American Democrats labeled the warning "suspicious". Dismissing the threat, they claimed it was solely to divert attention from President Bush's plummeting poll numbers and to push the failings of the Invasion of Iraq off the front page. CSIS director Reid Morden voiced similar concerns, saying it seemed more like "election year" politics, than an actual threat—and "The New York Times" pointed out that one day before the announcement, they had been told by the Department of Homeland Security that there were no current risks.