White House withholding 9/11 files -- report

[Judi Lynn]

White House withholding 9/11 files -- report
Sun 26 October, 2003 03:48 BST



NEW YORK (Reuters) - The head of the federal commission investigating the September 11, 2001 attacks says the White House is withholding highly classified intelligence documents and he is ready to subpoena them if they are not released within weeks, according to a report.

Thomas Kean, chairman of the bipartisan National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, said he also thought the commission would soon be forced to subpoena other executive branch agencies, the New York Times reported in its Sunday edition.

In the interview, which was conducted on Friday, he cited the Bush administration's delay in providing documents and evidence as the reason.

Earlier this month, the commission voted to subpoena the Federal Aviation Administration after it decided the agency withheld documents related to the attacks. (snip/...)

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=393871§ion=news

[Brucey]

1. Damn I'd love to know what they're covering up.

Must be harmful stuff.

[0007]

9. Perhaps a link exsist

to Cheney's secret energy documents in the 911 cover-up?

drip n' dick has been awfully quiet lately!

[mhr]

2. Why Should Any of Us Be Surprised, Liars First, Last, and Always!

eom

[fizzana]

3. Josh Marshall has some good insights on this.

The documents in question are apparently Presidential Daily Briefings (PDBs) President Bush received in the days leading up to 9/11. Kean says the White House is "quite nervous" about the contents of the documents becoming publicly known. But he wants them anyway.

(To the best of my knowledge, there is no reason to think that Commission would make such documents public, at least not in their entirety. They just want to see them and make their own judgments about what's there.)

Meanwhile, Commission member and former Senator Max Cleland says the White House is trying to run out the clock on the Commission. And, he says, he can understand why they're stalling. "As each day goes by, we learn that this government knew a whole lot more about these terrorists before Sept. 11 than it has ever admitted," he told the Times.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

The NY Times also has an extensive article on this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/26/national/26KEAN.html?hp=&pagewanted=all&position=

I've always felt that if there is one thing that can pull the plug on this administration it's what they knew before 9/11. Even if the commission gets this info they will never release it to the public as it's too explosive. Hopefully there is a Daniel Ellsberg lurking somewhere.

[rman]

4. the 28 missing pages that Greg Palast found?

"...some FBI agents came to the BBC offices and they came to us and asked some questions about God knows what and as they were leaving they had dropped a file on the Desk and then they called - little while later and said Oh my God - we accidentally left the file on your desk - you haven’t read it have you and they said we will be back for it in 30 minutes unless you need 45."

It says Abdul and Omar Bin Laden are amongst the persons who the FBI wanted to investigate in relation to financial ties with terrorists. This investigation was blocked from high up. Abdul and Omar were flown out of the country shortly after 9-11 and shortly before the information about financial ties was released.

article
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/08/22/1529206&mode=thread&tid=29

video
rtsp://rx-lvl3-ny06.rbn.com/demnow/demnow/demand/2003/aug/256/dnB20030822a.rm?start=22:11.0

transcript
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/08/22/1529206&mode=thread&tid=29#transcript

[ronatchig]

5. This is rfeally a no brainer

If I were sitting on info implicating myself and my compadres in one of the greatest crimes in history I think I would be reluctant to share also how about you?
What I am curious about is how to pry the facts from this cabal of monsters.

[Dogmudgeon]

6. It may happen yet

Bush and Co. has seen fit to hang the CIA out to dry for its WHAFU (White House Arrogance F**k-Up), a series of backstabbings (and foot-shootings) that have included outing Valerie Plame.

It would not be too difficult for select CIA documents to "somehow" reach the inquiring eyes of the Eeevil Libbrul Press, and news of gross dereliction of duty with regard to the 9-11 attacks would certainly soothe a lot of pained souls in the Intelligence community.

But more to the point, I'm sure it will happen anyway. Bush demands, expects, and counts on, absolute loyalty and confidentiality, neither of which exist outside of the books he doesn't even care to read.

--bkl
Terrorists Flew
and Bush Knew

[amber dog democrat]

7. Its dangerous to have the CIA angry at you.

Its a small and tight community who look after their own. Not even Nixon messed with them. I am thinking this 9/11 commission may well start to be the unraveling of the Bush Admin. His leadership won't bear up inder examination.

It would be one thing if Governor Bush was actually loyal and patriotic. But all we see is a self absorbed focus - cynical and self serving and guided by a mediocre mentality motivated by greed.

Toto is going to pull the curtain back showing this charlatan for whom he is.

Good Doggie !

[emad]

8. UK's Times says Bush is afraid of harming 2004 campaign:

<snip>:

PRESIDENT BUSH is facing a courtroom battle over his failure to release papers that will show whether he was negligent about the threat of al-Qaeda before the September 11 attacks in 2001.
The chairman of the bipartisan federal commission investigating the attacks said that his patience with the White House was wearing thin. Thomas Kean, a moderate Republican, said that he would be forced to subpoena the documents unless the President authorised their release in the next few weeks. “Anything that has to do with 9/11, we have to see it,” Mr Kean said. At issue are the daily intelligence reports issued to Mr Bush by George Tenet, the CIA Director, along with other classified White House documents. In the aftermath of the attacks White House officials said that they could not have known what was planned. Last year, however, the White House acknowledged that Mr Bush had been briefed in August 2001 that al-Qaeda might try to hijack American passenger aircraft.

Any hint that Mr Bush knew more than he has let on, or that he failed to act on briefings, could be highly damaging in the presidential election campaign next year. Mr Kean, who heads the ten-member National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, issued his first direct threat of legal action in an interview with The New York Times, saying: “Any document that has to do with this investigation cannot be beyond our reach. I will not stand for it. That means that we will use every tool at our command.”

White House legal advisers have argued that the documents are protected under presidential privilege, but Mr Kean said that the commission’s remit was unique and such privilege did not apply. The commission, which was opposed by the White House, is falling behind schedule and may not be able to report in time — by next May. Max Cleland, a former Democrat senator from Georgia who is serving on the commission, accused the White House of trying to spin the commission out until after the presidential election in November next year.

“As each day goes by, we learn that this Government knew a whole lot more about these terrorists before September 11 than it has ever admitted,” he said.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,170-869771,00.html

[dusty64]

10. Unlike every lie and rumor

against President Clinton during the 90's, this HUGE story was not on the frontpage of my local paper (page 5 at the bottom). How much more proof does one need to see this regime is corrupt to the core? I watched network news last night to see about the fires and this story, surprise not ONE word about it. I hope the Democrats start making more of an issue of this as many in this country still believe the fallacy that chimp is a "moral" person, the fuc#ing hell he is. They'd better start shouting all this stuff from the rooftops (and there is PLENTY to shout about) cause the media ain't gonna do it for them.