Abdulmutallab

Abdulmutallab, Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Flight 253

DOJ told FBI ‘agents on the ground’ to Mirandize Abdulmuttalab

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My analysis Friday was confirmed by the Associated Press yesterday. FBI Director Robert Mueller did not tell the whole truth during his testimony Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The FBI agents on the ground did not make the decision to read Miranda warnings to Flight 253 bomber Umar Farook Abdulmuttalab. Instead, the Department of Justice directed them to do that after the first 50-minute interrogation. (Hat tip to Stephen Hayes for the link to the AP report.)

The DOJ was reckless. Even though security measures were ramped up abroad and 10 hours had elapsed, planes continued to take off for the U.S. and body scanners and police-grade pat down searches would not have detected that same explosive hidden in a body cavity. It was also unnecessary as everything Abdulmuttalab said after the passengers pounced on him and retrieved the bomb is not needed to win a conviction and his being sentenced to life in prison.

The AP seemed to deliberately obscure the order of events. Let’s flesh it out:

Abdulmutallab, Barack Obama, Dennis Blair, Eric Holder, Flight 253

Did DNI Blair misinform Senators or tell them too much of the truth?

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Obama administration officials are fearful that Blair may have ended up hand-delivering their Republican critics an issue by his misinformed remarks. “I didn’t think there was going to be a fall guy for the Detroit incident,” said the senior official. “But Blair may have just talked himself into being one.” — Michael Isakoff, Newsweek magazine, January 21, 2010

Apparently, those same White House officials did not dispute DNI Dennis Blair telling the Senate Intelligence Homeland Security Committee that, “The FBI interrogated Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab when they took him into custody. They received important intelligence at that time.” They could not dispute him as FBI Director Mueller told the Senate Judiciary exactly the same thing, that very same day.

I don’t believe that Director Robert Mueller told the whole truth.

Eli Lake of the Washington Times reported (‘Blair: FBI mishandled bomb case’):

“It appears to me that we lost an opportunity to secure some valuable intelligence information, and that the process that Director Blair described should have been implemented in this case,” Ms. Collins said. Sen. Christopher S. Bond, Missouri Republican and vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said the administration’s intelligence officials “fumbled the Christmas Day terrorist case.”

“That this administration chose to shut out our top intelligence officials and forgo collecting potentially lifesaving intelligence is a dangerous sign,” Mr. Bond said in a statement.

Mr. Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to ignite a military-grade explosive known as PETN that was sewn into his underwear on the Northwest flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Dec. 25. The plot failed, and FBI agents apprehended Mr. Abdulmutallab in Detroit. He was questioned for at least two hours before agents read him his Miranda rights, which allowed him to have an attorney before answering further questions.

Mueller cited “Quarles” which indicates FBI agents initially believed “the use of the Miranda warnings could be avoided” because “public safety was at issue” (New York v Quarles). Perhaps limiting questions to asking Abdulmuttalab if he had accomplices aboard Flight 253 (who might also have bombs) and if bombers were aboard additional aircraft currently in flight or soon to depart would be upheld by the courts.

Yet at least two hours went by before they read Abdulmuttalab the warnings because FBI agents know similar and simultaneous attacks are al Qaeda’s M.O. and Abdulmuttalab told them “twenty-five” others had trained with him in Yemen. Surely the agents would have alerted the FBI’s Special Agent in Charge in Detroit or its Assistant U.S. Attorney.

If FBI agents made the decision, it was left to them to decide, after word reached some level above them and came back down. Director Mueller, DNI Blair, DHS Secretary Napolitano, and NCTC Director Lieter all claimed to not have been asked.

Attorney General Eric Holder knows who advised the FBI agents. The Senate should ask him if he or the President made the call and if not, who left a national security policy decision up to “agents on the ground.”

Update: