White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett insisted this morning that the Obama administration got the “substance” right on the Paris attacks even if they messed up the optics of Sunday’s anti-terror march.
“I think as we said, certainly we would have liked to have participated in the parade,” Jarrett told CNN. “I remind you that Attorney General Holder was in Paris for a very important meeting together with his colleagues from around Europe and around the world to take a look at what we can do to make sure that we’re cooperating fully.”
“And so I think we certainly got the substance right, but it would have been great to participate in the parade, and we’re delighted Secretary Kerry is there now,” she added.
And why didn’t Eric Holder participate in the march, when he was already in Paris and did the Sunday morning news shows?
Jarrett said she was “not aware” of any consideration that Holder should go to the rally.
“I know that he had pressing issues to get back. And he dropped everything to fly over there at the invitation of the French to participate in the meeting. But I don’t know the facts about whether or not he was asked to stay.”
Jarrett complimented the FBI and local law enforcement in Ohio for working “so vigilantly” to capture Christopher Lee Cornell, 20, who allegedly plotted to attack the U.S. Capitol.
“And so, yes, we have to be on high alert. We have to cooperate. We have to involve the public. People have to be aware of what’s going on around you,” she said. “And fortunately this issue resolved itself very well thanks to great efforts of law enforcement.”
Using the name Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah, Cornell advocated jihad on Twitter. His father said he was a convert to Islam.
“Everything you’re hearing in the media right now, they’ve already painted him as some kind of terrorist,” John Cornell told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “They’ve painted him as some kind of jihadist. … (Christopher) is one of the most peace-loving people I know.”
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