President Barack Obama said in an interview on Tuesday that he ahs had to tell families of dead American hostages like 26-year-old Kayla Mueller that the United States will not pay to ransom their loved one, and it's 'as tough as anything I do.' But the Obama administration's handling of the Bowe Bergdahl saga – attempting, according to a member of Congress, to pay an intermediary for his safe return and then trading five high-value Taliban terrorists for him when that failed – suggests the White House's policy is less than consistent. Obama told Buzzfeed that 'as a general rule, what we don’t want to do is make other American citizens riper targets' for groups like the ISIS terror army by handing over millions of dollars for hostages. 'We devoted enormous resources, and always devote enormous resources, to freeing captives or hostages anywhere in the world,' Obama said, 'and I deployed an entire operation at significant risk to rescue not only [Mueller], but the other individuals that had been held and probably missed them by a day or two.' President Obama told Buzzfeed in his latest unconventional media interview that America still won't pay to ransom hostages, but his handling of the Bowe Bergdahl saga raises questions about how the situation of Kayla Mueller's capture was handled . Kayla Mueller, 26, an American humanitarian worker from Prescott, Arizona, died – according to ISIS – when a Jordanian airstrike leveled a buildign in Syria . Terri Crippes (left) and Lori Lyon (right), the aunts of Kayla Mueller, grieved on Tuesday after the 26-year-old's death was confirmed – although the circumstances in which she perished remain unclear . Obama launched a similar rescue mission to go after Bergdahl, a U.S. Army soldier who walked away from his post in 2009. But unlike in the Mueller case, the administration also tried to make what a California congressman characterized as a random delivery to free Bergdahl, who will likely be charged with desertion when the results of a Pentagon investigation are made public. Rep. Duncan Hunter said in November that the Defense Department attempted to pay the terrorist Haqqani network in Pakistan, which was holding Bergdahl, but was duped by a con man who ran off with the money. The Pentagon said on June 9, 2014 that 'there was no money exchanged for Bergdahl’s release.' The White House's National Security Council insisted a day later that 'the United States did not provide money in exchange for Sgt. Bergdahl’s release.' Those carefully parsed statements, however, allow for the possibility that Duncan is right: money was sent but never reached its intended recipient. Hunter press secretary Joe Kasper told Daily Mail Online in November that the Haqqanis 'wanted to deal. They were desperate to deal.' The administration 'can deny it all they want,' he said. He added that the federal government has long included ransom plans among possible outcomes during hostage crises, using third-party 'cutouts' to maintain deniability. 'We don't pay a ransom in the sense that the U.S. government officially makes payments to a foreign entity,' Kasper said, emphasizing the word 'officially.' 'The way we've been doing this for a long time is through a workaround.' California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter told the Defense Secretary in November that he had learned of an attempt to ransom Bowe Bergdahl through a middle-man . Bergdahl (right) was captured by Taliban fighters shortly after he abandoned his post in 2009 . The Obama administration secured Bergdahl's safe return by releasing five Taliban leaders from the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba military detention camp . Hunter wrote in a November 5, 2014 letter to then-Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel 'that a payment was made to an Afghan intermediary who "disappeared" with the money and failed to facilitate Bergdahl's release in return. The payment was made in January-February 2014.' 'I recognize the reluctance to describe a payment as a ransom,' the Congressman added, whiel claiming that the botched payment was indeed made 'regardless of how the transaction is described.' Obama's sit-down with Buzzfeed is the latest in a series of occasions where the White House has given liberals in nontraditional media outlets rare access to the leader of the free world. Last month three YouTube celebrities interviewed Obama, including one comedienne best known for eating Fruit Loops while sitting in a bathtub filled with milk and the cereal. The folllowing day the president spoke with Vox, a newish left-wing website known for 'Voxsplaining' news concepts – and attracting digital slaps from people eager to correct its mistakes. Buzzfeed's interview covered other topics related to Russia, the 2016 elections, and companies' reactions to restrictions placed on them by the Affordable Care Act. GRIEF: Isabella Nalda, bottom, and her mother, Eileen, placed flowers at a makeshift memorial for Kayla Mueller on Tuesday in Prescott, Arizona . ISIS claimed the rubble of this house was where Mueller died following a Jordanian airstrike, but that has not been confirmed . The president also tried to square his vaccilating postions on gay marriage through the years, claiming that he always supported the idea although his opinion clashed during the 2008 elections 'with what were a whole bunch of religious sensitivities out there.' In the aftermath of the Mueller murder at ISIS's hands, Obama cautioned that paying ransoms would mean 'not only are we financing their slaughter of innocent people and strengthening their organization, but we’re actually making Americans even greater targets for future kidnappings.' After the 5-for-1 Bergdahl swap, a Taliban commander in Afghanistan told Time magazine that Americans can expect to see more kidnappings as terrorists seek to free more of their leaders from U.S. custody. 'It's better to kidnap one person like Bergdahl than kidnapping hundreds of useless people,' the commander said. 'It has encouraged our people. Now everybody will work hard to capture such an important bird.'
The president said Tuesday that the US continues to refuse to pay ransom for hostages held overseas .
That position may have doomed Kayla Mueller, a 26-year-old aid worker killed in the custody of the ISIS terror army .
But a member of Congress insisted in November that the US tried to random Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl by paying a middle-man – who then allegedly ran off with the money .
Obama ultimately made an in-kind payment to the Haqqani network in the form of five high-value Taliban terrorists who were held at Guantanamo .
