Monday, February 08, 2010

Who Said What to Whom on Underwear Bomber?

I happened to catch Brennan's interview wherein he said that (R) Congressional leadership 'did not object' to his statement that 'the FBI had the underwear bomber in custody.'

Brennan's certainly good at the "blame game" for someone who yaps about not playing the blame game.

"On Christmas night, I called a number of senior members of Congress. I spoke to Senators McConnell and Bond, I spoke to Representatives Boehner and Hoekstra. I explained to them that he was in FBI custody, that Mr. Abdulmutallab was in fact talking, that he was cooperating at that point. They knew that in FBI custody means that there's a process that 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." .........

Well, Kit Bond has something to say about that.

"Brennan never told me any of plans to Mirandize the Christmas Day bomber -- if he had I would have told him the administration was making a mistake. The truth is that the administration did not even consult our intelligence chiefs, as DNI 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"...

Brennan ASSUMED that Bond (and Boehner, McConnell, and Hoekstra) knew that "FBI custody" meant that UndieBomb would be Mirandized. It appears that Bond did NOT make that assumption--IOW, Bond may well have thought that "the process" Brennan described would not be followed because the established protocol was to go with a military tribunal.

Brennan cannot evade the fact that Holder (or Obama) made the decision to go with civilian trial procedures, which was NOT the established protocol under GWB.

HT: Examiner

Boehner also issued a statement (which was less direct than Bond's).

The NewsMax story also has a "FACTS" statement at the bottom. It appears that Boehner made these assertions, but they are not direct quotes:

Hoekstra had a brief, non-secure conversation with Brennan. 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.

Hmmmmmm.

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