Independent 9-11 Panel Seeks Documents

posted by ewing2001 on Thursday June 19, @02:09AM

Independent 9-11 Panel Seeks Documents

Thu, Jun 19, 2003

By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Delving deeper than Congress' inquiry, the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 terror attacks has made far-reaching requests for documents from the Bush administration and does not expect President Bush to invoke executive privilege, officials say.

A spokesman for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States said Wednesday the requests for documents were broader than those last year of congressional investigators.

Advertisement

"We have made a substantial request for documents. We didn't issue subpoenas. We made an ordinary request. And we don't anticipate any resistance," commission spokesman Al Felzenberg said.

The requests included documents from the White House, which did not provide all the information that was requested last year by a joint congressional panel that investigated intelligence lapses before the attacks.

Eleanor Hill, the staff director for the earlier congressional inquiry, said Wednesday she was reluctant to quantify how much information Congress received from the White House, but noted the National Security Council considered that some of the materials requested by her committee were "within the scope of inquiry and some were not."

The Bush administration has made clear in prior investigations unrelated to terrorism that it intends to protect executive privilege, the doctrine that a president is entitled to confidential advice from his aides that he may keep from congressional or judicial bodies.

One of the new terror commission members, former Rep. Tim Roemer (news, bio, voting record), D-Ind., recently raised concerns about his inability to see some transcripts of closed hearings from the congressional inquiry.

But Felzenberg said that issue was resolved and "we have no reason to believe" executive privilege is going to be invoked to deny the current document requests.

Administration officials stopped short of committing to providing everything the commission seeks.

"The president strongly supports the commission and wants it to be successful," White House spokeswoman Ashley Snee said. "We will continue to work closely with the commission in response to their requests."

She declined to say whether the administration would turn over every document the commission asked for.

<  Ex-Porton Down Scientist: "'Weasel words' over Iraq" | 911 -Early Warnings: Sabotaged FBI Agents and their Fate  >