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Mon 5 Apr, 2004 09:29 am
Is there anything George Bush didn't do to frustrate the work of the 9/11 Commission? Yet just listen to Karen "Bigfoot" Hughes, one of Bush's top advisors, on Meet the Press:
Russert: "Why such resistance and reluctance to cooperate fully with the Commission?"
Hughes: "I don't know that the President ever opposed the creation of the Commission."
Russert: "But the history is clear.
There has been opposition"
Hughes: "There were concerns
. Once the commission had been created, unprecedented cooperation.
" [Meet the Press, 4/4/04]
Even though Bush himself said the independent 9-11 commission could improve the security of the United States, he and his administration have not supported their investigation into whether any intelligence could be improved to prevent another terrorist attack. Bush originally opposed the commission entirely. After it was established he initially did not include the funding they requested, he still has not provided documents the commission has said are necessary for their work, he initially opposed granting them an extension they requested, and he initially said he would only grant them one hour of his time to answer any questions they had. Worse, it was reported Bush's hesitation to grant some of the requests was because he was afraid of the political fallout?-that a negative report could come out during the campaign and hurt his re-election chances.
"Bush may wish to advertise his patriotism and speak of the need to fight despots by standing tall for American ideals, but he has chosen a much more imperial line with the commission investigating the 9/11 attacks. Bush has told the independent panel that his testimony must be limited to one hour and that questions must come only from the chairman, Thomas H. Kean, former Republican governor of New Jersey, or the vice chairman, Lee H. Hamilton, former chair of the House International Relations Committee. Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, has refused to testify at a public hearing before the committee. The lack of cooperation from the White House is preventing the committee from doing its work. Its job, like the job of the American voter, is to get past the spin and glossy speech-making and try to find the truth." [Boston Globe editorial, 3/6/04]
"?'The White House never really wanted this commission, and my fear is that they are looking for a way to kill it without looking like they've killed it,' said Stephen Push, head of the group Families of September 11." [Washington Post, 3/27/03]
FIRST BUSH OPPOSED INDEPENDENT COMMISSION ALTOGETHER
Bush Said Commission Could Increase U.S. Security. "An aggressive investigation into September the 11th, with a responsible concern for sensitive information that will allow us to win the war on terror will contribute to the security of this country."?- George W. Bush [ABC News, 11/28/02]
Yet Bush Also Opposed 9/11 Commission. "Bush often has resisted outside inquiries, at least at the outset. He initially opposed a joint House-Senate inquiry into the 9/11 attacks, as well as creation of the independent bipartisan panel to look into the attacks, but eventually acquiesced. He also balked at naming the Iraq panel but eventually adopted the concept in the face of political pressure from Capitol Hill. Bush portrayed his effort Friday as an attempt to get to the bottom of a dispute that has gained momentum since U.S. weapons hunters failed to find the weapons of mass destruction alleged by the White House as justification for going to war 11 months ago." [ Detroit Free Press, 2/7/04]
Panel Charged With Figuring Out How 9/11 Happened, to Prevent Future Attacks. "The 9/11 panel - known formally as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States - was established by Congress to study the nation's preparedness before Sept. 11, 2001 and its response to the attacks, and to make recommendations for guarding against similar disasters." [Associated Press, 2/4/04]
BUSH INITIALLY OPPOSED GRANTING COMMISSION EXTRA TIME THEY REQUESTED
Bush First Opposed, Then Allowed the Extra Time Commission Said They Needed. "President George W. Bush reversed himself Wednesday and said he now supports giving a commission investigating the 9/11 attacks more time to produce a final report. The commission is scheduled to finish its work on May 27. But panel members last month asked Congress for a two-month extension, citing a need for full analysis of reams of documents about the disaster.
