Terror case critics blasted

Obama adviser slams GOP for partisan barbs about Detroit bomb plot

Matthew Lee / Detroit News wire services

Washington -- An exasperated White House slammed Republicans for playing politics on national security and making ignorant allegations about the investigation into the Christmas airliner plot.

Deputy national security adviser John Brennan complained Sunday that politicians, many of them Republicans, were unfairly criticizing the administration for partisan purposes and second-guessing the case with a "500-mile screwdriver" that reaches from Washington to the scene of the attempted attack in Detroit.

"Quite frankly, I'm tiring of politicians using national security issues such as terrorism as a political football," Brennan said.

Republicans have been particularly vocal in criticizing the Obama administration's decision to charge accused bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in criminal rather than military court and allowing him to be advised of his rights, the so-called Miranda warning.

President Barack Obama reiterated his support for the handling of the case, telling CBS News in a pre-Super Bowl interview Sunday that Abdulmutallab "clammed up" after authorities had obtained actionable intelligence from him.

Obama likened the Abdulmutallab case to that of convicted shoe bomber Richard Reid, whom Obama said was read his rights within minutes of his arrest in December 2001.

"Under the previous administration, some of the same critics of our approach have been employing this policy for years," Obama said. However, the president added that the policy of reading terror suspects their rights should be reviewed.

Brennan said he had personally briefed top GOP lawmakers on Christmas night about Abdulmutallab's arrest and that none of them raised objections.

But at least two of the Republicans who Brennan said were briefed -- Missouri Sen. Christopher S. Bond and Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Holland -- disputed Brennan's version of events, denying that they were told the suspect had received a Miranda warning.

A statement by Hoekstra's office said the congressman had "a brief, nonsecure 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. The faulty decision to Mirandize Abdulmutallab was the Obama administration's, and its decision alone."

Obama also said Sunday he has not ruled out a New York federal court trial for Sept. 11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, but he was taking into account the objections of the city's mayor and police commissioner.