Attorney General Eric Holder raised eyebrows when in testimony before Congress a few weeks ago he said al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden would never appear in a U.S. court.

It was Holder's attempt to neutralize critics of the Obama Administration's evolving position about trying self-admitted and alleged terrorists in the U.S. courts.

To those who questioned the wisdom of putting bin Laden and other top terrorists on trial in federal civilian courts instead of military tribunals, it was Holder's way of saying that, at least in the case of bin Laden, that was likely an unnecessary worry.

But Holder's statement backfired because other U.S. officials appeared to disagree with him. So Holder spent a few minutes in testimony Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee trying to set matters right.

NPR's Ari Shapiro reported the following for the network's newscast:

ARI: Attorney General Holder told a House committee in March, "Osama bin Laden will never appear in an American courtroom. The reality is we'll be reading Miranda rights to a corpse."

Soon after, American military and intelligence leaders contradicted Holder, saying the goal is to bring him to justice alive.

Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee, he was describing the likelihood that bin Laden will be captured alive.

HOLDER: From what we know about instructions that he has given people who surround him, his security forces, I think it's highly unlikely that he will be taken alive. But our goal, our goal is either to capture Osama bin Laden or kill him.

ARI: Holder continued to argue that civilian courts are effective at bringing terrorists to justice. He also said closing Guantanamo remains a priority but could not say when that will happen.