Another round of political tussle has just commenced between White House officials and Republican Senators as the White House Counter Terrorism Chief, John Brennan, declared that the GOP Senators were playing politics with the terrorism case against the 23 year old Nigerian, Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab, currently being charged in the United States for attempting to blow up a Detroit-bound flight December 25, 2009.

Brennan stated that the Obama administration had earlier briefed four senior Republican Congressmen on the botched attack. He added that the Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Minority Leader, John Boehner (R-Ohio), Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) and Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) did not raise any objections to keeping suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab being held in FBI custody.

"They knew that in FBI custody, there is a process that you follow. None of those individuals raised any concerns with me at this point. They were very appreciative of the information," Brennan said.

He said that he was tired of politicians using national security issues such as terrorism as a political football.

His words: "They do not know the facts and they're making charges and allegations that are not anchored in reality."

The counter terrorism chief however conceded that in the previous Republican administration of President George W. Bush, Democrats also tried to gain political advantage from security issues.

He urged politicians to refrain from politicising such issues "rather than second-guessing what is happening on the ground."

Brennan further said that al Qaeda has been a continuous threat to the United States for years, and that several attempts had been prevented.

"It shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody that al Qaeda is attempting to carry out an attack," he added.

Also, White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, has called on Republican Senator, Kit Bond, to apologise "to the law enforcement community and those that work in this building" for alleging that the White House leaked classified information about its Flight 253 investigation.

"I think he owes an apology to the professionals in the law enforcement community and those who work in this building, not for Democrats and Republicans, but who work each and every day to keep the American people safe and would never, ever knowingly or unknowingly release classified information that could endanger an operation or an interrogation," Gibbs said.

In a swift reaction, Senator Bond, fired back on Sunday, lamenting that Mr. Brennan never told him of any plans to Mirandize the Christmas Day bomber, noting that the administration made a mistake doing so.

"The truth is that the administration did not even consult our intelligence chiefs, as DNI Blair testified, so it’s absurd to try to blame congressional leaders for this dangerous decision that gave terrorists a five-week headstart to cover their tracks," Senator Bond said.