Steve Neavling

The Justice Department plans to use a never-opened state prison in Illinois and turn it into a federal facility, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Under President Obama’s direction and over the objections of an influential Republican congressman, the Justice Department purchased the prison for $165 million.

The sale is a relief to the cash-strapped sate of Illinois, which never opened the Thomson Correctional Center, the Tribune reported.

Virginia Republican Rep. Frank R. Wolf had tried to block the purchase, saying he fears the Obama administration will break its pledge to not transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the new facility.

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