Panel to get closed-door briefing on Bergdahl

The powerful Senate Armed Services Committee next week will receive a closed-door briefing on the controversial prisoner exchange that freed Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, according to a Monday press release.

{mosads}The announcement comes after panel member Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) asked Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) to investigate the deal in which Bergdahl, who spent five years as a prisoner of the Haqaani network, was swapped for five Taliban commanders from the U.S. detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, on Monday said his panel would examine if President Obama “broke the law” by not informing lawmakers of the trade 30 days in advance.

The Senate briefing, slated for June 10, will feature Stephen Preston, Defense Department general counsel; Michael Dumont, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia; and Army Brig. Gen. Robert White, director of the Pakistan/Afghanistan coordination cell within the U.S. Joint Staff.