On Wednesday, the White House relented, saying it backed moving the deadline to July 26. But White House spokesman Scott McClellan also urged the commission to wrap up its work 30 days after that. If Congress accepts Bush's recommendation, the report would arrive at the end of August, just as the presidential campaign is entering the post-Labor Day final stretch." [Associated Press, 2/4/04]
Bush Wanted to Deny Commission More Time for Political Reasons. "Bush had resisted that request for months, saying through his spokesmen that the administration wanted the panel to complete its work as soon as possible. Privately, White House aides feared that delaying the commission's final report would result in a potentially damaging assessment of the administration's handling of pre-attack intelligence in the heat of a presidential campaign." [Associated Press, 2/4/04]
WHITE HOUSE WON'T GIVE COMMISSION PRESIDENTIAL INTELLEGENCE BRIEFINGS
White House Won't Release Very Documents AT Heart of Question. "The documents at the heart of the dispute are the so-called presidential daily briefs, or PDBs--the daily intelligence brief given to Bush by a senior intelligence official, usually the CIA director or his deputy. White House lawyers have guarded the documents as the "crown jewels" of executive privilege. But last year Kean and other commissioners complained they couldn't write their report without seeing exactly what Bush, and Bill Clinton before him, had been told about the threat of Al Qaeda. The White House then agreed to a complex deal that would allow four panel officials to review the PDBs and then brief the full 10-member panel. But the arrangement hasn't stopped the wrangling. The four-member team asked to look at 360 PDBs dating back to 1998; White House counsel Alberto Gonzales permitted them to see just 24, arguing that only those that specifically mentioned possible domestic attacks or airplane hijackings were relevant. (One panel member was allowed to read all 360--but couldn't share the contents with colleagues.) The team was permitted to write brief summaries of the PDBs they did read. But White House lawyers objected to some of the wording. The bickering has meant the full panel has yet to be told anything about the PDBs--even while it was conducting interviews with top officials, like last Saturday's with national-security adviser Condoleezza Rice." [Newsweek, 2/16/04]
Commission Members Said White House Preventing Them From Real Investigation. "The White House is facing a new battle with the federal panel investigating 9/11. To mollify the panel chair, former governor Thomas Kean, President George W. Bush last week reversed course and agreed to a two-month extension that is supposed to ensure a final 9/11 report by July. But that might not be enough. Commission sources tell NEWSWEEK that panel members are fed up with what one calls "maddening" restrictions by White House lawyers on their access to key documents. Unless the panel gets to see the docs, the report "will not withstand the laugh test," a commission official says. The panel is threatening to force a showdown soon--by voting to subpoena the White House." [Newsweek, 2/16/04]
White House Let Reporter Writing Bush-Friendly Book See Documents They Won't Let Commission Have. "The restrictions are especially infuriating, one source notes, because at least some of the PDBs appear to have been selectively shared by the White House two years ago with author Bob Woodward for his sympathetic book ?'Bush at War.'" [Newsweek, 2/16/04]
WHITE HOUSE INITIALLY UNDERFUNDED COMMISSION
White House Did Not Initially Include Money Commission Needed. "Members of an independent commission appointed to investigate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks warned yesterday that the panel will go broke by August without $ 11 million in new funding, which was not included in the Bush administration's supplemental war budget as members had expected. The commission's chairman, former New Jersey governor Thomas H. Kean (R), said yesterday that he submitted a request to the White House last week for the additional money, which would come on top of the $ 3 million allocated by Congress last fall to launch the investigation. The White House's war-related proposal announced on Tuesday included no new money for the commission, prompting members and some lawmakers to begin lobbying for the funding. Kean said he was disappointed that the money was not included in the White House budget, but added that he is confident that the administration and Congress would arrive at a solution. The panel's proposed $ 14 million budget includes funding for about 50 staff members and for specially secured office space in downtown Washington." [Washington Post, 3/27/03]
