King: Brennan the ‘Egomaniac’

National Review Online
By Robert Costa
February 9, 2010

“An egomaniac” — that’s how Rep. Peter King of New York, the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, describes John Brennan, President Obama’s deputy national-security adviser, after reading Brennan’s op-ed in USA Today that says criticism of the administration’s handling of the failed Christmas Day bombing serves the “goals of al-Qaeda.” It is “the most mindless, self-serving, and irresponsible statement that a homeland-security adviser can make,” King says.

“This is another case of John Brennan not knowing what he is talking about,” King tells National Review Online. “Brennan is trying to be cute by saying that on Christmas Day he briefed Republicans and Democrats. Leave aside the fact that he didn’t brief me, but he didn’t tell anybody anything that day other than the bare facts that were pretty much known to the public. He said that [Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab] was in FBI custody. Now he’s claiming that that means he told people that [Abdulmutallab] was receiving Miranda rights and no one objected. If that’s what Brennan considers being honest and forthright, then we know that John Brennan is not being honest and forthright.”

King adds that on Christmas night, Brennan built an “iron curtain of secrecy” around the handling of Abdulmutallab and “kept information” from members of Congress. President Obama, he notes, is “encouraging Brennan” and giving him “much leeway” to make political statements.