Rep. Michael McCaul: Boston bombing suspects had help

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee says evidence suggests that the Boston bombing suspects had help in the attack and that there likely is a “wider conspiracy.” 

“Given the level of sophistication of this [explosive] device, the fact that the pressure cooker is a signature device that goes back to Pakistan and Afghanistan … leads me to believe there was a trainer,” Rep. Michael T. McCaul, Texas Republican, told “Fox News Sunday.”  

“The question, where is that trainer or trainers? Are they overseas in the Chechen region, or are they in the United States. And [with] my conversations with the FBI, that’s the big question.”  

Mr. McCaul says U.S. officials are casting a “wide net” worldwide to find anyone responsible for aiding the suspects, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is in custody, and his brother, Tamerlan, who was killed in a shootout with police during the manhunt for the two.  

The lawmaker said he believes the mother of suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev played a significant role in his radicalization and is a “person of interest.” He said if she comes to the U.S., she likely will be detained by authorities for questioning.  

Mr. McCaul criticized some in the Obama administration for an initial “rush to judgment” that the brothers didn’t have foreign help. 

“Right out of the box, U.S. officials anonymously are saying there is no foreign connection to this case when in fact the FBI just began its investigation into this case,” he said. “And yet the narrative played out by some in the administration is that, no, there’s no foreign connection.” 

“I reserve judgment until all the evidence comes in.” 

Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” also said he’s not convinced the brothers acted alone.  

“This is a pretty … sophisticated bomb they made and how they did it,” he said.  

Mr. Manchin added that the Justice Department “pulled the trigger too soon” in reading Mr. Tsarnaev his Miranda rights on Monday. 

“I don’t know what the rush to file chargers were,” he said. “I would’ve liked to have seen the process of him being interrogated go much further before Justice dropped the gauntlet.”