New revelations make Republican Senators’ misrepresentation of the rights of the accused “underwear” bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab even more difficult to understand. Nation DC Editor Christopher Hayes appears
on Countdown with Keith Olbermann to discuss news that John
Brennan, assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser
for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, briefed the Senators on
Abdulmutallab’s rights Christmas Day.

All together, the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House
Republican Leader John Boehner, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice
Chairman Kit Bond, and House Intelligence Ranking Member Pete Hoekstra,
had prior knowledge of Abdulmutallab’s rights yet continued to state he
had not been taken into military custody.

In a clip from Meet the Press Brennan says: “They knew that in
FBI custody means there is a process you follow, as far as Mirandizing
and presenting him in front of the magistrate.” Hayes argues the topic
as a “non-issue” where the Republicans have fabricated the debate for
their own political endeavors and says: “I mean, I think that Brennan’s
report of the briefing shows this is completely, completely fabricated.”

—Clarissa Léon

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