Sam LaHood Talks 'de Facto Detention' in Egypt

Sam LaHood today discussed his "de facto detention" in Egypt, in his first TV interview since returning to the US Thursday, Politico reports. LaHood, who had been barred from leaving Egypt along with 42 other NGO employees, says their attorney compared the circumstances "to a hostage situation." The employees still face criminal charges in Egypt, and LaHood tells CNN he expects the trial against them "to go on for some time" in that country.

"We’re working with our lawyers to try to figure out what’s next for myself and my other American colleagues," says LaHood, son of the US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "But as I said, we’re hopeful that this issue is going to be resolved within Egypt and there will be a positive outcome for our Egyptian colleagues as well." LaHood wouldn't comment on what his detention might say about the post-Mubarak Egypt, but he did note that transitions like the one Egypt is undergoing are often "uneven. There's bumps in the road." (More Sam LaHood stories.)