Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

Cheney, Ridge Pioneered Miranda Attack On Obama

Justin Elliott | February 9, 2010, 3:43PM

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Former Vice President Dick Cheney

It turns out that the criticism surrounding the decision to read Miranda rights to the attempted Christmas bombing suspect didn't originally come from any office-holding Republican.

Rather, it was pioneered by Tom Ridge and Dick Cheney in the days after Christmas, and only later picked up by members of Congress like Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) and Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO).

With the heated Obama-GOP back-and-forth this week over the Mirandizing of Umar Abdulmutallab, we decided to look back at the facts of what happened, and when critics pounced on the issue.

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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.

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Northwest Flight 253

McCain Again Cites Bogus Abdulmutallab 'One-Way' Ticket Meme (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | February 4, 2010, 2:01PM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

A couple of weeks ago, Sen. John McCain got into a heated exchange with an Obama counterterrorism official who corrected the senator's false statement that the accused Christmas bomber traveled to Detroit on a one-way ticket.

Well apparently McCain, the third-ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, didn't learn his lesson. Last night on Fox he once again claimed that the "fact" that Umar Abdulmutallab was traveling on a one-way ticket should have been a red flag.

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Northwest Flight 253

McCain Gets Schooled On Bogus Abdulmutallab 'One-Way Ticket' Meme (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | January 20, 2010, 12:09PM

The one-way ticket meme lives!

Quizzing an administration official at the Homeland Security Committee Flight 253 hearing today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) pointed to a missed red flag: the fact that accused Christmas bomber Umar Abdulmutallab bought a one-way ticket with cash to travel from Lagos, Nigeria, to Detroit.

The only problem with that, of course, is that it's simply not true. As TPMmuckraker has documented, Abdulmutallab flew to Detroit on a round-trip ticket purchased in Ghana, according to the Nigerian government.

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Northwest Flight 253

Three Senate Panels Kick Off Flight 253 Hearings Today

Justin Elliott | January 20, 2010, 9:13AM

As three separate Senate committees today hold hearings on the failed Christmas attack over Detroit, watch for Republicans to take the opportunity to ramp up their criticism of the Obama Administration.

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Airline Security

Poison Pen: Could Family Disputes Game The New Watchlist System?

Justin Elliott | January 13, 2010, 10:35AM

A TSA agent at Newark Airport

As the Obama Administration prepares to loosen terrorist watchlist standards in the wake of the failed Christmas attack, experts say the phenomenon known as "poison pen" warnings could become a greater problem.

The term refers to a false warning about a potential threat, usually given overseas, and sometimes arising from family or other interpersonal disputes.

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Northwest Flight 253

Obama Admin To Congress: It Was Not A One-Way Ticket

Justin Elliott | January 13, 2010, 8:53AM

President Barack Obama

Remember the bogus "one-way ticket" meme we told you about earlier this week? That's the false idea that's been ricocheting around the media that Umar Abdulmutallab bought a one-way fare to fly to Detroit on Christmas, supposedly another red flag missed by authorities.

Well the myth was repeated so many times, the Obama Administration had to go to Congress to disabuse members of the idea. The Los Angeles Times reports:

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Northwest Flight 253

The Bogus Flight 253 'One-Way Ticket' Meme: Anatomy Of A Myth

Justin Elliott | January 11, 2010, 8:36AM

Umar Abdulmutallab (Fmr. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, President Obama, and columnist Michael Gerson inset)

In a remarkable example of how bad information can travel far and wide, dozens of media outlets around the world have said Umar Abdulmutallab was traveling on a one-way ticket to Detroit when he allegedly tried to blow up Flight 253, even though that has never been substantiated and appears to be flat wrong.

Abdulmutallab's "one-way ticket" has been cited in recent days by the AP, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post, even though the Nigerian government said Dec. 28 that Abdulmutallab had a round-trip ticket, and provided details to back it up.

The "one-way ticket" meme was originally sourced to anonymous U.S. officials and has since been recited as an undisputed fact.

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Northwest Flight 253

Abdulmutallab Organized 'War On Terror Week' At UK University -- See The Poster

Justin Elliott | January 8, 2010, 12:18PM

Flight 253 suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

It's been reported in England and the U.S. in recent days that two years before Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly attempted to blow up Flight 253, the college Islamic Society of which he was president organized a "War on Terror Week."

But the poster from that University College London event, which has a corner notation "Approved by Umar Farook," has not been in circulation. Check it out below.

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Northwest Flight 253

State Dept. Didn't Think Abdulmutallab Had Visa -- Because Of A Misspelling

Justin Elliott | January 7, 2010, 5:31PM

Flight 253 suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

The Flight 253 review just released by the White House reveals that a "misspelling" of Umar Abdulmutallab's name led the State Department to believe he did not have the U.S. visa that he did in fact have -- but the implications of this revelation are not immediately clear.

Here's the nugget from the second-to-last page of the six-page report:

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Northwest Flight 253

Flight 253 Review Details Embassy Meeting With Abdulmutallab's Father

Justin Elliott | January 7, 2010, 5:09PM

The US embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.

The White House just released the unclassified summary of the security review of Flight 253, and we've given it a read for new facts about what was known about Umar Abdulmutallab.

What's new here? Not much, seemingly. But here's one nugget that popped out providing some clarity on the nature of the visit by Abdulmutallab's father to a US embassy in Nigeria:

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Northwest Flight 253

Flight 253 Intel: What Did They Know And When Did They Know It?

Justin Elliott | January 7, 2010, 2:19PM

Later today President Obama is scheduled to talk about the latest details from the security review of the failed Flight 253 attack.

National Security Adviser James Jones is predicting that Americans will feel "a certain shock" by the results of the review.

But in the meantime, as Josh noted on the Editors Blog, we thought it would be worthwhile to compile what has been publicly reported about what U.S. government agencies knew about Abdulmutallab, including the supposed "warning signs" that were missed.

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