WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday that the men taken into custody in connection with the Times Square bombing attempt apparently provided money to would-be bomber Faisal Shahzad.

Asked at a news conference for details about the three men picked up Thursday morning, Holder said "we believe" there is evidence that they were providing Shahzad with funds. Holder said "one of the things we are going to be trying to determine" is whether the men knew they were supplying funds for an act of terrorism.

The attorney general's comments followed a day spent on Capitol Hill, where Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee initially took him to task for the Obama administration's approach to fighting terrorism - relying heavily on the criminal justice system to handle suspected terrorists.

During his congressional appearance, Holder delivered the news about the men taken into custody in the Shahzad case. The attorney general's congressional critics focused largely on other issues.

The news conference where Holder discussed a money dimension to the Times Square investigation was on another topic, a joint effort by the Justice Department and the Health and Human Services Department to crack down on health care fraud.