Here’s the Justice Department’s press release on the bombing charges against Najibullah Zazi. In pertinent part it says:

In a detention motion filed in the Eastern District of New York and the District of Colorado, the government stated, “In furtherance of the conspiracy, Zazi received detailed bomb-making instructions in Pakistan, purchased components of improvised explosive devices, and traveled to New York City on September 10, 2009 in furtherance of his criminal plans.”
The government’s detention memo further states that “Zazi remained committed to detonating an explosive device up until the date of his arrest, as exemplified by among other things, traveling overseas to receive bomb-making instructions, conducting extensive research on the internet regarding components of explosive devices, purchasing — on multiple occasions — the components necessary to produce TATP [Triacetone Triperoxide] and other explosive devices, and traveling to New York City on September 10, 2009 in furtherance of the criminal plan.”

I don’t want to be a broken-record critic of the Attorney General, but I have to say two things. First, the press release quotes him as saying, “We are investigating a wide range of leads related to this alleged conspiracy, and we will continue to work around the clock to ensure that anyone involved is brought to justice. We believe any imminent threat arising from this case has been disrupted. . . .” (Emphasis added.) That’s great . . . except it was only days ago that his counterterrorism chief, David Kris, said, “We have no specific information regarding the timing, location, or target of any planned attack.” It doesn’t instill a lot of confidence about how on top of this thing law enforcement is — especially considering that there seem to be many bad guys who haven’t been apprehended — to have DOJ’s two top counterterrorism officials making contradictory statements about whether there was an imminent threat. If Kris doesn’t know of any specific planned attack, why does Holder think an attack may have been imminent but has now been disrupted?

Second, in light of Zazi’s terrorism training in Pakistan and the other information that was known about his trip to New York City, why was he allowed to go home each night during the several days of his interrogation last week? Were precautions taken to make sure he didn’t have contact with any of his coconspirators?