FO B1 Commission Meeting 6-5-03 Fdr- Table of Contents and Tab 1- Entire Contents- 6-2-03 Memo From Kean-Hamilton Re 6-5-03 Meeting Agenda 627

8/14/2019 FO B1 Commission Meeting 6-5-03 Fdr- Table of Contents and Tab 1- Entire Contents- 6-2-03 Memo From Kean-Hamilton Re 6-5-03 Meeting Agenda 627

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1)Agenda for June 5,2003 Meeting

2) Summary of PENTTBOM Investigation

3) Minutes of May 21,2003 Meeting


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v

Kean

H. H am i l to nC H A I RBen-Ven is te

ClelandF. Fielding

S. GorelickGorton

F. LehmanRoemer

R . Thompson

D . ZelikowSUTIVE DI RE CTO R

June 2, 2003MEMORANDUMTo: C ommissionersFrom: Tom Kean and Lee H amiltonSubj: Our Meeting on Thursday, June 5

O ur meeting at our K Street conference room w ill begin at 8:30 a.m. and isscheduled to conclude no later than 1:30 p.m.I. FBI BriefingO ur meeting w ill begin (from about 8:30 to 10) w ith a classified briefing fromleaders of the FBI's investigation into the 9/11 attacks. This is the PENTTBOMinvestigation (PE Nnsylvania/PE NTagon, Twin Towers, and BO M as the code forany terrorist exp losive a ttack). It is prob ably the largest investigation in thehistory of the Bureau. This is a backgroun d briefing being conducted off therecord for us by the working-level supervisors. A written summary of their workmarked as Law E nforcem ent Sensitive (LE S) is attached for you at Tab 2.A lthough LE S is not a national security classification, y ou should hand le thedocum ent w ith appropriate discretion, as w ith internal C ommission docum entslike this memo.W e currently hope to schedule another FBI briefing on an especially sensitiveaspect of their investigation for the Commission's meeting on June 26. A lso onJune 26 w e are trying to schedule a classified briefing that Director Mu eller hasoffered on the reorganization and current counterterrorism operations of theBureau.II . CIA BriefingFrom about 10 to 11:30 we w ill follow the FBI briefing with a briefing by a groupof C IA analysts summ arizing their current analysis of the 9/11 plot and theplotters. Immediately after the attack, DCI Tenet organized a DC I Review Groupto look back at the CIA's wo rk on the 9/11 issues. In addition, the Directorate ofIntelligence's O ffice of Terrorism A nalysis organized a World Trade C enterGroup to do their ow n retrospective analysis of everyth ing they could gatherabout the attack. Both this and the FBI effort are ongoing, continuo usly updatedas new information is received. A gain, this is a background briefing beingconducted off the record to allow these w orking-level analysts to discuss their

FO R O FFI C I A L U S E O N LY301 7'1' Street SW, Room 5125Washington, DC 20407T 202.331.4060 F 202.296.5545www.9-1lcommission.gov


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FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

hypotheses more freely an d speculatively with the Commission. To assist theCommission and summarize their own work over the last year and a half, CIA hasprepared a 64 page, graphically rich, TS/SCI document, "11 September: The Plot and thePlotters." W e obviously cannot send this to you, bu t this document is available for yourreview at the Commission offices an d would be helpful background reading before youhear the briefing.III. MinutesFor the last two hours of our meeting we will work through other business, beginningwith the minutes. The draft minutes are attached at Tab 3.IV. Access to InformationPhilip and Dan will report on our progress in obtaining the documents we need for ourwork. The process is advancing quickly now.The most significant problem we have encountered so far is in obtaining access to theCIA documents provided to the Joint Inquiry. The JI has these documents both digitallyand in hard copy. The CIA did not make a second set; and they have already been givingus access to the raw intelligence reports they did not physically turn over to the JI butwhich were retained for review at CIA HQ.The Executive Branch has asked that we obtain these documents from the Joint Inquiry.The Joint Inquiry leadership (Porter Goss and his lead staffers) agreed that this requestwas legitimate. The Joint Inquiry staff, however, has been unable to comply with itpromptly without also giving us access to all their internal documents as well. They willno t do this. With almost no staff available to help us, the JI has offered a workaroundthat would be cumbersome an d oblige us to wait fo r several weeks before beginning toreceive access to these fundamental CIA documents, and then only at a painfully slowrate. This is unacceptable to us.We are therefore likely to go back to the Executive Branch and ask them to abandon theirposition that the JI provide us with these recordsdespite the JI's agreement to itbecause of the JI's incapacity to follow through effectively on this commitment. Thus wewould ask CIA to request and retrieve these records all over again.Porter also promised us that he would endeavor to provide the Commission with its owncopy of the JI report by the end of May. That timeline has not been met. The JI isstruggling in the coming week over the issue of declassifying an d moving to publish itsreport (which it considers a prerequisite fo r supplying us with a copy of the classifiedversion). This problem remains a critical hindrance to many commissioners and staff.W e intend to go back to Porter to see if, consistent with ou r earlier understanding, he canno w find a way to give us a copy of this report "one way or another."

FO R OFFICIAL USE ONLY


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FO R OFFICIAL USE ONLYAs discussed at our last meeting, the staff ha s gone forward with preparation of a majordocument request for the Executive Office of the President, including many NSC records.Philip and Dan will report on this very important matter.The situation with other executive agencies is proceeding reasonably well. Dan andSteve can provide details.V. Interview GuidelinesAs we start preparing formal interview requests, w e need a further discussion of ourguidelines fo r conducting interviews, especially on the issues of recording interviews an dthe presence of agency representatives. Dan will present some recommendations for ourconsideration.VI. Press Guidelines

As requested at our last discussion of this topic, Al Felzenberg prepared guidelines fo rou r consideration. Finding difficulty in crafting an y specific, substantive guidelinesabout every commissioner should or should no t say, his recommendation isstraightforward: The Commission should elaborate upon our original agreement that theChair and Vice Chair will speak to the press on behalf of the Commission in respondingto any questions about the work of the Commission, whether on or off the record. Othercommissioners should refer press questions about the internal work of the Commission tous.W e look forward to discussing this approach with you at our meeting.VII. Schedule of Public HearingsIn addition to scheduling various other private briefings, w e have asked the staff torecommend a schedule fo r public hearings that they consider workable. An outline ofthat schedule is listed below. (Reserved likely hearing dates are listed in the draftminutes of the May 21 meeting.)July 2003: Al Qa'ida and the Terrorist Threat (DC)September 2003: Intelligence Activities in the United States: Methods an d Tradeoffs(DC)October 2003: Organizing the War Against Terror: Transnational, National, an d Local(Los Angeles or Chicago)November 2003: Screening Travelers: Passports, Visas, Points of Entry, an d Watchlists(Houston or Los Angeles)January 2004: Emergency Response an d Consequence Management (NYC)

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February 2004: Internatio nal Strategies for the W ar Against Terrorism, Then and Now(Part I) (DC)March 2004: International Strategies for the W ar Against Terrorism, T hen and Now(Part II) (DC )

W e look forward to seeing each of you later this week.


FO B1 Commission Meeting 6-5-03 Fdr- Table of Contents and Tab 1- Entire Contents- 6-2-03 Memo From Kean-Hamilton Re 6-5-03 Meeting Agenda 627

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