DOJ’s Holder says he ordered airport terror suspect to be treated as a civilian

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U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. said Wednesday that he decided to try a Nigerian involved in the foiled Christmas Day bombing of a U.S.-bound jetliner as a civilian and defended the use of the civilian justice system in such terror cases.

Republicans have questioned the decision to charge Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as a civilian, arguing that if he were a military prisoner he could be interrogated more effectively, turning the incident into a political issue and a test of how the Obama administration was dealing with terror-related questions.

The administration has fiercely defended its handling of the case, and Holder’s letter is the latest shot across the bow.

Abdulmutallab was a passenger on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 and allegedly tried to detonate a bomb as the plane approached Detroit. The device, hidden in his underwear, ignited but did not explode and Abdulmutallab was captured by other passengers and turned over to authorities.

In a letter to top Republicans, who have questioned the decision, Holder took responsibility for the action he said was consistent with past policy in the Bush administration. He also said it did not prevent the United States from obtaining needed information.

“I made the decision to charge Mr. Abdulmutallab with federal crimes, and to seek his detention in connection with those charges, with the knowledge of, and with no objection from, all other relevant departments of the government,” Holder wrote in the letter, which was address to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and 10 other senators who had queried Holder by letter.

“The decision to charge Mr. Abdulmutallab in federal court, and the methods used to interrogate him, are fully consistent with the long-established and publicly known policies and practices of the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the United States government as a whole, as implemented for many years by administrations of both parties,” Holder wrote.

Holder argued that under that policy, the Bush administration used the criminal justice system to convict more than 300 individuals on terrorism-related charges.

He also defended how Abdulmutallab was interrogated.

“Neither advising Abdulmutallab of his Miranda rights nor granting him access to counsel prevents us from obtaining intelligence from him, however. On the contrary, history shows that the federal justice system is an extremely effective tool for gathering intelligence,” Holder wrote.

Administration officials have recently said that Abdulmutallab has resumed talking to U.S. interrogators.

-- Michael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal