White House: Kit Bond Owes WH, Law Enforcement an Apology
EmailWhite House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs Thursday afternoon said that the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., owes people in the White House and in law enforcement an apology for alleging in a recent letter that the administration — for political reasons — leaked information it shouldn't have shared about Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab.
Bond, Gibbs said, "owes an apology to the professionals in the law enforcement community and those that work in this building…who work each and every day to keep the American people safe and would never ever, ever knowingly release or unknowingly release classified information that could endanger an operation or an interrogation."
Earlier today, Bond wrote to President Obama that on Monday afternoon, the leadership of the Senate Intelligence Committee as told by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that Abdulmutallab has been willing "to provide critical information" in recent days.
"FBI officials stressed the importance of not disclosing the fact of his cooperation in order to protect on-going and follow-on operations to neutralize additional threats to the American public," Bond wrote. "FBI Director Bob Mueller personally stressed to me that keeping the fact of his cooperation quiet was vital to preventing future attacks against the United States."
So, Bond said, he was chagrined to learn that Tuesday evening the White House arranged a briefing for reporters "to announce Abdulmutallab’s cooperation and to laud the events that led to his decision to cooperate with law enforcement personnel. This information immediately hit the air waves globally and, no doubt, reached the ears of our enemies abroad."
Bond said the "release of this sensitive information has no doubt been helpful" to Abdulmutallab's "terrorist cohorts around the world."
Gibbs said "no briefing is done here or anywhere in this administration where classified information is used in a place where it shouldn't be."
The White House spokesman said that news that Abdulmutallab was cooperating again — shared at a congressional hearing on Tuesday by director of National Intelligence Admiral Dennis Blair (ret.) and FBI director Mueller was "not something that was timed purposefully."
But after the information was shared with the public, Gibbs said, "we felt it important to contextualize… what this testimony meant." He asserted that "any briefing that's done here in order to ensure that the information that's in the public is correct is done in conjunction with many agencies and done so, so that information that is classified and shouldn't be released isn't released, and in this case, obviously, it was not.
Gibbs also questioned why Bond would during a hearing on Tuesday say that Abdulmutallab "refused to cooperate after he was Mirandized" if he had been briefed on Monday that Abdulmutallab was cooperating again.
"Why, if he was briefed on Monday, why on Tuesday, why does he say that the Abdulmutallab — the result of his refusal to cooperate after he was Mirandized? Why does Senator Bond continue to knowingly not have information curb what he's saying? Or is this a bunch of politics?"
(A Bond spokeswoman said that when the senator, "during the hearing, talked about the Christmas Day bomber not talking, he was referring to the five weeks he was silent after being Mirandized. As Bond has repeatedly pointed out, that's five weeks where terrorists got a free pass and a head start to cover their tracks.")*
In his letter, Bond also criticized the decision to read the suspect his Miranda rights, a sentiment echoed by other Republicans as well.
"Because we treated him in this fashion, we followed Miranda and advised him of his right to remain silent, losing five crucial weeks for obtaining imminent threat information," Bond wrote.
On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder in a letter suggested Senate Republicans were playing politics with this issue, noting that similar practices in dealing with accused terrorists “were not criticized when employed by previous Administrations." Holder noted that in 2001 failed shoe-bomber Richard Reid was “advised of his right to remain silent and to consult with an attorney within five minutes of being removed from the aircraft (and was read or reminded of these rights a total of four times within 48 hours).”
– jpt
* This was added after posting.
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Just saw Bond on MSNBC(Andrea Mitchell)
and he said the equivalent of “BRING
IT ON”.
Posted by: Sir Toby Belch | February 4, 2010, 1:49 pm 1:49 pm
“The White House “would never ever ever knowingly release or unknowlingly release information that could endanger an operation,” Gibbs said.”
lol
And how does he KNOW they wouldn’t ‘unknowingly’ do so?
It’s a good thing I wasn’t in the room when he said it. I would’ve laughed so hard and probably made a loud reference to the lack of thought that went into such a claim.
Unknowingly, of course.
