Brennan: Bond Knew Christmas Night That Abdulmutallab Was in FBI Custody, Raised No Objections

Yesterday on Meet the Press, White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan said that Kit Bond and three other GOP leaders were personally briefed on Christmas night about the arrest of accused underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and that none of them raised objections. CQ Politics' Political Wire summarizes:

White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan revealed on Meet the Press that he briefed four Republican congressional leaders [Bond, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and Peter Hoekstra] on Christmas night about the arrest of the "underwear bomber" and the handling of the case.

Said Brennan: "None of those individuals raised any concerns with me, at that point. They didn't say, 'Is he going into military custody? Is he going to be Mirandized?' They were very appreciative of the information. We told them we'd keep them informed. And that's what we did."

The disclosure undermines GOP complaints about the reading of Miranda rights to the Nigerian suspect arrested for the attempted bombing.

As Politico's Mike Allen noted immediately after the interview, the "revelation could undermine Republican complaints." Bond's response is essentially that Brennan didn't specifically say the word, 'Mirandize.' But as many have pointed out -- and as the ranking member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence surely understood -- the fact that Abdulmutallab was cooperating with the top law enforcement agency should have made it rather obvious that he was being questioned as a criminal. 

Brennan was chief of staff to former-CIA Director George Tenet, and has a long history as a professional in the CIA.

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