President Barack Obama said in an interview on Tuesday that he ahs had to tell families of dead American hostages like 26-year-old Kayla Mueller that the United States will not pay to ransom their loved one, and it's 'as tough as anything I do.' But the Obama administration's handling of the Bowe Bergdahl saga – attempting, according to a member of Congress, to pay an intermediary for his safe return and then trading five high-value Taliban terrorists for him when that failed – suggests the White House's policy is less than consistent. Obama told Buzzfeed that 'as a general rule, what we don’t want to do is make other American citizens riper targets' for groups like the ISIS terror army by handing over millions of dollars for hostages. 'We devoted enormous resources, and always devote enormous resources, to freeing captives or hostages anywhere in the world,' Obama said, 'and I deployed an entire operation at significant risk to rescue not only [Mueller], but the other individuals that had been held and probably missed them by a day or two.' President Obama told Buzzfeed in his latest unconventional media interview that America still won't pay to ransom hostages, but his handling of the Bowe Bergdahl saga raises questions about how the situation of Kayla Mueller's capture was handled . Kayla Mueller, 26, an American humanitarian worker from Prescott, Arizona, died – according to ISIS – when a Jordanian airstrike leveled a buildign in Syria . Terri Crippes (left) and Lori Lyon (right), the aunts of Kayla Mueller, grieved on Tuesday after the 26-year-old's death was confirmed – although the circumstances in which she perished remain unclear . Obama launched a similar rescue mission to go after Bergdahl, a U.S. Army soldier who walked away from his post in 2009. But unlike in the Mueller case, the administration also tried to make what a California congressman characterized as a random delivery to free Bergdahl, who will likely be charged with desertion when the results of a Pentagon investigation are made public. Rep. Duncan Hunter said in November that the Defense Department attempted to pay the terrorist Haqqani network in Pakistan, which was holding Bergdahl, but was duped by a con man who ran off with the money. The Pentagon said on June 9, 2014 that 'there was no money exchanged for Bergdahl’s release.' The White House's National Security Council insisted a day later that 'the United States did not provide money in exchange for Sgt. Bergdahl’s release.' Those carefully parsed statements, however, allow for the possibility that Duncan is right: money was sent but never reached its intended recipient. Hunter press secretary Joe Kasper told Daily Mail Online in November that the Haqqanis 'wanted to deal. They were desperate to deal.' The administration 'can deny it all they want,' he said. He added that the federal government has long included ransom plans among possible outcomes during hostage crises, using third-party 'cutouts' to maintain deniability. 'We don't pay a ransom in the sense that the U.S. government officially makes payments to a foreign entity,' Kasper said, emphasizing the word 'officially.' 'The way we've been doing this for a long time is through a workaround.' California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter told the Defense Secretary in November that he had learned of an attempt to ransom Bowe Bergdahl through a middle-man . Bergdahl (right) was captured by Taliban fighters shortly after he abandoned his post in 2009 . The Obama administration secured Bergdahl's safe return by releasing five Taliban leaders from the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba military detention camp . Hunter wrote in a November 5, 2014 letter to then-Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel 'that a payment was made to an Afghan intermediary who "disappeared" with the money and failed to facilitate Bergdahl's release in return. The payment was made in January-February 2014.' 'I recognize the reluctance to describe a payment as a ransom,' the Congressman added, whiel claiming that the botched payment was indeed made 'regardless of how the transaction is described.' Obama's sit-down with Buzzfeed is the latest in a series of occasions where the White House has given liberals in nontraditional media outlets rare access to the leader of the free world. Last month three YouTube celebrities interviewed Obama, including one comedienne best known for eating Fruit Loops while sitting in a bathtub filled with milk and the cereal. The folllowing day the president spoke with Vox, a newish left-wing website known for 'Voxsplaining' news concepts – and attracting digital slaps from people eager to correct its mistakes. Buzzfeed's interview covered other topics related to Russia, the 2016 elections, and companies' reactions to restrictions placed on them by the Affordable Care Act. GRIEF: Isabella Nalda, bottom, and her mother, Eileen, placed flowers at a makeshift memorial for Kayla Mueller on Tuesday in Prescott, Arizona . ISIS claimed the rubble of this house was where Mueller died following a Jordanian airstrike, but that has not been confirmed . The president also tried to square his vaccilating postions on gay marriage through the years, claiming that he always supported the idea although his opinion clashed during the 2008 elections 'with what were a whole bunch of religious sensitivities out there.' In the aftermath of the Mueller murder at ISIS's hands, Obama cautioned that paying ransoms would mean 'not only are we financing their slaughter of innocent people and strengthening their organization, but we’re actually making Americans even greater targets for future kidnappings.' After the 5-for-1 Bergdahl swap, a Taliban commander in Afghanistan told Time magazine that Americans can expect to see more kidnappings as terrorists seek to free more of their leaders from U.S. custody. 'It's better to kidnap one person like Bergdahl than kidnapping hundreds of useless people,' the commander said. 'It has encouraged our people. Now everybody will work hard to capture such an important bird.'
American hostages like 26-year-old Kayla Mueller do.' But the Obama administration's handling of a member of Congress, to pay an intermediary for his safe return and then trading five high-value Taliban terrorists for him when that failed – like the ISIS terror army by handing over hostages, but his handling of the Bowe Bergdahl Duncan Hunter said in November that the Defense but was duped by a con man who ran off with the Bergdahl through a middle-man . Bergdahl (right) payment was made to an Afghan intermediary who "disappeared" with the money and failed to confirmed . The president also tried to square