In its initial reporting of the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 over the Atlantic Ocean on Christmas Day 2009, The New York Times said that the United States believed it was “an attempted act of terrorism,” but that government “did not yet know whether the man [Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab] had had the capacity to take down the plane.” The paper noted that Abdulmutallab was “apparently in a government law enforcement-intelligence database,” but despite his claims to have been directed by al-Qaeda, the Times said it was “not clear what extremist group or individuals he might be linked to.” Anahad O’Connor and Eric Schmitt, “Terror Attempt Seen as Man Tries to Ignite Device on Jet,” New York Times, December 25, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/us/26plane.html. The paper quoted U.S. Representative Peter King, then-ranking minority member of the House Homeland Security Committee, as saying that, “For a while now we have had real concerns about Al Qaeda or terrorist connections in Nigeria.” Anahad O’Connor and Eric Schmitt, “Terror Attempt Seen as Man Tries to Ignite Device on Jet,” New York Times, December 25, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/us/26plane.html.