Thiessen is furious:
The only reason to read Shahzad his Miranda rights would be to preserve what he says as evidence in his criminal trial. But our first priority should not be preserving evidence for his trialit should be getting intelligence from him.
Friedersdorf scratches his head:
Isn’t it strange that Mr. Thiessen writes as if it’s impossible to read someone their Miranda rights and subsequently gather intelligence from him? I certainly agree that an interrogation is optimal here, but so is preserving the ability to convict and jail the perpetrator of this plot. Perhaps the suspect was totally willing to talk until he heard the familiar words, “You have the right to remain silent,” but it seems far more likely that the boilerplate phrases wouldn’t in fact be the determining factor in his willingness to cooperate.
Thiessen is euphemizing here. He wants to torture the guy. Bainbridge, meanwhile, defends Miranda. As does Joyner. Drum sighs. It appears that the newly revamped Obama interrogation team has indeed got the suspect to talk. And at some point, because of Miranda, he and others may actually get convicted of their crimes - something Thiessen's thugs never quite managed very often.