Fox News Channel Interview - Transcript

Interview

Fox News Channel Interview - Transcript

Fox News Channel Interview With Senator John Thune)

Subject: Classifying Detainee Abuse Photos

Interviewer: Megyn Kelly

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MS. KELLY: Joining us now from the Russell Rotunda is South Dakota Senator, Republican John Thune. Senator Thune is on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Senator, good morning to you.

SEN. THUNE: Good morning, Megyn.

MS. KELLY: You know, this was pretty stunning because you had large agreement in both houses of Congress. But you had a few holdout Democrats who said, no way, no how are we allowing the spending bill through if it includes a provision that essentially protects the troops by preventing the release of these photos -- preventing the release of these photos showing U.S. troops allegedly abusing detainees."

Still, apparently, still these lawmakers feel that way. They don't -- they think the photos should be released, Senator. And let me ask you this. Has President Obama's assurance put an end to the matter?

SEN. THUNE: I don't think it has, Megyn. One thing that could put an end to the matter is if President Obama, by executive order, decided to classify those photos. But he hasn't been willing to take that step yet. And we have a lot of members in the United States Senate -- and incidentally, we did put in the ban on the release of the photos in the bill when it left the Senate, they stripped it out in the conference committee.

And I think it shows you how far left the center of gravity is in the House of Representatives that, in order to pass the supplemental appropriation bill that funds our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, they had to strip that provision out.

Our combatant commanders have made it very clear that doing that is like handing live ammo to our enemies. It would undermine the security and jeopardize the security of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. And it makes absolutely no sense why that provision should not have been in the supplemental appropriation bill that was finally acted on by the conferees.

MS. KELLY: Now, we're told that the main four holdouts -- Nancy Pelosi didn't want it, but we've got four more at least that we can name, for the viewers, who did not want it. You got Louise Slaughter; you got Barney Frank; you've got Jerry Nadler of New York; and Connelly. So these are the four, in addition to Pelosi, I guess, who are pushing against this, Slaughter coming out specifically, and saying she feels strongly that the Freedom of Information Act laws are the most important protections the American people have against excessive secrecy. And she likes the ACLU's demand that these photos be released.

Now, President Obama came in, and he said, "I assure you I will take every legal and administrative remedy available to me to ensure that these photos are not released." He did not say that he would sign an executive order deeming them classified, which would end the ACLU's lawsuit over this matter, which would end further debate by you folks in the U.S. Congress. Why hasn't he done that, Senator, do you think?

SEN. THUNE: Good question. The question really again is who is running the Democrat Party here in Washington? They control the House. They control the Senate. They've got the presidency. The president is going to have to step in and provide some leadership on this issue. Otherwise, the far left of the House of Representatives here in the Congress is going to win this debate.

And as I said, it's not about -- this is about protecting American soldiers, the people who -- the men and women in uniform who are out there fighting and protecting this country. And we have -- it's been stated very clearly by General Petraeus, General Odierno and others that if you do this, you are going to put American soldiers in harm's way; you are going to jeopardize their security.

This makes absolutely no sense. Reasonable Democrats in the House of Representatives need to get ahold of the situation. The president needs to step in and assert some leadership here to make sure that this issue gets resolved and put to rest.

MS. KELLY: President Obama first was in favor of releasing these photos. And then came the pressure from not just constituents but from the generals -- as you pointed out -- who said, "Don't do it. It's going to cost American lives on the battlefield. As our enemies get their hands on these things, they're going to increase the attacks on U.S. troops." And to the president's credit, he turned around, and said, "You know what? That's a good point. I'm not allowing it."

He did not convince the House Democrats, or some of them, anyway, and hence the dustup we saw on Capitol Hill yesterday, where some of them are still pushing to at least keep the door open to the release of these photos.

Now, my question to you is, you know the president calls up the Democrats. He tries to make these assurance (sic) in the Republicans last night, and says, "Look, I'm not going to allow them to be released. I've said that now." I'm still trying to figure out, Senator Thune, why the president wouldn't just clear up the matter. An executive order declaring them classified is all it takes. Do you think he is, in some way, trying to keep the door open for the release of these photos? Or what would his motivation possibly be?

SEN. THUNE: I think you have to -- that's a question you have to ask. Really, how committed is he to making sure that these photos don't see the light of day? It would serve no purpose whatsoever. These are -- this is past. These issues have been addressed by statute, by Congress, by the administration. There's no reason whatsoever that any purpose is served by the release of these photos. The president could settle this.

MS. KELLY: What do you say to folks like Slaughter and Frank and Pelosi who are worried about the ACLU's lawsuit, saying, under the Freedom of Information Act, we have a right to access this information, and the president and the lawmakers, et cetera should not interfere?

SEN. THUNE: Well, the people that you just mentioned, their hatred of the former administration and the conflicts that we're involved with in Iraq and Afghanistan is borderline pathological. I mean, they're going to do everything that they can to try and undermine our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But what I said earlier really applies. And that is there are reasonable Democrats in the House and the Senate. And the president, who's come out as you said, and asserted publicly at least that he's opposed to this. But the way to provide real leadership to put your, you know, actions behind your words is to sign an executive order that would classify these photos. That would put this issue to rest once and for all.

I hope that he will do that. This bill is going to be in jeopardy when it comes back, I think from the conference to the Senate because we've got a lot of Senators on our side for sure and, I think, some on the Democrat side who are going to object to have this provision or having this provision taken out, and making possible the release of these photos, which would really undermine our efforts in those countries and put our warfighters in jeopardy.

MS. KELLY: Really? Well, that would be a significant dustup to see on Capitol Hill if the Republicans do that in the Senate. We'll be watching it.

In the meantime, our viewers should know this is still very ripe because there's -- that ACLU lawsuit seeking the release of the photos is now going up to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Obama administration is opposing their release now. ACLU wants it. So we'll see what happens.

Senator John Thune, thanks so much for coming on this morning.

SEN. THUNE: Thanks, Megyn.

MS. KELLY: All the best.

END.

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