Article snippet: WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is making a fresh attempt at drafting an executive order on handling terrorism detainees, reviving a struggle to navigate legal and geopolitical obstacles to expand use of the Guantánamo Bay wartime prison, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations. Administration officials said President Trump had been expected to sign a detention policy order three weeks ago. But that plan changed after he fired his first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, on July 28 and replaced him with John F. Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general who once oversaw the prison operation at the American naval base in Cuba. Instead, officials said, on July 31 — Mr. Kelly’s first day — the National Security Council announced that the White House wanted a new round of interagency deliberations. The message came during a secure video teleconference with counterterrorism strategy and legal officials at military, diplomatic and intelligence agencies. The agencies were asked to consider three potential versions of the order and make recommendations by this week, according to an official familiar with that process. One was the version that Mr. Trump was preparing to sign three weeks ago. It would reverse a January 2009 order by President Barack Obama that directed the government to close the prison, and make clear that the Trump administration’s policy was instead to keep it open indefinitely, the official said. That version would also say that Guant... Link to the full article to read more
Trump Officials Renew Effort to Expand Use of Prison at Guantánamo - The New York Times
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