TOTAL INFORMATION ANALYSIS

Monday, February 21, 2005

Letter from Rep. Henry A. Waxman and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney to HOuse Govt Reform Committee chair Rep. Tom Davis (Waxman is the Ranking Member), via Lone Star Iconoclast :

We are writing to request that our Committee hold hearings to investigate two extremely serious questions raised by an article that appeared in this morning’s New York Times. The first question is whether the Administration misused the classification process to withhold, for political reasons, official 9/11 Commission staff findings detailing how federal aviation officials received multiple intelligence reports warning of airline hijackings and suicide attacks before September 11. The second question relates to the veracity of statements, briefings, and testimony by then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice regarding this issue....

The 9/11 Commission report found that there was “intelligence that indicated a real and growing threat leading up to 9/11,” but that this intelligence “did not stimulate significant increases in security procedures.” Although the report did not find that the government had advance information about the specific September 11, 2001, attacks, it reported that the FAA took various measures to warn airport security...

The first question Committee hearings should address is whether the Bush Administration abused the classification process to improperly withhold the 9/11 Commission findings from Congress and the public until after the November elections and the confirmation of Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State. Although the 9/11 Commission staff completed its report on August 26, 2004, the Bush Administration refused to declassify the findings until January 28, 2005, less than 48 hours after Ms. Rice was confirmed as Secretary of State. At that time, the Department of Justice delivered both a classified version and an unclassified version to the National Archives, the agency charged with collecting and retaining all 9/11 Commission documents.
[...]
On December 2, 2004, we joined with Rep. Christopher Shays, Chairman of the National Security Subcommittee, and 23 other members in a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft specifically requesting the 9/11 Commission report at issue.

[...]

Finally, we request that the Committee obtain from the Administration the following documents identified in the New York Times article this morning:
(1) A full, unredacted copy of the classified version of the 9/11 Commission report on FAA intelligence warnings delivered to the National Archives;
(2) Full and unredacted copies of the 52 intelligence reports received by the FAA;
(3) Full and unredacted copies of the CD-ROM presentation distributed to airlines and airports in 2001; and
(4) Full and unredacted copies of slides, reports, or other documents used in classified briefings for security officials at 19 airports in mid-2001.

| Posted at 02:49 | PERMA-LINK |

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