National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States: Testimony

From SourceWatch
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The "independent bipartisan" National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States "was created to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and response to the attacks, as well as recommendations to prevent future attacks." [1]

Testimony of the 8th public hearing before the Commission commenced on Tuesday, March 23, 2004, and continued through March 24, 2004.

Testimony of the 9th public hearing before the Commission, which heard public testimony from Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, April 8, 2004.

Testimony of the 10th public hearing before the Commission commenced on Tuesday, April 13, 2004, and continued through April 14, 2004.

SCHEDULED HEARINGS


Testimony: March 23 and March 24, 2004, April 8, 2004, and April 13 and April 14, 2004

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

STAFF STATEMENTS
WITNESSES: Former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Former Secretary of Defense William Sebastian Cohen, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers.
TEXT:
  • PREPARED TESTIMONY
VIDEO: Links for video of testimony given by Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell.

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

STAFF STATEMENTS
WITNESSES: Director of the Central Intelligence Agency George J. Tenet, Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency James L. Pavitt, Former National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger, Former National Coordinator for Counterterrorism for National Security Council Richard A. Clarke, and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
TEXT:
  • PREPARED TESTIMONY:
VIDEO: Links for video of testimony given by Samuel Berger and Richard Clarke.

Wednesday, April 8, 2004: Condoleezza Rice

TEXT
VIDEO

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

STAFF STATEMENTS
WITNESSES: Former Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation Louis J. Freeh, Former Attorney General of the United States Janet Reno, Former Acting Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation Thomas J. Pickard, Former Director, Counterterrorism Center, Central Intelligence Agency, Ambassador J. Cofer Black, and Attorney General of the United States John David Ashcroft.
TEXT
  • PREPARED TESTIMONY
  • COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
VIDEO

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

STAFF STATEMENTS
WITNESSES: Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence John E. McLaughlin.
TEXT
  • PREPARED TESTIMONY
  • COMPLETE TESTIMONY
PANEL: "Preventing Future Attacks Inside the United States": Director Terrorist Threat Integration Center John O. Brennan; Assistant Secretary for Information Analysis, Department of Homeland Security, Lieutenant General Patrick M. Hughes; Executive Assistant Director for Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence, Federal Bureau of Investigation, John S. Pistole; Deputy Director of Operations, Central Intelligence Agency, James L. Pavitt.
TEXT
  • PREPARED TESTIMONY
PANEL: "FBI Leadership and Initiatives Post-9/11": Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert S. Mueller III and Executive Assistant Director for Intelligence, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Maureen A. Baginski.
TEXT
  • PREPARED TESTIMONY


  • More transcripts to follow.

Findings


Additional Transcripts and Excerpts


Quotes

  • "The bottom line for me is, it just pains me to have to say that on the 11th of September [2001] that 19 men and less than half a million dollars defeated every single defensive mechanism we had in place -- utterly.
"It wasn't even a close call. They defeated everything we had in place on 11th September, with hardly, it seems to me, any doubt about their chance of success!" -- Bob Kerrey, March 24, 2004.

SourceWatch Resources

Public Testimony Ends with Capitulation to Rice/Bush

The details of the agreement still portray a White House that has something to hide.

Paul Sperry writes on March 31, 2004:

"The fine print of the deal takes the chance of the commission taking sworn public testimony from any other White House official - including Rice's deputy Stephen Hadley, Bush's political adviser Karl Rove, President Bush himself or Vice President Dick Cheney - completely off the table. It also precludes the panel from having the option of calling Rice, who's made media statements contradicting evidence and sworn statements by other officials, back to testify."
"There's a raft of evidence to suggest that Philip D. Zelikow [Executive Director of the Commission] has personal, professional and political reasons not to see the commission hold Rice and other Bush officials accountable for pre-9/11 failings, and may be the de facto swing vote for Republicans on the panel."
"Though he has no vote, the former Texas lawyer arguably has more sway than any member, including the chairman. Zelikow picks the areas of investigation, the briefing materials, the topics for hearings, the witnesses, and the lines of questioning for witnesses. He also picks which fights are worth fighting, legally, with the White House, and was involved in the latest round of capitulations - er, negotiations - over Rice's testimony. And the commissioners for the most part follow his recommendations. In effect, he sets the agenda and runs the investigation.
"He also carries with him a downright obnoxious conflict-of-interest odor, one that somehow went undetected by the lawyers who vetted him for one of the most important investigative positions in U.S. history."