The chairman and ranking Republican the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee asked Attorney General Eric Holder today to remove the alleged Christmas Day airplane bomber from federal custody and treat him as a military prisoner.

Joe Lieberman (Gov)

Susan Collins (Gov)

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who allegedly tried to ignite explosives in his underpants on a Dec. 25 Detroit-bound flight, is being held by federal authorities as a civilian. Panel Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the committee’s ranking member Susan Collins (R-Maine) and other conservative senators say the opportunity to gain valuable intelligence now may be lost, since Abdulmutallab is being treated as a criminal suspect with rights against self-incrimination.

“Though the president has said repeatedly that we are at war, it does not appear to us that the president’s words are reflected in the actions of some in the Executive Branch, including some at the Department of Justice, responsible for fighting that war,” Lieberman and Collins said in a joint letter to Holder and John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. “The unilateral decision by the Department of Justice to treat Abdulmutallab — a belligerent fighting for and trained by an al-Qaeda franchised organization — as a criminal rather than a [unprivileged enemy belligerent] and to forgo information that may have been extremely helpful to winning this war demonstrates that very point.”

Here is the full letter.

Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) demanded to know who decided to let FBI agents read Abdulmutallab his Miranda rights and treat him as a civilian. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters on Thursday he believes Holder was responsible for the decision.

DOJ spokesman Matthew Miller defended the Obama administration’s handling of Abdulmutallab. “Those who now argue that a different action should have been taken in this case were notably silent when dozens of terrorist were successfully prosecuted in federal court by the previous administration,” Miller said in the statement, citing the prosecutions of al-Qaeda operatives Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui. Read Miller’s full statement here.

Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey added his name to a bipartisan letter last week in support of former AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin, who was abruptly fired by President Obama last month.

Michael Mukasey (DOJ)

The White House told Congress that Walpin’s dismissal stemmed from a meeting where the former inspector general was confused and disoriented. Walpin, who was appointed by President Bush in 2007, said he was fired because he made unpopular reports on the misuse of AmeriCorps funds. Almost 150 lawyers signed onto the letter that disputed the claims made by the White House.

“All of us are unanimous in affirming Mr. Walpin’s integrity and competence,” said the letter obtained by the New York Law Journal.

The letter was delivered to White House Counsel Gregory Craig and members of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Senate Finance Committee and House Oversight and Reform Committee. We previously reported that Senate Finance Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who also sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, threatened to delay the confirmation of Justice Department nominees unless he got sufficient answers from the administration about the Walpin firing.