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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