Thread by @carolrosenberg

It’s pack-out day from Guantánamo Bay following the longest classified hearing in the tenure of military commissions — a secret two-week fact-finding on hidden microphones and allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.

The war court is closed until an Oct. 27 sentencing hearing for an Al Qaeda courier turned government informant. Backstory: nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/…

Meantime we are more than 550 days into the pandemic and a senior soldier in battle dress just climbed aboard a closed, air conditioned bus, yanked down his mask and shouted an announcement onto masked court travelers: Remain inside if you want AC.

Gitmo mix and masking: Civilian ferry operator just ordered passengers walking onto the open-air landing craft unit to traverse the bay to don masks before climbing aboard. Court support staff complied.

Oops. We are riding the routine ferry across Guantanamo Bay, not the LCN. The skipper just reminded the airstrip bound war court shuttle passengers to keep their mask on during the journey.

Today’s war court shuttle, a United charter, may actually get out of Guantánamo Bay a bit early. The Army judge just slipped into First Class. The military commissions’ chalk-masters are counting and re-counting heads on this mostly empty plane.

The military commissions shuttle from Guantánamo carrying the chief judge, Army Col. Lanny Acosta, USSCole case prosecutor John Wells and defense lawyer Capt. Brian Mizer has landed Andrews airbase near DC following…

…eight days of secret hearings that called 60+ secret witnesses, most testifying by video link from a secret courtroom annex in Virginia. The judge has asked for closing arguments in writing — hopefully with an unclassified version to cast a bit of sunshine on the proceedings.

This two-thirds empty United charter got an early departure from the base, in between a Coast Guard air mission and a medical evacuation of an unknown resident aboard a LearJet that’s based in Fort Lauderdale.