Washington (CNN) -- The Christmas Day attempted terror bombing suspect has been talking to investigators since last week, a law enforcement official tells CNN. Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab has been providing useful, current and actionable intelligence -- leads that the FBI and intelligence officials have been actively following up on, the official says.
The official was not authorized to speak for attribution because the matter is under investigation.
AbdulMutallab is providing information about his training overseas, who he met with, people he worked with, and others that were part of the plot, according to a second law enforcement official.
The official, who also could not be identified because this is an on going investigation, said AbdulMutallab is still talking.
The second official told CNN the suspect has provided "a lot" of information.
"You never know until you follow every lead, but the initial read is that this is extremely valuable information," the official said.
The official said some of it leads back to Yemen, saying leads are being actively shared with the intelligence community.
Counterterrorism agents from the FBI have been doing the questioning, and every piece of information he provides is being sent to the intelligence community, the official said.
The official said AbdulMutallab is talking now because "the FBI and [Department of Justice] have been using the levers that exist in the criminal justice system -- and as you know, they are quite powerful levers -- to convince him to cooperate. Last week he decided it was in his interest to do so."
This source pointed out that there were many witnesses on the plane on which AbdulMutallab is accused of trying to detonate an explosion, and it would not be difficult to get a conviction.
Asked why this wasn't brought out earlier as criticism mounted over the decision to try AbdulMutallab in a civil court, the official said, "The political instinct might be to rush out and say the critics were wrong, but it was more important to let him talk and get the information and follow up the information."
A third source, an administration official, said AbdulMutallab has been talking since last Thursday.
The sources spoke on the same day top intelligence officials were being questioned on Capitol Hill about their handling of the case. Republicans, in particular, have said it was a mistake to give AbdulMutallab Miranda warnings -- giving him a legal reason to stop talking to investigators.
