Credit: The Associated Press

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., center left, speaks with Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., as senators emerge from a closed-door briefing with intelligence officials about the Obama administration’s decision to swap five members of the Taliban for captive Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 4, 2014. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration told senators it didn't notify Congress about the pending swap of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban officials because of intelligence the Taliban might kill him if the deal was made public.

That fear — not just the stated concerns that Bergdahl's health might be failing — drove the administration to quickly make the deal to rescue him, bypassing the law that lawmakers be notified when detainees are released from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, congressional and administration officials said Thursday.