Sen. Sessions Repeats Debunked Claim About Christmas Bomber
On March 12, 2010, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) penned a column in the New York Daily News in which he claimed that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab stopped talking after he was read his rights. In reality, the failed underwear bomber was Mirandized after he stopped talking and later resumed talking to the authorities.
Sen. Sessions Lies About The Christmas Bomber
Sen. Jeff Sessions:
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Christmas Day bomber, is the textbook example of a terrorist who should have been handed over to the military. As both a war criminal and a foreign Al Qaeda agent, he easily met the legal criteria for military detention. We'll never know how much timely intelligence was lost because Abdulmutallab was quickly Mirandized and stopped talking. As a prosecutor who has tried hundreds of cases, I know firsthand that suspects often stop talking after they are read their rights. Their lawyers will advise them to do the same. [New York Daily News, 3/12/10; emphasis added]
Abdulmutallab Stopped Talking Before He Was Mirandized
LA Times: "Abdulmutallab Was Not Read His Rights Until He Made It Clear That He Was Not Going To Say Anything Else." The Los Angeles Times reported:
The decision to advise the accused Christmas Day attacker of his right to remain silent was made after teleconferences involving at least four government agencies -- and only after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had stopped talking to authorities, according to knowledgeable law enforcement officials.
Among those involved in the hastily called teleconferences were representatives from the Justice Department and the FBI, along with officials from the State Department and the CIA.
"It was a [law enforcement] community-wide conference, and they discussed a number of things," one source said on condition of anonymity. "That's when decisions were made on which course was going to proceed, to Mirandize him or otherwise."
The source said that Abdulmutallab was not read his rights until he made it clear that he was not going to say anything else. [Los Angeles Times, 2/1/10; emphasis added]
Abdulmutallab Resumed Talking To Authorities
Abdulmutallab Started Talking Again After The FBI Contacted His Family. As reported by the New York Times, "Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a jetliner bound for Detroit on Dec. 25, started talking to investigators after two of his family members arrived in the United States and helped earn his cooperation, a senior administration official said Tuesday evening [...] 'With the family, the F.B.I. approached the suspect,' the senior administration official said, speaking to reporters at the White House on the condition of anonymity because of the pending legal case. 'He has been cooperating for days.'" [New York Times, 2/2/10]
