Leahy: No need to interrogate bin Laden

If the U.S. captures Osama bin Laden, there's no need to interrogate him, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the chairman of that committee, said that arguments raised by Republican senators about whether bin Laden would be afforded Miranda rights if he were captured amount to a "red herring."

"The red herring that my friend [Sen.] Lindsey Graham [R-S.C.] was covering is not realistic," Leahy said during an appearance on "Washington Journal" on C-SPAN.

"For one thing, capturing Osama bin Laden — we've had enough on him, we don't need to interrogate him," Leahy added.

Graham had grilled Attorney General Eric Holder during a hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday on whether bin Laden should be afforded due process in courts if he were captured.

"The big problem I have is you're criminalizing the war, that if we caught bin Laden tomorrow, we have mixed theories and couldn't turn him over to the CIA, the FBI, military intelligence for an interrogation on the battlefield, because now you're saying he's subject to criminal court in the United States and you're confusing the people fighting this war," Graham said.

A senior Republican aide criticized Leahy, saying "it's a good thing they kicked him off the intel committee in the late 80’s."

On "Washington Journal," Leahy stuck up for Holder's decision to bring Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other detainees to New York for civilian trials.

"We're going to bring them back to New York and prosecute them," he said. "I think we ought to stand up and applaud that."