Flight 253

9/11, Abdulmutallab, Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Flight 253, Gitmo, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Military Commissions

AG Eric Holder ‘not scared’ what KSM might say yet dodges reporter’s questions on 9/11 trial (Update: Bloomberg sings)

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Attorney General Eric Holder dodged a reporter’s questions yesterday about the 9/11 trials by sending security to block a clearly marked Fox News crew from approaching him. While Mr. Holder testified on November 18, 2009 that he was, “not scared of what Khalid Sheikh Mohammed might say at trial,” he has noticeably avoided tough questions since that day.

One might ask Mr. Holder if he is considering moving the 9/11 trial out of New York City and back to a Military Commissions. Many want to know who at the DOJ sent in the clean team with instructions to read Miranda warnings to Abdulmuttalab on Christmas Day, whereupon the Flight 253 bomber went silent and the gathering of intelligence ended. In addition, is there a Plan B for closing Gitmo if Congress does not lift the restrictions on moving those there to the United States for detention purposes?

On a related note, the advisory community board that encompasses the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan where the 9/11 trials would take place voted last night to ask the Obama administration to consider moving them elsewhere. [Added note: The New York Post reports that the board’s vote was unanimous, 42 to 0.] One resident had a pointed question that the Attorney General should also answer:

“In what communities in the United States of America are children required to walk by military conveys and snipers on a daily basis on their way to school?”

You can run, Mr. Holder, but you can not hide from the American people forever your views and plans on national security.

Update: New York City Mayor Bloomberg joins the chorus asking the trials to be moved. (Most are suggesting they be held on a military installation. Great idea! How about at Gitmo, using the military commissions Congress modified last year and President Obama signed into law?)

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: