Abdulmutallab Now Cooperating With Feds

The so-called “underwear bomber” is now cooperating with US authorities, who have acted upon the “useful, current” information Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has given them, sources tell Politico. Abdulmutallab is said to have clammed up when he was given his Miranda rights less than an hour into questioning after his attempted Christmas attack—a move for which the Obama administration was roasted—but now the Nigerian “certainly sees that there are incentives provided by the criminal justice system to cooperate.”

Abdulmutallab's family has played a factor in the turnaround, a source tells the AP, after FBI agents traveled to Nigeria seeking their help. In fact, family members returned with the agents to the US and were key in persuading the 23-year-old. (More Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab stories.)