Posted by: Joe White | February 4, 2010, 1:49 pm 1:49 pm
THIS ADMINISTRATION CANNOT BE TRUSTED. THEY BASED THE ENTIRE 2008 CAMPAIGN ON LIES. THEY NEED TO CREATE JOBS, REDUCE SPENDING AND DEBT, PAY ATTENTION TO HOMELAND SECURITY, AMONG OTHER THINGS. WE DON’T WANT THEIR GOVERNMENT-RUN HCR. This corrupt administration has no problem governing “against” the will of the people of America. If they cram their HCR down our throats in 2010 – maybe we’ll cram it down theirs in November.
Posted by: NO MORE LIES! | February 4, 2010, 2:00 pm 2:00 pm
Bond is a corrupt old drunk, who is retiring after this term (not soon enough), and is just perpetuating the all too prevalent lies of the GOP!
Posted by: Dan | February 4, 2010, 2:18 pm 2:18 pm
Maybe we should be asking whether or not “the FBI specifically told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee not to reveal it”. If they did, then the ball is back in Obama’s court. Why did they reveal what the FBI asked the SIC not to reveal?
Posted by: Axey | February 4, 2010, 2:24 pm 2:24 pm
“Bond questioned why the White House disclosed the information to reporters when the FBI specifically told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee not to reveal it.”
Now that’s a legitimate question, boys and girls, and thus far I haven’t seen nor heard an answer. And Beltway Bob’s blather simply doesn’t count.
Posted by: Dell | February 4, 2010, 2:25 pm 2:25 pm
If the FBI did actually ask the SIC not to reveal the information the WH is revealing, then for what purpose, other than political, could they have possibly have had?
Posted by: Axey | February 4, 2010, 2:25 pm 2:25 pm
Plame affair revisited?
Bring on the special prosecutors!
Posted by: csbd | February 4, 2010, 2:30 pm 2:30 pm
So let me see if I get this right. Bond accuses the white house of leaking information that he and other senators were told the FBI wanted to keep silent. The White House admits it leaked that info, and Bond is the one that is supposed to apologize?! For what? Calling a spade a spade? or simply for hurting Obama’s feelings?
Now Gibbs AND Obama owe Bond an apology.
Posted by: Zaggs | February 4, 2010, 3:05 pm 3:05 pm
Bond is right. This administration has a strange habit of telling the terrorists every move they are making so the terrorists can adjust. Bond needs to pursue the fact that Holder and Obama are wrong. We are at war and treat as such.
Posted by: Jim Rod | February 4, 2010, 3:10 pm 3:10 pm
Don’t worry lefties. The dems will hide behind the Bushes again on this one. Seems everytime they step into it the blame and hide behind the Bush. Some day some dog is going to come and lift a leg on who is hiding in the bushes.
Posted by: Jim Rod | February 4, 2010, 3:20 pm 3:20 pm
I suspect as soon as Obama apoligizes for his actions/words when he jumped to side with the professor before finding out the facts and said the police officer acted stupidly and said he was being profiled. The sad part is he doesnt even know what profiling is. The officer was responding to a call and had to take some type of action or be subject to being fired. He didnt just stop the guy but was assigned a call. He never did apologize for his actions just had a beer summit.
Posted by: Stanley | February 4, 2010, 3:31 pm 3:31 pm
The right wing gets very upset when their talking points are exposed as completely false.
Posted by: Ryan C | February 4, 2010, 3:32 pm 3:32 pm
Ryan C I think you guys need to rethink the term The Right. Perhaps you should start calling The Right (Americans) and by the way (Free Americans) who believe in free enterprise and the RIGHT to pursue happiness in a free non socialist and non dictorship country. And do not forget why we are here??? No taxation without representation! Man that felt good. Learned that in the 1st grade.
Posted by: Jim Rod | February 4, 2010, 3:37 pm 3:37 pm
The difference is the “Shoe Bomber” pled guilty as soon as he was caught and there was no need for a long drawn out trial. He was charged and jailed quickly.
Posted by: TXAR.55 | February 4, 2010, 3:41 pm 3:41 pm
Also on the above comment on the shoe bomber-that incident happen only a few days after 9/11 and all the rules of trying the terrorist were not in force yet. We had never been attacked like that before and the laws were not made as they are today.
