http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...844183082.html
Counterterror Chief Takes Critics to Task
FEBRUARY 7, 2010, 3:48 P.M. ET
By SUDEEP REDDY
WASHINGTON -- White House Counterterrorism Chief John Brennan on Sunday ripped into lawmakers for criticizing the administration's handling of Christmas Day bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
Republican lawmakers in recent weeks have attacked the Obama administration for prosecuting Mr. Abdulmutallab in a civilian court, rather than before a military commission, and for reading him his Miranda rights. Mr. Brennan said he had called senior Republican lawmakers on Christmas night to brief them on the investigation and suggested that they were fully informed about how the suspect would be treated.
"I explained to them that he was in FBI custody, that Mr. Abdulmatallab was in fact talking, that he was cooperating at that point," Mr. Brennan said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. "They knew that 'in FBI custody' means that there's a process then you follow as far as Mirandizing and presenting him in front of a magistrate."
"None of those individuals raised any concerns with me at that point," Mr. Brennan said. "They didn't say, 'Is he going into military custody? Is he going to be Mirandized?' They were very appreciative of the information. We told them we'd keep them informed, and that's what we did."
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Kit Bond (R., Mo.), one of those briefed by Mr. Brennan, on Sunday disputed the idea that the lawmakers were aware that the suspect was read his Miranda rights.
"Brennan never told me any of plans to Mirandize the Christmas Day bomber -- if he had I would told him the Administration was making a mistake," Sen. Bond said in a statement. "The truth is that the administration did not even consult our intelligence chiefs, as DNI Blair [Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair] testified, so it's absurd to try to blame Congressional leaders for this dangerous decision that gave terrorists a five week head start to cover their tracks."
Mr. Brennan said Mr. Abdulmutallab "was treated as a terrorist" and "put into a process that has been the same process that we have used for every other terrorist who has been captured on our soil whether they be U.S. citizens or non-U.S. citizens." He said the guidelines used with Mr. Abdulmutallab were finalized in December 2008 during the Bush administration under former Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
Mr. Brennan, who had also worked in the Bush administration after a career as a Central Intelligence Agency officer, said "I'm tiring of politicians using national security issues such as terrorism as a political football. They're going out there, they're unknowing of the facts, and they're making charges and allegations that are not anchored in reality."
He added that rather than "second-guessing what they're doing on the ground with a 500-mile screwdriver from Washington to Detroit, I think they have to have confidence in the knowledge and the experience of these counterterrorism professionals."
Besides Mr. Bond, Mr. Brennan said he had briefed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio), and the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R., Mich.).
The other lawmakers said through aides on Sunday that they had received brief, non-secure courtesy calls from Mr. Brennan that imparted little substantive information. They also said Mr. Brennan was trying to deflect blame away from the administration.
Mr. Hoekstra's statement said Mr. Brennan "only informed him that Abdulmutallab had severe burns and was being treated. Contrary to what he attempts to imply, he at no time informed Hoekstra that Abdulmutallab had been Mirandized nor did he seek Hoekstra's consultation or provide any sort of meaningful briefing. The faulty decision to Mirandize Abdulmuttalab was the Obama administration's, and its decision alone."
Sen. McConnell's spokesman, Don Stewart, said Mr. Brennan "is clearly trying to shift the focus away from the fact that their bad decisions gave terrorists in Yemen a weeks-long head start."
"The bottom line is this: on Christmas day, a known terrorist, with the help of al Qaeda in Yemen , attempted to kill Americans by blowing up an airplane," Mr. Stewart said. "Rather than having highly trained terror investigators spend time with this terrorist, the administration decided to treat him as a common criminal who had a right to a government-funded lawyer and advised of his right to remain silent."
Kevin Smith, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner, echoed that sentiment, adding: "Instead of attempting to dodge responsibility, John Brennan and this administration should focus on fixing the near-catastrophic intelligence breakdown that failed to prevent this attack."
Write to Sudeep Reddy at
sudeep.reddy@wsj.com