Obama Ignored Legal Advice on Libyan War

The New York Times has revealed President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the U.S. Department of Justice when he decided he had the legal authority to continue U.S. war in Libya without congressional authorization. The Pentagon general counsel, Jeh Johnson, and Caroline Krass, the acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, had told the White House that under the War Powers Act of 1973, Obama should have terminated or scaled back the mission after May 20. The President has the legal authority to override such legal conclusions, but the Times reports it is extraordinarily rare for it to happen. In an interview on PBS NewsHour, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he supported the President’s view.