At first I thought he was honing a special message just for wingnut outlets, but it looks like the PJMedia blog actually hired a freelance journalist to go Obama’s correspondent’s dinner and interview Newt Gingrich for PJMedia, so it’s not as if Newt is seeking wingnut blogs out, they’re going to him. On the other hand, Gingrich HASN’T given this kind of message to other media outlets.

pjmedia.com

Gingrich: ‘Terrible, Terrible Mistake’ to Read Bombing Suspect Miranda Rights
Former House speaker: Tsarnaev is part of a “national security” investigation, not a criminal one.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told PJ Media that the Obama administration made a “terrible mistake” by treating Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as a “normal criminal” instead of a “terrorist,” calling the decision “irresponsible.”

“I think somebody who attempts to kill a lot of Americans and who clearly was influenced by an outside ideology should be treated as an enemy combatant. I have no doubt about that at all,” Gingrich told PJ Media on the red carpet of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

“I think it’s a huge mistake to read Miranda rights to a terrorist because in fact as he did, they just shut up and you want them to be able to be debriefed to find out who’s supporting them, who else is out there organizing, where did their money come from. It’s a terrible, terrible mistake to treat them as though they were a normal criminal when they’re a terrorist.”

…

Gingrich said Republicans like Radel are wrong, arguing that questioning Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is part of a “national security” investigation, not a criminal one.

“They’re wrong. Historically, they’re wrong,” Gingrich told PJ Media.

“The FBI was questioning him, the FBI wanted to continue questioning him, it was very irresponsible for that magistrate to walk in, insist on his Miranda rights and in effect cut off what is a national security investigation, not a criminal investigation.”

Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan said informing the suspect of his Miranda rights while the FBI was questioning him about the Boston attack was “dangerous” to the public.

“It’s confusing, it is horrible, [a] God-awful policy, and dangerous to the greater community,” he said. “And we have got to get to the bottom of this, and we’ve got to fix it right now.”

I did a news search to see if he’s saying the same to the media. The first thing I turned up was this centredaily.com

But that was it. All related news searches come up empty. Gingrich has made no statement to OTHER press about Boston and enemy combatant status, treason or Miranda rights.

UNIVERSITY PARK — Former Republican presidential candidate and House Speaker Newt Gingrich told a crowd at Penn State Tuesday night he thinks the captured Boston Marathon bombing suspect should be tried for treason before a National Security Court and face an immediate death penalty.

“I believe if someone takes up arms against America it is an act of treason,” Gingrich said during a debate on campus with Robert Gibbs, former press secretary for President Barack Obama, that focused largely on national security. “They will be tried and they will be executed.”

…

Gingrich said he believes Americans who take arms against their country forfeit certain rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens and should face being tried outside the country’s judicial system and death if convicted.

It’s embarrassing in this context to admit that I’ve said in the past that I have sympathy for the sort of position Newt is taking. However, terrorism in the US isn’t such a big problem recently that we need to separate it from crime. Separating it has costs as does not separating it.

Newt’s “influenced by an outside ideology” is a very slippery qualification. If that ever becomes the only qualification for being an enemy then we’re in deep trouble. Was he just reaching for another way to denounce Islam? He did it directly when he was running for president.

In any case, if terrorism in the US gets to be a huge problem again, Newt has positioned himself to take advantage of that.