U.S. officials defend handling of airline bomb case

This courtroom drawing shows accused Christmas Day Bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in Federal court in Detroit, Michigan. January 8, 2010.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday defended its decision to charge a Nigerian man with trying to blow up a U.S. passenger jet in a criminal court amid fierce Republican criticism that doing so hampered obtaining intelligence from the suspect.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's spokesman Matthew Miller said FBI agents obtained useful intelligence from Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab after he was arrested but before he was charged for allegedly trying to blow up Northwest Flight 253 as it flew from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day.

"He has already provided intelligence, and we will continue to work to gather intelligence from him," Miller said in a sharply-worded statement.

It followed escalating attacks by Republicans in recent days on the Obama administration that have tried to portray the White House and Democrats as weak on national security. That has threatened to distract the White House from other issues.

Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took the Senate floor to blast the Obama administration for charging Abdulmutallab in a criminal court instead of a military court, and reading him his rights which entitle him to a lawyer and to remain silent.

"These are just some of the signs that when it comes to prosecuting the War on Terror, the administration has caused the pendulum to swing too far in the wrong direction," McConnell said.

But the Justice Department spokesman shot back that Abdulmutallab would not be forced to divulge intelligence in a military court and he would still get a lawyer.

"Those who now argue that a different action should have been taken in this case were notably silent when dozens of terrorists were successfully prosecuted in federal court by the previous administration," Miller said.

Republicans were particularly incensed when the Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael Leiter and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Wednesday that they were not consulted on where to prosecute Abdulmutallab.

The top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Susan Collins, introduced a bill to require the Attorney General to consult with intelligence officials before interrogating and charging foreign terrorism suspects.

"We surely would have obtained more if we had treated this foreign terrorist as an enemy belligerent and placed him in the military tribunal system," Collins said in a statement. The legislation was co-sponsored by chairman of the panel, Senator Joe Lieberman, a former Democrat turned Independent.

But the Justice Department retorted that Abdulmutallab was only read his rights after he was interviewed by FBI agents, Obama's national security team was in the loop and that pursuing the case in a criminal court would not prevent them from obtaining further intelligence.

"It will always be a top priority in these cases to obtain intelligence that can be used in the fight against Al Qaeda around the world," Miller said. "We will be pragmatic, not ideological, in that fight, and we will let results, not rhetoric, guide our actions."

(Editing by Anthony Boadle)