Posted by: TXAR.55 | February 4, 2010, 3:45 pm 3:45 pm
Well it looks like the Obama administration owes the American people an apology for revealing that this dude was cooperating. Thanks again to the Obama administration for making us less secure against our enemies. And this was all done for political reasons to deflect criticism that about how they handled addulmmutalb, or whatever his name is.
Posted by: jonny | February 4, 2010, 3:49 pm 3:49 pm
“Ryan C I think you guys need to rethink the term The Right. Perhaps you should start calling The Right (Americans) and by the way (Free Americans) who believe in free enterprise and the RIGHT to pursue happiness in a free non socialist and non dictorship country.”
You mean the Right who envisioned a permanent majority just a few years ago?
Sorry that I call the right wing exactly what it is versus the fairy tale you guys tell yourselves.
Posted by: Ryan C | February 4, 2010, 3:51 pm 3:51 pm
“The difference is the “Shoe Bomber” pled guilty as soon as he was caught and there was no need for a long drawn out trial. He was charged and jailed quickly.”
Geez how many things can a right winger get wrong is such a short comment.
1) He was charged in Jan 2002 a little less than a month after the incident
2) He pled guilty to those charges in Oct of 2002
3) Reid was remanded to jail due to seriousness of the charges and as a flight risk.
Posted by: Ryan C | February 4, 2010, 3:56 pm 3:56 pm
psst: it’s ludicrous to pretend this is a “right wing” thing”
Sure it is.
The right wing screamed about how dare we try this terrorist in our judicial system.
They screamed that we didnt torture the guy.
And Kit Bond…after remaining silent for 8 years, he recently decided that he did not like how the Shoe Bomber case was handled.
The right wing is now intellectually bankrupt and hypocritical as a rule.
Posted by: Ryan C | February 4, 2010, 4:12 pm 4:12 pm
susie wrote
“psst: it’s ludicrous to pretend this is a “right wing” thing … most of the best press on it so far is from the LEFT. ”
Yes what is it about the left always needing to blame republicans? They have the supermajority, can’t get anything done and blame the republicans. They can’t seem to take any repsonsibilty for themselves.
Posted by: jonny | February 4, 2010, 4:14 pm 4:14 pm
Ryan C Kit Bond did speak out about the shoe bomber. man call the DNC and tell them you need better blog materials or a teleprompter. The problem is you listen to what you want to hear and block out all the punch lines. Bon is right. Obama and gang give away our hand every time. Like he is doing it to help them. We are at war and this guy tried to blow up a plane as an act of war
Posted by: Jim Rod | February 4, 2010, 4:24 pm 4:24 pm
Republicans weaken our national security by creating the divide. The fact that they continue to lie day in and day out will only hurt themselves come November and by not getting in the game will hurt the majority, which are all Americans. When will they join in debate and actually do something? It’s funny how the “right” side is critizing dems for “not doing anything”, but think they can get away with it as well. It’s time the Republicans get into the conversation and actually prove themselves “right”. This country is heading down the wrong path and the Repubicans through their blindness are leading the way.
Posted by: The Dude | February 4, 2010, 4:31 pm 4:31 pm
“Also on the above comment on the shoe bomber-that incident happen only a few days after 9/11.”
Right wing math….3 months = a few days
Posted by: Ryan C | February 4, 2010, 4:35 pm 4:35 pm
Ryan C —- Seriously, you don’t get tired of writing “right wing”? Geez it seems childish and quite annoying. This guy should apologize when Pelosi apologizes to the CIA.
Posted by: lfrichar | February 4, 2010, 4:54 pm 4:54 pm
“”"This country is heading down the wrong path and the Repubicans through their blindness are leading the way.”"”
Posted by: The Dude
Are you in the USA? Because the Dems enjoyed a short lived supermajority due to inaction. So please point out how the GOP is leading us down the wrong path? I can show you many instances of the Dems doing this!
Posted by: lfrichar | February 4, 2010, 4:56 pm 4:56 pm
The Dude: The first instance is raising the debt ceiling today…again. ALL GOP said no and 30 Dems said no, but it passed so Pelosi can continue her spending ways. Until we cut the credit card, we will rpolong hitting bottom.
Posted by: lfrichar | February 4, 2010, 4:58 pm 4:58 pm
===This country is heading down the wrong path and the Repubicans through their blindness are leading the way. ===
The first time in history that the minority party is blamed for leading the country astray.
