The Obama administration is moving to regain the upper hand in the political wars over terrorism by mounting a newly aggressive defense of its handling of the Christmas Day bombing suspect.
After enduring weeks of withering criticism from Republicans, Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday fired off a five-page letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and ten other Republicans who questioned why suspect Umar Abdulmutallab was interrogated for only 50 minutes, why he was later read Miranda warnings and why no consideration was given at the outset to placing him in military custody.
Holder also defended the broader strategy of trying some alleged terrorists in the civilian criminal justice system.
“I made the decision to charge Mr. Abdulmutallab with federal crimes, and to seek his detention in connection with those charges, with the knowledge of, and with no objection from, all other relevant departments of the government,” Holder wrote. “I am confident that, as a result of the hard work of the FBI and our career federal prosecutors, we will be able to successfully prosecute Mr. Abdulmutallab under the federal criminal law. I am equally confident that the decision to address Mr. Abdulmutallab's actions through our criminal justice system has not, and will not, compromise our ability to obtain information needed to detect and prevent future attacks.”
Separately, the White House moved to deflect some of the soft-on-terror criticism Wednesday by declaring that no plea deal is on the table. “Abdulmutallab has not been offered anything,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters. “The Department of Justice takes his cooperation ‘into consideration.’”
The claim came as something of a surprise since Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan indicated last month that such a deal was “on the table.” - Politico Story
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