In Comparison, Columbia Disaster Got $50 Million for Investigation. "One sore spot for several commission members is NASA's investigation of the Feb. 1 Columbia shuttle disaster, which killed seven astronauts. Some estimates indicate the NASA probe could cost $ 50 million. The joint House-Senate panel had a budget of nearly $ 3 million for an inquiry focused only on intelligence issues. The commission, by contrast, must investigate a wide variety of topics, from border policy to aviation security, Kean and others said. ?'In the shuttle tragedy we lost seven people,' said commission member Timothy J. Roemer, a former Democratic House member from Indiana. ?'We lost 3,000 people in the September 11th attacks, and we could lose more if these terrorists attack again. . . . Not going after the facts in this case could kill some people.'" [Washington Post, 3/27/03]
BUSH WANTED TO LIMIT HIS TESTIMONY TO ONE HOUR IN PRIVATE
Bush and Key Advisors Initially Offered Little if Any Testimony Time. "The commission is negotiating with the Bush administration over its private interviews with Bush and Cheney, set for sometime in March. Bush and Cheney have said they would only meet with the chairman and vice chairman and are restricting the interviews to one hour. Former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore have agreed to meet privately with the full 10-member commission for several hours. Also, the commission is calling for Rice to testify at its next public hearing in late March, but she has declined, citing legal concerns." Bush has since agreed to "answer all of the commission's questions." [Associated Press, 2/28/04; 3/9/04]
THEN THEY TRIED TO PREVENT RICE FROM TESTIFYING UNDER OATH USING FALSE PRECEDENT
"Rice so far has refused to provide testimony under oath to the commission that could possibly resolve the contradictions. On Wednesday night, she told reporters, ?'I would like nothing better in a sense than to be able to go up and do this, but I have a responsibility to maintain what is a long-standing constitutional separation between the executive and the legislative branch.' Other presidential aides have waived their immunity; President Jimmy Carter's national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, did, as did President Bill Clinton's national security adviser, Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger." [Washington Post, 3/26/04]
NOW THE WHITE HOUSE IS TRYING TO PREVENT ANY FURTHER COOPERATION WITH COMMISSION
In order for Rice to testify under oath, "the Commission must agree in writing that it will not request additional public testimony from any White House official, including Dr. Rice." [Associated Press, 3/30/04]
In a letter to the 9/11 Commission, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales wrote, "The President has determined that, although he retains the legal authority to decline to make Dr. Rice available to testify in public, he will agree, as a matter of comity and subject to the conditions set forth below, to the Commission's request that Dr. Rice to testify publicly regarding matters within the Commission's statutory mandate. The necessary conditions are as follows. First, the Commission must agree in writing that Dr. Rice's testimony before the Commission does not set any precedent for future Commission requests, or requests in any other context, for testimony by a National Security Advisor or any other White House official. Second, the Commission must agree in writing that it will not request additional public testimony from any White House official, including Dr. Rice." [Associated Press, 3/30/04]
WHITE HOUSE GENERALLY INTERFERED WITH COMMISSION
John McCain Said Bush Administration "Slow-Walked and Stonewalled." "Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, a key architect of the legislation forming the commission, said the Bush Administration ?'slow-walked and stonewalled' the House-Senate inquiry. ?'I don't see how you can have a thorough investigation without talking to the people who were in charge throughout the time period prior to 9/11,' he told TIME." [Time Magazine, 2/3/03]
Took Subpoena Threat for White House to Turn Over Some Intelligence Reports. "It took the threat of a subpoena from the independent commission investigating the 9/11 attacks to force the White House to turn over intelligence reports. Even at that, family members of victims complain, there were too many restrictions on release of the information. In Congress, the administration has rebuffed members on a range of issues often unrelated to security concerns." [U.S. News & World Report, 12/11/03]
Commissioner Blamed White House for "Slow Start." "Said one commission member: ?'We've gotten off to a slow start, unfortunately, and part of that is because we've gotten mixed signals from the White House as to whether they support this.'" [Washington Post, 3/27/03]
