GOP accuses White House of 'stonewalling' terror attempt inquiries

Top Republicans accused the Obama administration on Monday of stonewalling their inquiries into the attempted bombing of a Delta flight on Christmas.

The top Republicans on the House Homeland Security and Intelligence committees blasted the White House's response to a Nigerian man's attempt to bomb a flight last Friday en route to Detroit from Amsterdam.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the top member of the Intelligence committee and a GOP candidate for governor of Michigan, tweeted Monday:

Administration flying solo on natl security.Continue to stonewall on Ft Hood/DC 5/and now Detroit.The law/common sense says they must brief

And Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the Obama administration was unwilling to share information with lawmakers on the attempted Christmas attack.

"It's very hard, even for me being on the Homeland Security Committee and the Intelligence Committee, to get any information out of this administration," King said during an appearance on Fox News. "Since Friday, basically, an Iron Curtain has come down as far as providing information to members of Congress."

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the alleged attempted bomber, was charged over the weekend with trying to blow up the transatlantic flight. A Nigerian national, Abdulmutallab's name had appeared on terrorist watch lists, but not a no-fly list, allowing him to smuggle powder explosives onboard the flight this past weekend.

Since then, Republicans have raised questions about why Abdulmutallab was allowed to fly, or wasn't suggested to more security scrutiny upon boarding his flight toward Detroit.

Cross-posted to the Briefing Room