Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, picked this week by Vice President Kamala Harris to serve as her running mate, voted in 2009 against a measure that would have barred the federal government from transferring inmates at the Guantánamo Bay prison facility – and argued that facilities in the U.S. could handle the alleged terrorists being transferred.
Walz voted against a measure to block the transfer of detainees from the facility, sometimes referred to as “Gitmo,” near Cuba to the United States, The MinnPost reported at the time. The measure was an effort led by Republicans to block an amendment to authorize transfers to the United States to stand trial as part of then-President Barack Obama’s efforts to close the terrorist prison.
Republicans had claimed that bringing the suspects to the U.S. for trial would be a security risk and would give them American legal protections. It was a measure attached to a DHS appropriations bill, according to the New York Times.
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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks during a press conference regarding new gun legislation at City Hall on August 1, 2024 in Bloomington, Minnesota. Walz is thought to be on a short list of potential vice presidential running mates for Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
The Washington Free Beacon, which unearthed the vote this week, also reported on remarks he made the same year in which he shrugged off objections about the risk posed if Gitmo detainees were transferred to the United States, saying it could include care at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester.
Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and Air Force veteran, ripped Walz for previously pushing to close Gitmo, saying his record has “put Americans’ safety and our national security at risk.”
“Tim Walz, under fire for repeatedly lying about dodging war in Iraq, repeatedly voted to close Guantanamo Bay and move the world’s most dangerous terrorists to the United States,” said Sam Rogers, an Army veteran and government affairs director at the Foundation for Government Accountability.
Walz said he wanted to see the facility closed, and that it was a serious obstacle to peace in the Middle East, according to MPR News.
“If all the procedures are in place, as they’ve been done with everyone else, if we’re very clear on what the legal avenues that these people have, I think our professionals there can handle it,” the Minnesota Democrat said.
WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES – APRIL 5: A group of human rights organizations organized joint protest vigils Wednesday in several states across the US calling for the release of detainees at the American military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba who are eligible for transfer in Washington D.C., United States on April 5, 2023. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Guantanamo Bay was back in the headlines this week after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin backtracked on a plea deal that Pentagon prosecutors agreed to with three of the terrorists behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks, who await trial in the facility. There are currently around 30 detainees still there, according to the Times.
There is increased scrutiny on Walz, who after serving as a lawmaker in the House became governor of Minnesota.
He was selected this week by Vice President Kamala Harris to be her running mate on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket, leading to a flurry of analyses and scrutiny of his past record on everything from immigration to his military service.
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“As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his own. We are going to build a great partnership,” Harris said in a statement. “We start out as underdogs but I believe together, we can win this election.”