911 Commission Interviews Heads of State
President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have agreed to testify in closed session in March 2004 before Chair Thomas Kean, and Vice Chair Lee Hamilton, of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the US ( 9-11 Commission). The 9-11 Commission, created by congressional legislation in late 2002, is an independent, bipartisan commission, chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore have agreed to testify before the full 9-11 Commission. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet will also testify at the Commission's eighth public hearing, to be held in Washington, DC in March 2004. Details of this hearing will be posted on the Commission's website.
Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, President Bush was at first reluctant and slow to establish an independent investigatory body, and has similarly been slow to release critical information enabling the Commission to proceed with its investigation in a timely fashion. Nonetheless, in conversation with Al Felzenberg, Deputy of Communications for the 9-11 Commission, he points out that President Bush has been more forthcoming than have previous administrations with national security information and availability of his staff.
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice testified in early February, but refused to testify under oath. Mr. Felzenberg was keen to point out that the legal standard regarding Rice's refusal to testify under oath can be viewed from two standpoints. First, since Rice is a presidential appointee not confirmed by the Senate, she is under no obligation to testify before a congressional body. However, Mr. Felzenberg also notes the 9-11 Commission is independent of Congress and not bound to Congressional rules and therefore Rice could be subpoenaed to testify under oath. While there is currently no resolution on this issue, the Commission is pressing Rice to testify in public.
The question as to whether or not Bush will testify under oath still remains to be answered. Following is an excerpt from a White House press briefing with Scott McClellan from February 23, 2004:
Q Would it be inappropriate, in your view, in the President's view, for him to offer testimony under oath to this commission?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, look, the President will be pleased to talk to them in a private session. And that's where it stands right now.
Q So you're not answering the oath question?
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?
Q You're not -- does he think it's inappropriate to be under oath for something like this?
MR. McCLELLAN: The President is going to share with [the Commission] what information he knows, and he's pleased to do it.
Q So he'll do it under oath, if necessary?
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know if that's necessary. I think he can accomplish it all in private meeting, and provide the commission the necessary information in that format.
Q But he's -- but he's against anything being made public?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I don't know that I said that. They will obviously have a private meeting with him and have an opportunity to discuss with the President information that is relevant to their work.
Q Can they share that testimony then?
MR. McCLELLAN: And we're working all the details. I don't know the specifics, David, of all the details that are involved in this. Obviously, we still are able -- we're still working to discuss those details with them. But, certainly, this is information that they would use in preparing their report to the American people. So I expect that they would share information.
Mr. Felzenberg expressed the sense that the Commission prefers Bush and Cheney will testify before the entire commission and they are “hopeful” Bush will change his mind and testify under oath.
Meanwhile, the Commission has been trying to persuade Congress to extend their mandate for 2 months beyond their May 27th deadline so that they can complete a more accurate report of their findings. While the Commission had indicated, in a Feb. 25th public statement, that there was bipartisan support from congress and the president to extend the mandate, on the same day House Speaker Dennis Hastert dealt a serious blow to the Commission, the families of 911, and the American People, when he told the White House and fellow Republicans that he will not bring up legislation to extend the Commissions Deadline. The Senate Intelligence Commitee did, however, approve the two-month extension for the commission on Feb 26.
In frustration with the Bush Administrations stonewalling of information, 911 Commissioner and Former Senator Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.), currently president of New York's New School University, told the Daily News that resigning from the Commission is "on my list of possibilities" because the Bush administration continues to block the full panel's access to top intelligence officials and materials. "I am no longer ... feeling comfortable that I'm going to be able to read and process what I need in order to participate in writing a report about how it was that 19 men defeated every single defensive system the U.S. put up to kill 3,000 Americans on Sept. 11," said Kerrey.
*Adam Roufberg is a physicist and is editor of www.thefourreasons.org.