Grassley wants U.S. docs on killings

WASHINGTON, March 15 (UPI) -- A top Republican senator called on the White House Thursday to show its legal case for killing U.S. citizens abroad who are believed to be terrorists.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recently gave a speech in Chicago defending the killings of Osama bin Laden and a Yemeni citizen with dual U.S. citizenship, Anwar al-Alawki, who headed al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. Holder said overseas terrorists, even Americans, are not entitled to the constitutional due process they'd receive in U.S. courts.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, dismissed Holder's speech as a "CliffsNotes" version and said the White House needs to spell out the legal rationale for the killings, The Hill reported.

"If the Attorney General is going to justify targeted killings based upon 'robust' congressional oversight, he needs to follow through and make these documents available to Congress, not just give us the 'CliffsNotes' in a speech to law students," Grassley said in a committee executive meeting.

"This is another example of the continued failure of this administration to live up to its goal of being the most transparent administration ever," Grassley said.

Grassley said he asked in October for an analysis of the administration's authority to carry out these types of attacks and has yet to receive it. Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., also asked for an analysis, Grassley said.

Neither has received a reply, or even confirmation that such an analysis exists, Grassley said.

The Hill said the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.