Families Frustrated With White House. "While the administration of President George W. Bush is aggressively positioning itself as the world leader in the war on terrorism, some families of the Sept. 11 victims say that the facts increasingly contradict that script. The White House long opposed the formation of a blue-ribbon Sept. 11 commission, some say, and even now that panel is underfunded and struggling to build momentum. And, they say, the administration is suppressing a 900-page congressional study, possibly out of fear that the findings will be politically damaging to Bush. ?'We've been fighting for nearly 21 months -- fighting the administration, the White House,' says Monica Gabrielle. Her husband, Richard, an insurance broker who worked for Aon Corp. on the 103rd floor of the World Trade Center's Tower 2, died during the attacks. ?'As soon as we started looking for answers we were blocked, put off and ignored at every stop of the way. We were shocked. The White House is just blocking everything.' Another 9/11 family advocate -- a former Bush supporter who requested anonymity -- was more blunt: ?'Bush has done everything in his power to squelch this 9/11 commission and prevent it from happening.'" [Salon.com, 6/18/03]
U.S. Has History of Quickly Establishing Investigative Committees. "Last year, when Cheney called Daschle to urge him to limit any hearings into 9/11, the V.P. argued it would drain sources away from the war on terrorism. By contrast, just 11 days after Japanese bombers hit the U.S. with a sneak attack killing nearly 3,000 people, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order creating a commission to ?'ascertain and report the facts relating to the attack made by Japanese armed forces upon the Territory of Hawaii on December 7, 1941 ... and to provide bases for sound decisions whether any derelictions of duty or errors of judgment on the part of United States Army or Navy personnel contributed to such successes as were achieved by the enemy on the occasion mentioned.' It was the first of eight government-led investigations into the Pearl Harbor.
The Warren Commission, headed by Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, was formed just seven days after President Kennedy was assassinated. Last February, after seven astronauts died when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated 200,000 feet above Texas, NASA's Columbia Accident Investigation Board was created 90 minutes after the incident; $50 million was immediately set aside for the probe. And in just four months, the board has already made public significant findings about the crash investigation.
By contrast, nearly two years after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the 9/11 commission only recently opened up its New York City office. The commission's budget has been increased to $14 million, but many experts say that's still far short of the sum needed to do the job right." [Salon.com, 6/18/03]
It looks like everyone but Karen Hughes knew.....
(good research Titus)
Hi jackie:
Thx.
Bigfoot was just carrying water for her boss. Like Rice, Rumsfeld, and Powell -- they were taxpayer paid liars.
She was on Pat Robertson this morning, telling the inbred what a godly man Bush is.
Re: Bigfoot Hughes Rewrites 9/11 History
Titus wrote:
BUSH WANTED TO LIMIT HIS TESTIMONY TO ONE HOUR IN PRIVATE
Bush and Key Advisors Initially Offered Little if Any Testimony Time. “The commission is negotiating with the Bush administration over its private interviews with Bush and Cheney, set for sometime in March. Bush and Cheney have said they would only meet with the chairman and vice chairman and are restricting the interviews to one hour. Bush has since agreed to “answer all of the commission’s questions.” [Associated Press, 2/28/04; 3/9/04]
Clinton - Tried to cover up a BJ.
Bush II - Trying to cover up his response to 9/11.
Bush should have gotten a BJ instead.
Bob...WTF are you doing watching Pat Robertson? Don't you know that guy's a wacko? 
My Brother in Law watches it religiously (pun intended) every morning. I get an earful as I'm headed out the door.
hobit
I feel I should take this moment to offer my sincere condolences.
It does keep me up to date on many things going on in the world of the far right, so perhaps it isn't all bad.
doglover:
Precisely.
The Bush loyalists would get their knickers in a snit over oral sex, but they smile glowingly when their hero, King George the Liar, launches a war for oil and legacy which has morphed into an all-out guerilla war leading to the deaths of 610 Americans.
Go figure?
Hughes' claims at the head of this piece (to Russert) are so disengenuous that it makes her a liar. But as I mentioned on another thread a while ago, even Tucker Carlson has said she is guilty of that.
blatham:
I guess shameless lying is a prerequisite to work for the Bush cabal. That and the ability to spin while the stench of a sewer wafts up toward your nose.
What a nauseating lot.
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