DEFENSE/GUANTANAMO/JAMES MATTIS: “Secretary of Defense James Mattis fired two top Guantanamo Bay officials on Monday [2-5-18] over a ‘loss of confidence,’ a senior defense official tells CNN… Crosson said that Mattis has appointed Jim Coyne, who currently serves as the general counsel at the Defense Logistics Agency, as the acting convening authority.
There are several hearings underway pertaining to inmates at the detention facility but the Pentagon said these personnel actions ‘do not impact ongoing (Office of the Convening Authority for Military Commissions) hearings and proceedings.’
The Pentagon said that Castle, in his capacity as acting general counsel, ‘appointed Mark Toole as Acting Legal Advisor to the Convening Authority for all military commissions except for the case of U.S. v. al-Nashiri, and appointed US Air Force Col. Matthew van Dalen as Acting Legal Advisor to the Convening Authority for the al-Nashiri commission.’…
Last week President Donald Trump signed a new executive order which called for the detention facility to be kept open and opened the door to sending new prisoners there. There is no indication at this time that the firings were related to the executive order.
The decision to keep the facility indefinitely open is a major reversal of his predecessor President Barack Obama’s policy who attempted to shutter the detention facility in his first year of office.”
-Barbara Starr and Ryan Browne, “Mattis fires two top Guantanamo officials,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, Feb. 5, 2018 7:36pm