White House: US was given 'heads up' before Miranda detained

[Waiting For Everyman]

This is the latest entry from the Guardian's live blog on reaction to the Miranda story. It's about a comment by Josh Earnest, White House deputy press secretary, during a press conference.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2013/aug/19/glenn-greenwald-partner-detained-live-reaction


Glenn Greenwald's partner detained at Heathrow - reaction

LiveRolling coverage of the reaction to the detention of David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald's partner, at Heathrow under terrorist legislation



Andrew Sparrow
theguardian.com, Monday 19 August 2013 13.35 EDT


6.47pm BST
White House: US was given 'heads up' before Miranda detained

This is more interesting: Earnest admits that the White House was given a "heads up" over Miranda's detention yesterday.

"We had an indication it was likely to occur but it's not something we requested," he says.

Pressed further, he says the US was told Miranda would be detained before he arrived at Heathrow airport in London.

"It probably wouldn't be a heads up if they had told us about it after the detainment," Earnest said.

Earnest refuses to say whether Miranda was on a terror watch-list either in Britain or in the US.

He would not comment on whether the US discouraged the UK from holding Miranda before his detention.

Updated at 6.49pm BST


____________

The other entries are worth reading, some are very informative about the particular UK law Miranda was held under. Apparently it strictly must be used in relation to actual terrorism issues, and as soon a a person is no longer believed to be relevant to a specific threat, the person must be let go at once. So it would seem that the British are using outlandish interpretations of their law too, just as it's being done in the US.

[quinnox]

1. A "heads up"? That is a strange comment.

So was it like, "Hey masters, we are going to detain Greenwald's lover, we know you approve and you can thank us later!"

[Waiting For Everyman]

4. I thought it odd, too.

Indeed.

Goes to show how well the spies can communicate about this, but about the Boston bombers not so much.

[Cali_Democrat]

2. "We had an indication it was likely to occur but it's not something we requested"

Well I guess this buries the theory that the US ordered the UK to detain him.

[GeorgeGist]

3. I had third graders who were better liars ...

"We had an indication it was likely to occur but it's not something we requested,"