort Leavenworth and the federal, civilian penitentiary at Leavenworth have been considered as possible sites to house the GITMO detainees.
