And Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said in the GOP weekly address Saturday that the nation's top intelligence officials were not consulted about the Miranda warning. If they had been, she said, "they would have explained the importance of gathering all possible intelligence about Yemen, where there is a serious threat from terrorists whose sights are trained on this nation. They would have explained the critical nature of learning all we could from Abdulmutallab."
Authorities said Abdulmutallab, who once lived in Yemen, had links to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
But an administration official, speaking anonymously because the investigation is ongoing, said Abdulmutallab was being handled exactly like every other suspected terrorist apprehended on U.S. soil since the Sept. 11 attacks, and that the pattern "demonstrates the continuing value of federal courts in combating terrorism."
