TPMMuckraker John Brennan: February 2010
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
The Obama-GOP Miranda Showdown: Everything You Think You Know Is Wrong
Justin Elliott | February 10, 2010, 11:12AM
Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), and Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan (inset)
On close scrutiny, this week's intense debate over Miranda rights for Umar Abdulmutallab -- culminating in GOP calls for a top Obama aide to resign -- largely falls apart.
The key point of dispute -- whether four Republican leaders should have assumed that the Christmas bombing suspect had been Mirandized after a phone call from Obama aide John Brennan, in which the GOPers were told that Abdulmutallab was in FBI custody -- is moot in light of the facts of the case.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (48) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)Topics: FBI, John Boehner, John Brennan, Kit Bond, Miranda rights, Mitch McConnell, Obama Administration, Pete Hoekstra, Republicans, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
John Brennan
Obama Admin On Al Qaeda: Don't Panic!
Justin Elliott | February 9, 2010, 9:17AM
Deputy National Security Adviseor John Brennan
Ramping up the push-back against GOP criticism of the handling of the attempted Christmas bombing suspect, a top Obama aide argues in a new op-ed that America's "system of justice" is fully capable of dealing with terrorists.
Writing in USA Today, Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan calls, essentially, for the United States to calm down.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (10) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Al Qaeda, John Brennan, Obama Administration, Terrorism, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Top Republicans Don't Dispute They Were Told Xmas Bomber Was Held By FBI
Justin Elliott | February 8, 2010, 4:02PM
National Security Adviser John Brennan with (clockwise from top left) Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
There's a key point in danger of being lost in all the he-said-he-said froth over what Congressional Republicans were told in the hours after the failed Christmas attack: none of the GOP leaders disputes that an Obama aide informed them that suspect Umar Abdulmutallab was being held in FBI custody.
The real dispute is over what flows from that fact. John Brennan, Obama's national security adviser, said on Meet The Press Sunday that he called four Republicans -- Sens. Mitch McConnell and Kit Bond and Reps. John Boehner and Pete Hoekstra -- the night of the attempted Christmas attack.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (49) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)Topics: John Boehner, John Brennan, Kit Bond, Miranda rights, Mitch McConnell, Northwest Flight 253, Obama Administration, Pete Hoekstra, Republicans, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Guantanamo
False 'Recidivism' Meme Lives On In Obama Admin Letter, ABC Report
Justin Elliott | February 3, 2010, 5:54PM
President Obama and John Brennan, deputy national security adviser
The Obama Administration has adopted the flawed rhetoric of "recidivism" to discuss former Guantanamo detainees who are now said to be engaged in violence, according to a new ABC report, which uses the same problematic language.
The item by ABC's Jake Tapper, titled "Brennan: All Transferred Detainees Who Returned to Terrorism Were Released by Bush, No Recidivism for Those Released by Obama," broke the news of a letter from national security adviser John Brennan to Nancy Pelosi that states:
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (7) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: ABC, Defense Department, Guantanamo, Jake Tapper, John Brennan, Nancy Pelosi, Obama Administration, Pentagon, Recidivism
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