Justice Department defends handling of airliner bomb suspect despite congressional criticism

Justice: Christmas bomb suspect handled correctly

WASHINGTON — Under growing criticism from Capitol Hill, the Justice Department on Thursday defended its decision to interrogate and arrest the suspected Christmas Day bomber as a criminal rather than an enemy combatant, saying it got actionable intelligence from him and would continue to do so even as he faces a trial.

The alleged bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was arrested and interrogated by the FBI before being read his Miranda rights and given access to a lawyer.

“Those who now argue that a different action should have been taken in this case were notably silent when dozens of terrorists were successfully prosecuted in federal court by the previous administration,” Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Miller’s statement came as the senior members of the Senate Intelligence Committee said the attorney general should confer with intelligence officials before placing suspected terrorists under arrest and putting them into the civilian justice system.

The FBI was following standard procedure, but Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Vice Chairman Christopher Bond, R-Mo., said the suspect might have yielded more intelligence if he had been treated as an enemy combatant rather than as a criminal with full constitutional rights.

The FBI says Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian, tried to destroy Northwest Airlines Flight 253, which was carrying nearly 300 people en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, by injecting chemicals into a package of explosives concealed in his underwear. He has pleaded not guilty to a six-count indictment.

Miller said Abdulmutallab would continue to be interrogated.

“Trying Abdulmutallab in federal court does not prevent us from obtaining additional intelligence from him. He has already provided intelligence, and we will continue to work to gather intelligence from him, as the department has done repeatedly in past cases,” Miller said.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, every terror suspect apprehended in the United States, including shoe bomber Richard Reid, has been handled the same way, Miller said.

Northwest Airlines is a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines Inc.