Quick Fact: IBD advances dubious claim that Abdulmutallab stopped cooperating after being read Miranda rights

Written by Eric Schroeck

Published

An Investor's Business Daily editorial claimed that the Obama administration allowed Northwest Airlines bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to “clam up” by “reading him his Miranda rights.” But numerous news outlets have reported that according to federal officials, federal agents decided to give Abdulmutallab a Miranda warning after he had already stopped cooperating.

IBD: Obama administration read Abdulmutallab his Miranda rights, “allowing him to clam up”

From a February 3 Investor's Business Daily editorial:

The administration boasts that Undiebomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is now “cooperating” -- as if they didn't blow the chance for a treasure trove of lifesaving information from him about al-Qaida's structure and future plots by reading him his Miranda rights, getting him a lawyer, and allowing him to clam up less than an hour after being detained.

But federal officials reportedly claim Abdulmutallab stopped cooperating before he was read Miranda rights

Washington Post: “New details” suggest Abdulmutallab “clammed up even before he was informed of his right to remain silent.” A January 29 Washington Post article reported that “new details” suggest Abdulmutallab “clammed up even before he was informed of his right to remain silent.” From the article:

But new details complicate that narrative, suggesting that Abdulmutallab, 23, clammed up even before he was informed of his right to remain silent -- a warning that could have come later had he been placed in military custody. He continued to speak to authorities before undergoing treatment for second- and third-degree burns below the waist that occurred during a bid to detonate explosives on Northwest Flight 253.

[...]

During a 50-minute interrogation, another federal source said, Abdulmutallab provided the FBI with key information, including where he was trained for the operation and who gave him nearly 80 grams of PETN, a volatile chemical often employed by the military.

The early FBI interrogation was “quite valuable,” said National Counterterrorism Center chief Michael E. Leiter, testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee this week. While the conversations continued, FBI and Justice Department officials discussed whether and how the suspect should be informed of his right to remain silent, but no Miranda warnings were given during the early questioning.

Medical personnel wheeled in Abdulmutallab for treatment later in the afternoon of Dec. 25. About 5 p.m., White House counterterrorism adviser John O. Brennan chaired a videoconference with intelligence community representatives.

Agents again visited Abdulmutallab about 9 p.m., finding him more combative and allegedly citing jihadist intentions. He asked for a lawyer. FBI agents then read him his rights. Abdulmutallab was charged in a criminal complaint the next day, after a meeting of the president's national security team in which the Justice Department outlined its approach.

LA Times: Abdulmutallab “stopped cooperating,” and “it was then that agents advised him of his Miranda rights.” Similarly, a February 3 Los Angeles Times article reported: “He talked to agents for about 50 minutes on the day of his arrest. Doctors interrupted the interrogation to sedate him and treat his injuries. When Abdulmutallab awakened, he stopped cooperating, officials said, and it was then that agents advised him of his Miranda rights against self-incrimination.”

Reuters: Abdulmutallab “stopped cooperating and he was then read” Miranda rights. A February 3 Reuters article stated: “The Obama administration has been criticized by Republicans and Democrats because Abdulmutallab was interviewed by FBI agents for about an hour before he stopped cooperating and he was then read his so-called Miranda rights, providing him full U.S. constitutional legal protections.”