Wash. Post editorial board misses admin. comments on HIG involvement in Shahzad case

Written by Eric Schroeck

Published

Stating that the “Obama administration owes answers on how it handled [the] Times Square suspect,” a May 5 Washington Post editorial falsely claimed that the administration has not said whether the high-value interrogation group (HIG) was involved in questioning Faisal Shahzad. In fact, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and several news reports stated on May 4 that HIG has been involved.

Wash. Post editorial: Admin has not said whether HIG is involved in Shahzad case

From a May 5 Washington Post editorial, titled, “Obama administration owes answers on how it handled Times Square suspect”:

The administration has also not publicly addressed whether it consulted with intelligence officials on the best way to deal with Mr. Shahzad. Nor has it said whether its High Value Interrogation Group (HIG) -- a group of law enforcement and intelligence experts specially trained for terrorism cases -- was up and running and deployed in the Shahzad case.

In fact, Gibbs said Shahzad questioning “draws on the resources of the HIG”

Gibbs: "[Q]uestioning draws on the expertise and the resources of the HIG." In a May 4 press briefing that began around 4 p.m., Gibbs stated, according to a White House transcript, that the interrogation of Shahzad “draws on the expertise and the resources of the HIG.” From the briefing:

Q: Was the high-value detainee interrogation group -- was that deployed for this?

GIBBS: The questioning draws on the expertise and the resources of the HIG.

Q: But, wait, it draws on the --

GIBBS: Expertise and the resources. I am not going to get --

Q: So it wasn't actually deployed?

GIBBS: I'm not going to get into the identities of who's exactly in the room, but, again, it draws on the resources of the HIG, yes.

May 4 reports also said HIG is involved in Shahzad case

Tapper: HIG “is involved in the interrogation of Faisal Shahzad.” In a May 4 post on his Political Punch blog (posted at 1:08 p.m.), ABC News' Jake Tapper reported: “ABC News has learned that the High-Value Interrogation Group, or HIG, is involved in the interrogation of Faisal Shahzad, the man arrested last night in the investigation into the failed Times Square bombing.”

Isikoff: Administration using HIG in Shahzad questioning. In a May 4 post on Newsweek's Declassified blog (posted at 4:24 p.m.), Michael Isikoff wrote: “In the questioning of Shahzad, Obama admiinistraiton [sic] officials also used -- in a 'support' role, said one official -- experts from a special interagency High Value Interrogation Group (or HIG) that was created last year by the White House to handle the interrogations of important terror suspects. Members of the HIG, such as behavioral science experts and other specialialists [sic], helped 'inform' the questioning of Shahzad, the official said.”

NY Times: HIG “tapped for its expertise.” In a May 4 article, The New York Times reported: “The White House said that the Central Intelligence Agency and the director of national intelligence were consulted before the decision to read Mr. Shahzad his Miranda rights, and that the high-value interrogation group that specializes in terrorism cases was tapped for its expertise.”