NBC Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski quipped Wednesday that if someone at the White House had simply searched "Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl" with Google, the multiple reports about his suspected desertion wouldn't have caught them so off guard.
MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell questioned why the White House was so taken aback over the firestorm erupting over the trade of five Taliban commanders for Bergdahl, who has been accused by multiple troops who served with him of desertion.
"There was very aggressive and frequent reporting, media reports about Bowe Bergdahl and the suspicions and the claims about how he left the base, and how he then was taken into custody, or captured by the Taliban," Miklaszewski said. "So I think if anybody at the White House would have done Google, 'Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl,' it would have jumped right up at them. There's no explanation for why they didn't know this."
Full exchange:
ANDREA MITCHELL: If the Pentagon wasn't surprised, why was the White House so taken aback? Because I can assure you from Chuck Todd's reporting and other reporting, mine as well, they had no expectation that the price paid for Bergdahl was going to become so controversial, the five Taliban.
JIM MIKLASZEWSKI: People here are confused about that because the record was clear. There was very aggressive and frequent reporting, media reports about Bowe Bergdahl and the suspicions and the claims about how he left the base, and how he then was taken into custody, or captured by the Taliban. So I think if anybody at the White House would have done Google, "Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl," it would have jumped right up at them. There's no explanation for why they didn't know this.
[H/T Newsbusters]