Authorities are moving towards a plea deal with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the alleged Christmas Day Bomber. The deal would involve turning over intelligence information in exchange for a guilty plea and a lesser sentence. Although, it is unclear what the plea deal would involve because the White House has stated its desire for a life sentence.
Critics of the White House’s decision to have Abdulmutallab be held and tried in the federal system rather than by the military have stated that valuable intelligence information has already been lost. The main critic is that the federal justice system gives an accused criminal Miranda Rights, also known as the “the right to remain silent.” Senator Jeff Sessions, ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee stated, “I hope in the coming days President Obama will finally explain to the American people why . . . he continues to believe that foreign terrorists should be treated not as the war criminals they are, but as the very civilians they are determined to attack.”
In response to the criticisms the White House has released a partial transcript of the incident after the plane landed in Detroit. The report shows that FBI official were able to conduct a 50-minute interrogation and gain information about how the attempted bombing could occur. Miranda Rights were not administered until after Abdulmutallab was wheeled into the emergency room for treatment. However, the report shows Abdulmutallab was refusing to talk before being informed he had “the right to remain silent.”
The next scheduled court date, and artificial deadline for a plea deal, is April.
Read more at the Washington Post.
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