To: Members of the Media

From: Amelia Chass, America Rising PAC Press Secretary

Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2015
RE: Eight Democratic Senate Candidates Imperiled By Clintons Guantanamo Memo

This week, The Huffington Post published a 2013 memo from then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to President Obama,
pushing the President to fast-track his plan to close Guantanamo Bay and transfer detainees to facilities in the United States:
Weeks before she stepped down as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton wrote a memo urging President Barack Obama to
step up his administrations efforts to close the military detention facility in Guantanamo Bay in his second term.
In the memo, Clinton went as far as to propose U.S. jury trials for terrorist detainees.
With President Obama considering using executive action to implement his plan, and Clinton advocating for jury trials for
terrorists, Democratic senate candidates particularly those who have endorsed Clintons presidential bid will face tough
questions about whether they support the Obama-Clinton plan for Guantanamo, a plan that has been consistently unpopular
with Americans since Obama took office in 2009.
These eight candidates will face scrutiny from voters on the Obama-Clinton Guantanamo plan:
The Democrats lone incumbent, Colorados Michael Bennet, is likely breathing a sigh of relief that he was a no-show
during Clintons visit to the state last week. With Colorado a likely destination for detainees, Bennet claims to oppose
transfers to the U.S. However, his record includes multiple votes to enable the transfers and he has called closing the
base the right thing to do.
Missouri senate candidate Jason Kander also faces the likelihood of detainees being transferred to his backyard, just
over the border in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Despite widespread local opposition to the transfers, Kander voted against
a resolution urging Congress to reject detainee transfers into Missouri or Kansas when he served in the state legislature,
putting him a lot closer to Obama and Clinton than to the voters in his state.
Patrick Murphy, a Florida Republican-turned-Democrat desperate to burnish his liberal credentials to win his primary
against left-wing firebrand Alan Grayson, has consistently supported legislation to make it easier to bring detainees to the
homeland. The Obama-Clinton Gitmo plan presents another tough issue where Murphy risks alienating general election
voters who deeply oppose it.
Illinois Tammy Duckworth, who touts Clintons endorsement in an increasingly crowded Democratic senate primary,
is all-in on Clintons strategy. Duckworth called for the facility to be shut down immediately and pushed for a fair trial
for terrorist detainees in an interview with a Thai newspaper in 2012. Duckworth also cast numerous votes to facilitate
prisoner transfers to the U.S.
New Hampshires Maggie Hassan, another Clinton supporter, said she would consider closing Gitmo, but hasnt
offered any specifics. Her Republican opponent, Kelly Ayotte, strongly opposes the closure and has established
significant gravitas on the issue, leading a recent Congressional visit to the base. If Hassan sides with Clinton, voters will
face a stark contrast between the candidates.
Former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, another Clinton-backed Democrat facing a primary challenge from the left, has
maintained a strict silence on the issue, opening up yet another opportunity for primary opponent P.G. Sittenfeld to drive
a wedge between him and Clinton, as he has on gun control and the Keystone pipeline.
Nevadas Catherine Cortez Masto and Pennsylvanias Katie McGinty have avoided taking a position on Gitmo, but
then again, theyve kept mum on Clinton too.
The Obama-Clinton plan to transfer Gitmo terrorists to the U.S. is the latest in a series of hot-button national security issues,
including the Iran nuclear deal and the fight against ISIS, that pose major challenges to Democrats running in key states
where President Obama and Secretary Clinton are increasingly out-of-touch with voters.