House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said Sunday that he did not believe the Obama administration got much valuable intelligence from Ahmed Abu Khattala, the Libyan accused of playing a key role in the 2012 attacks in Benghazi.
{mosads}Rogers said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Abu Khattala had been “compliant” but not “cooperative” with federal authorities before being given his Miranda rights. Abu Khattala had been questioned on an American ship while it traveled toward the U.S.
“He was not obstinate. He was not pushing back,” Rogers said. But the information he was providing, Rogers said, was “not to the point where an FBI agent would say: ‘Hey, bingo.’”
Republicans have criticized the Obama administration for seeking to try Abu Khattala in civilian court, arguing he should instead be sent to Guantanamo Bay and treated as an enemy combatant. Abu Khattala pleaded not guilty to a conspiracy charge on Saturday in Washington, in his first appearance in federal court.
“If we’re going to do this for everybody engaged in terrorism around the world, we better start building prisons by the dozens,” Rogers said.