Writing for the Plum Line, Greg Sargent reports that Susan Collins Didn't Complain About the Handling Of Bomb Suspect When Briefed On Christmas Day:
Senator Susan Collins, who's emerged as a leading critic of the decision to Mirandize the bomb plot suspect, raised no concerns about his handling while being briefed on Christmas Day about his capture on a private call with a top Homeland Security official, a source familiar with the conversation tells me.
The call was confirmed to me by Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Bobby Whithorne, who declined to confirm details.
The claim about Collins' silence comes after Obama counterterror chief John Brennan made big news yesterday by claiming that four other top GOP Congressional officials were similiarly told that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was being held in "FBI custody," prompting no objections from the Republican leaders.
I first reported on Sen. Collins' response to the President's weekly address here and in other posts.
In a statement sent to Sargent from Kevin Kelley, her press person, Collins said:
To equate the brief conversation on non-secure telephones between Senator Collins and Deputy Secretary Jane Lute to a comprehensive briefing on the detention and questioning of Abdulmutallab is preposterous. In informing Senator Collins of Abdulmutallab's arrest, Secretary Lute appeared to know very few details.
It is not, however, surprising that the Deputy Secretary knew so little about the detention of Abdulmutallab since we now know that the Department of Justice did not consult with the Secretary of Homeland Security or apparently the Deputy Secretary on how the terrorist should be handled.
It is offensive, to Senator Collins and the American people, that the Obama Administration is more concerned with political spin to cover a mistake than with taking the actions urgently needed to improve our nation's security. Clearly, the Administration is trying to divert attention from the fact that it interrogated a foreign terrorist for less than one hour before the Justice Department unilaterally decided to Mirandize him and he stopped talking.
Senator Collins calls on the Obama Administration to immediately change its policies and ensure consultation with top intelligence and security officials before treating the capture of the next foreign terrorist as only a civilian law enforcement matter. She will continue to press for her bipartisan legislation that mandates this consultation.
As Sargent notes, the statement does NOT say which details are omitted, but he has been told that Collins was not told Abdulmutallab was in FBI custody.
More importantly, the statement does not say whether Collins was given a more through briefing subsequent to the Christmas Day phone call, one that came before her video of 30 January. I have asked the White House if she had received any such additional briefing(s). |
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