For context, Sandy Rios is both a Fox News contributor and spokeswomen for the American Family Association (one that opposes pornography, abortion, same-sex marriage and has been characterized has a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center), meaning we're going to be examining a lovely individual today.
Sandy Rio's ingenious contribution to her party's push to impeach the president comes from her accusation that Obama is guilty of "high crimes and misdemeanors" for releasing Abu Sufian bin Quma, a perpetrator of the 2012 Benghazi attack (yes, they still have nothing better to do than harp on Benghazi), from Guantanamo Bay.
Wait a minute. Sandy Rios, are you sure that was under Obama's watch? Because national security government documents would like to beg otherwise:
Statistics from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence show that only 6 percent (5 in total) of Guantanamo detainees released during the Obama administration have been assessed to have potentially engaged in militant activities. That compares with a rate of nearly 30 percent under the Bush administration.
...
In 2007, Qumu was released from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and sent to Libya, where he was detained. The Libyan government released him in 2008.
Even if we want to look past Qumu, Obama's handling of Guantanamo Bay (a problem he inherited, mind you), has been looking better than Bush's.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence reports:
Statistics from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence show that only 6 percent (5 in total) of Guantanamo detainees released during the Obama administration have been assessed to have potentially engaged in militant activities. That compares with a rate of nearly 30 percent under the Bush administration.
While Obama's recidivism rate may not be perfect, in the status quo it's still 24% better than Bush's.
But wait. That's only half the story of Sandy Rios, the political commentator who can't seem to keep her facts straight. Apparently, she can't keep her arguments in check either. Despite denouncing the Obama administration for accusations that the Republicans want to impeach him (Sandy Rios, I'm sure your arguments are doing nothing to contribute to that misconception), she has gone out of her way to say:
The so-called mainstream Republicans are bending over backwards to vilify conservatives, it’s almost like the birther incident, it’s like people who are now discussing impeachment and whether the president has committed those crimes, now they are going to have cooties, we will have to think of a word for people who say that, ‘impeachables,’ I’m not sure what you call people like me who actually think it should be seriously discussed.
While discussing the efficacy of Guantanamo Bay is opening another can of worms, when it comes to Sandy Rios' arguments and warrants, one thing is clear. Please, please, please, at least do a minute of fact-checking.