Free Republic

Yesterday on Meet the Press, Obama counterterrorism adviser John Brennan lashed out at Republicans for daring to criticize the Obama administration’s bungling of the interrogation of Abdulmutallab, the Christmas bomber — and said Republicans should have known he would automatically be Mirandized once the FBI began questioning him. Brennan claimed that he spoke with four Republicans on Christmas night — Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Kit Bond, and Pete Hoekstra — and told them that Mr. Abdulmutallab “was in F.B.I. custody” and that they should have understood that “F.B.I. custody” meant reading Miranda rights in a civilian process. “None of those...

The Obama administration has found a new angle to justify its decision to treat Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab like a civilian criminal: Richard Reid, the Shoe Bomber was tried in a civilian court during George W. Bush's presidency. However, as Mike Sullivan - who prosecuted Richard Reid in federal court - noted in a recent interview with Fox News: Military tribunals had only been established a few weeks prior to the attempted shoe bombing incident. Sullivan expressed confidence that "had Mr. Reid's plane landed at Logan Airport in Dec. 2003, versus Dec. 2001, we would have had the discussion and made...

The Justice Department confirmed last week that FBI agents in Afghanistan are reading Miranda warnings to suspected terrorists captured there, a practice that Republican congressmen this week branded as "crazy" and "stupid." Miranda warnings were mandated by a U.S. Supreme Court decision that said domestic law enforcement agencies must inform criminal suspects arrested in the United States of their rights under the 5th Amendment. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law," says the typical Miranda warning. "You have the right to an attorney present during...