Revealed: Holder Letter Leaves Open Possibility of Drone Strikes on U.S. Soil (Rand Paul)

The Blaze ^ | March 5, 2013 | Billy Hallowell

[Perseverando]

This morning, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told Glenn Beck’s radio team that he had some new information about the U.S. government drone program — information that some individuals might find troubling. Later in the day, TheBlaze obtained letters that were sent to the senator by Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama’s chief counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan.

It is select contents in Holder’s letter that citizens might find most problematic. After Paul sent an inquiry to learn more about the government’s drone program and to ask whether “the president has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial,” he received a response that is sure to be scrutinized.

The senator’s inquiry was certainly specific, however the government’s response was not so concise — or at least not pointed enough to put critics like Paul at ease.

In a response dated March 4, 2013, Holder wrote that the U.S. government “has not carried out drone strikes in the United States and has no intention of doing so.” The attorney general went on to note that federal officials believe that in areas where there is “well-established law enforcement,” these officials serve as the preferred mode of handling terrorist threats; military options inside U.S. borders are, thus, “rejected.”

“We have a long history of using the criminal justice system to incapacitate individuals located in our country who pose a threat to the United States and its interests abroad,” the letter reads. “Hundreds of individuals have been arrested and convicted of terrorism-related offenses in our federal courts.”

While this would likely set at ease anyone worried about the potential use of drones on U.S. land, Holder doesn’t conclude there. It is the next section of the letter

[MikeSteelBe]

I was just being sarcastic.

Holder said “Don’t disparage my people” when he threw out the New Black Panther voter intimidation case from the 2008 election.

You are right. Those engaging in lawful self-defense would be treated like the perpetrators.