Rep. McKeon Wants Names of all who Knew of Bergdahl Deal in Advance

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Buck McKeon, said he wants to know the names of every person in the administration of President Barack Obama who knew about the exchange of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five Gitmo detainees.

The White House has maintained that Congress was not informed ahead of time about the prisoner swap due to concerns about a possible leak. If that was so, McKeon claimed the administration should be able to provide the name of every person, which the White House said could be as many as 100, with knowledge of the transfer.

"I asked how many people in the administration knew about this, because in the briefing they talked about they were concerned about a leak," McKeon, a California Republican, told "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday.

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"If they're as concerned as they say they are, I want to know the names of everybody that knew about it, because if they can't give me the names, then I don't think they're as concerned about [a leak] as they said," he added.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel appeared Wednesday before the House Armed Services Committee to answer questions about the prisoner swap. Hagel defended the administration's actions in the exchange of Bergdahl for the Guantanamo detainees.

McKeon said he was concerned that if the administration was allowed to "get away with" the release of the five detainees from the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Obama could make the decision to "let all those other detainees go."

"We know that at least 30 percent return to the fight. And, out of these five, my reckoning is that it'll probably be more like 100 percent. These are dedicated people that have one goal in mind, and that's to take out Westerners," he said.

Related Stories:

• White House: 90 in Administration Knew of Bergdahl Deal, But Not Congress
• Obama Defends Not Telling Congress Before Bergdahl Prisoner Swap