Posted by: Axey | February 4, 2010, 5:50 pm 5:50 pm
First, Repubs attack Obama because Underwear Boy was Mirandized and allegedly stopped cooperating. Then we find out he talked plenty in the first 50 minutes and a whole lot more in the last two weeks. So now the Repub attack is, “Don’t tell anyone he’s cooperating”. Not that long ago, there were serious Senate Repub statesmen. Now there seem to be only hypocritical hacks giving aid and comfort to our enemies.
Posted by: B.Bear | February 4, 2010, 5:59 pm 5:59 pm
What Republicans are doing is aiding and abetting the enemy. Al Qaida’s man objective is to destroy our way of life. Bin Laden believes that they have the potential to divide and frighten our country if they are successful with another attack. I believe the message from him about climate change was a code for another attack. This plan is being fueled by Hannity, O’Reilly, Cheney, Beck and Republicans criticism of the President war on terror which is based on lies to scare the country. This is evil and Antichrist. They are now challenging the FBI and other law enforcement abilities in time of war. This is no difference than what Jane Fonda did. How can Republicans get away with this America? Please pray that Bin Laden is to not successful in killing more Americans in the near future and petition Fox and Republicans to stop this rhetoric in time of war.
Posted by: Harvey | February 4, 2010, 6:20 pm 6:20 pm
I heard Kit Bond this pm on Television and he definitely owes the White House an apology — I think he should think about retiring.
Posted by: paulet | February 4, 2010, 6:32 pm 6:32 pm
I doubt that there are very many Americans these days who would believe ANYTHING coming out of the White House. In this case, it’s clear that Mr. Obabble is trying to save his bacon and his Attorney General.
Posted by: Ron | February 4, 2010, 7:24 pm 7:24 pm
Another case of IOKIYAR – just ask Valerie Plame what Bond really thinks about people who leak secrets.
What a hypocrite.
Posted by: Flash Override | February 4, 2010, 7:40 pm 7:40 pm
I would like to see Obama apologize to the Supreme Court for the false accusations he made during the state of the union speech. The administration has no class.
Posted by: Jeff | February 4, 2010, 8:04 pm 8:04 pm
The first time in history that the minority party is blamed for leading the country astray.
Posted by: Axey
when the minority party commits treason every other day… yes
Posted by: Score | February 5, 2010, 12:26 am 12:26 am
A purely sophomore administration. Grow up; stop campaigning, govern! Keep our money safe; our lives safe; put the public as #1…..not #1 enemy.
Posted by: Sandy | February 5, 2010, 7:58 am 7:58 am
Everything this president and his
Democrat colleagues in Congress do
is politically motivated!
The president almost never stays in the
Whitehouse to do his job!
He is always off somewhere giving a
political speech!
Perpetual Campaign Mode!
There is a two step solution to this
problem.
First we voters take away the
Democrat super majorities in the
House and Senate in the 2010 elections.
Second we boot this socialist in
centrist clothing president out of
office in 2012!
Posted by: reaganfan | February 5, 2010, 12:52 pm 12:52 pm
Harvey said:
I believe the message from him about climate change was a code for another attack. This plan is being fueled by Hannity, O’Reilly, Cheney, Beck and Republicans criticism of the President war on terror which is based on lies to scare the country. This is evil and Antichrist. They are now challenging the FBI and other law enforcement abilities in time of war.
Wow Harvey you should see a
Psychiatrist and soon!
How is it evil and Antichrist to
challenge the abilities of the FBI
and “other” law enforcement when they
are failing us?
The “Christmas Bomber” should never
have been allowed to enter the U.S.!
The decision made by AG Eric Holder to
try the 9/11 terrorists in New York
was a clueless, insensitve, decision
made by a man and administration that
is more concerne about offending
Muslims then protecting this
country’s citizens!
The decision to close Gitmo
is another wrong-headed action meant to
curry favor with a ruthless enemy who
would cut off your head without
hesitation!
Sorry Harvey, it is the Obama
Administration that owes an apology to
the American People for losing track
of the fact that their major
responsibility is to keep us safe!
By the way we still believe in
free speech even if President Obama
and his supporters don’t!
Posted by: reaganfan | February 5, 2010, 1:09 pm 1:09 pm