Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Republicans Feigning Ignorance (or Maybe Not) On Mirandizing

Whether they knew or didn't, either way, republicans look like fools. Counterterrorism Chief John Brennan said on Sunday, he briefed republican congress members on the process for the underwear bomber, but republicans are saying they had no idea that the underwear bomber would be mirandized. (Read Brennan's op-ed today on republican fear mongering in USA Today here). There's just more politics here. Republicans don't have bombs in their underwear but their underwear is in a bunch over Eric Holder. More of those good old fashioned conservative values at play. There's just something about Eric Holder. Hmmmmmm.......
“The fact that these Republicans are airing such criticisms now, after supporting the Bush Administration’s treatment of similar cases in the exact same way, shows how far they will go to politicize national security. Even more troubling is their fear mongering and use of misinformation to make their case,” said Regan Lachapelle, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Indeed, the so-called shoe bomber seven years ago was tried in a civilian criminal court.

In the letter, McConnell demands written answers from Holder as to why intelligence officials weren’t consulted about whether Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab should have been read his Miranda rights and charged in civilian court, whether Justice had developed a protocol for questioning terror suspects apprehended on American soil, and why a new Obama administration interrogation team designed to handle high value suspects isn’t yet operational. Politico

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