White House Attacks Bond on Bomber Inquiry

The White House lashed out at Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., on Thursday for his pointed criticism of the Obama administration’s handling of the investigation into the Flight 253 terror plot.

Earlier this week, Bond said that top counterterrorism chief John Brennan ought to be fired, in part because he and other national security advisers were wrong to read suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab his Miranda rights.
Bond later added that Brennan was not "credible" and had thus become the "mouthpiece of the political arm" of the White House.

However, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs aggressively dismissed that line on Thursday, remarking: "I don't know whether Kit Bond was confused or whether he just doesn't want to admit the truth," according to The Hill.

"I don't have the slightest idea what political party John Brennan is a member of; I've never had a political conversation with John," Gibbs said during his press briefing.

The press secretary later told reporters, "I'll let you ... just ask Kit Bond if he understands the protocols of how the FBI handles suspects ..."

Bond, the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been at odds with the Obama administration for weeks over the Justice Department's handling of the Flight 253 case.