NYT: Bush Weighing Decision on Release of Documents to Sept. 11 Panel

[huckleberry]

By PHILIP SHENON

Published: October 28, 2003


WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 — President Bush declined on Monday to commit the White House to turning over highly classified intelligence reports to the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, despite public threats of a subpoena from the bipartisan panel.

snip

The political risks to Mr. Bush of refusing to provide the information to the Sept. 11 panel became clearer today, when two of the leading Democrats seeking their party's presidential nomination accused Mr. Bush of trying to hide something from the commission and the public.

"I am very concerned by the President's foot-dragging on cooperation with the bipartisan 9/11 commission," Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, said in a statement released by his presidential campaign committee. "The administration's current stonewalling suggests that there is more that they knew and want to hide from the American public."

snip

In an interview on Monday with The Associated Press, Mr. Kean said that he would resume negotiations with the White House this week and that he hoped to reach a resolution "one way or the other" on the documents sought by the panel.

"We've gotten a number of documents from the White House, including some very sensitive documents that Congress did not have," Mr. Kean said in the interview. "We need more, and that is why we have the ongoing negotiations. We're not going to be satisfied until we have everything we need to do our job."

more at

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/28/politics/28TERR.html?ex=1067922000&en=88ff09f244971e0c&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

[Beetwasher]

1. The Heat Is On

The question is is how much can Kean take? What's his integrity level?

[Oilwellian]

10. My dad worked with him

From what he says, Kean is a man of high integrity and will be resolute to the security of this nation over the present administration occupying the WH.

[are_we_united_yet]

20. Former Governor of New Jersey

and perhaps the best Governor in the history of that state.

[DeathvadeR]

2. Weighing???? Weighing???? WTF??????

ahhh Democratic Freedom at its finest!!!!!!!

[Voltaire99]

23. Headline should have read "weightlifting"

We should call it the Oval Gym.

[Mz Pip]

3. Not quite finished with

the shredding? :crazy:

Resume negotiations??? Is this some kind of hostage situtation? What the f8@& is there to negotiate? Turn over the damn documents.

MzPip
:dem:

[Must_B_Free]

4. He had no problem outing an undercover CIA agnet

so why should these documents be such a big deal for him?

[asjr]

5. kean

I know Mr. Kean is a Repub. Do you think he might sense which way the wind is blowing and feels if he does this right and actually comes up with something very harming to the WH he will appear as quite the hero? I sense some unease in the Repub ranks. Maybe they will all try to CYA.

[SteveG]

13. A republican yes

but of the old school, social liberal, economic conservative ... Classic Northeastern type of Republican, Jeffords and Kean are very similar in their views. Believe it or not, there are still honorable republicans out there... granted not a great many, but a few... I think Kean is still honorable.

[truthisfreedom]

6. so if for some reason bush didn't run for election next year, who would?

who would the repugs choose?

[Minstrel Boy]

7. Tucker Carlson implied today

that Bush was covering up for Clinton. :crazy:

[diplomats]

12. Yeah, Tucker

that makes a LOT of sense. :eyes:

[meisje]

8. time to get out the black marker

spray paint?

[Mike Niendorff]

9. The Crawford Briefing, 8/6/01.

from the same article:

-----

Officials for the commission say the documents include copies of the so-called Presidential Daily Briefing -- the summary prepared each morning by the Central Intelligence Agency for the Oval Office -- that Mr. Bush received in the weeks before the attacks. The White House refused to provide the reports to House and Senate investigators last year for their investigation of the attacks, citing executive privilege.

-----

MDN

[Oilwellian]

14. If this daily briefing...

is released to the Commission and it shows Bush knew there were plans to use planes as weapons, he will be hard-pressed to explain WHY he thought "that was one terrible pilot."

[Minstrel Boy]

15. "Had I known..."

"Had I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to kill on that fateful morning, I would have done everything in my power to protect the American people." - George W. Bush

This could yet be fun to watch: the lighbulbs switching on above millions of Americans' heads, as it dawns on them that Bush is going to the wall to withhold what he knew about impending attacks.

But...but... why would he do that?

...

:think:

[Q]

11. Now they're 'highly classified'?

- Once a liar always a liar. The only reason they've been classifed at all is that they SHOW the Bushies KNEW an attack was coming and they did NOTHING to prevent it.

[pinniped]

16. And there's another article where the jerk claims they're cooperating.

:eyes:

[midnight armadillo]

17. Shred it!

President Bush declined on Monday to commit the White House to turning over highly classified intelligence reports to the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, despite public threats of a subpoena from the bipartisan panel.

Or, in plain English, not all copies have been shredded yet.

[Oilwellian]

21. Ah, but....

don't forget...Tenet has a copy too. :D

[KeepItReal]

18. All they need is the transcript of....

Outgoing National Security Advisor Sandy Berger telling Condi Rice et al. that the #1 threat they would be dealing with was Al Qaeda....

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/09/27_Time.html

Bush knew...

[stickdog]

19. Note that this is the very same White House that has no problem actively

BROADCASTING information critical to US national security interests for something as puerile as political revenge. And the fact that al Qaeda already knows everything we learned about them by questioning suspects at Gitmo because Karl Rove's best friend recommended an al Qaeda spy to handle the Muslim Chaplains -- well, that doesn't even raise one hackle in this White House.

[sam sarrha]

22. Well... The people who sent them have copies... and "W" pissed em off big

time... he is way out of his league, WAY OUT!!!....Far out!!