Holder to Rand Paul: “I Suppose” Drone Strikes Could Happen on U.S. Soil

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Posted by Ed Brown on Mar 6, 2013 in Drones | 1 comment

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Kentucky republican Senator Rand Paul wanted to know if the Obama administration‘s policy of targeted drone strikes on American citizens abroad was also a policy that they considered applicable domestically. Paul raised the question during the nomination of John Brennan to head the CIA and threatened to hold up that nomination until his question was answered. In a letter dated March 4, 2013 United States Attorney General Eric Holder answered Paul’s question:

Clipped from http://paul.senate.gov/files/documents/BrennanHolderResponse.pdf

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Holder said in the letter that it was perfectly conceivable that there could be future drone strikes on American soil:

“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.”

However, Holder said the question was “entirely hypothetical” and “unlikely to occur.”

Paul released the letter from Holder along with this statement, indicating he was not satisfied with the response:

“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 to the constitutional due process rights of all Americans.”

One Response to “Holder to Rand Paul: “I Suppose” Drone Strikes Could Happen on U.S. Soil”

Jeff Brodhead says:
May 13, 2013 at 11:13 pm

“…within the territory of the United States”

Ehrlich Holder, you NAZI piece of rat-dung! Go jump back in the sewer that spawned you!

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