Posted on 04/30/2004 6:37:30 AM PDT by ConservativeMajority
WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- The White House criticized the Justice Department Thursday for posting recently declassified memos on its website the day before President Bush's meeting with the 9/11 Commission. The documents show that former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, a member of the Commission, recommended in 1995 that the "wall" separating law enforcement and intelligence agencies not only be left in place but raised. The wall was effectively torn down by the Patriot Act.
Few details of the private meeting in the Oval Office among President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and the Commission members were made public on Thursday, but White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters that Bush made a brief opening statement during which he expressed his displeasure to commissioners about the document release.
McClellan told Talon News, "We were not involved in it. I think the president was disappointed about that."
He added, "I think that the president looks at this and doesn't believe there ought to be finger-pointing. We ought to all be working together to learn the lessons of September 11th and make sure that we are doing everything that we can to protect the homeland and win the war on terrorism."
McClellan said that the president's displeasure was conveyed to the Justice Department at the staff level, but did not reveal the persons involved. Some have suggested that the White House was unhappy because it wanted to stay above the political posturing that marred previous hearings.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) defended the Justice Department in a statement issued shortly after the White House rebuke. He pointed out that the Justice Department was responding to a request he and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made earlier in the week to produce any records relating to former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick's involvement in "the development and promulgation of Attorney General Reno's Procedures for Contacts Between the FBI and the Criminal Division Concerning Foreign Intelligence and Foreign Counterintelligence Investigations."
Cornyn indicated that the request was made in response to the 9/11 Commission's failure to hear testimony from a key Clinton administration Justice Department official.
Cornyn said, "I'm glad the documents were released, otherwise, we may never have known the full extent of the growth and buttressing of 'the wall' that we can now all agree led to many of the intelligence failures before 9/11."
The Texas senator continued, "It is critical to fully review these memos, as they clearly show what I've said all along: Commissioner Gorelick has special knowledge of the facts and circumstances leading up to the erection and buttressing of 'the wall' that, before the enactment of the Patriot Act, was the primary obstacle to the sharing of communications between law enforcement and intelligence agencies."
Attorney General John Ashcroft revealed Gorelick's role in the Clinton administration's redefining of the separation between law enforcement and intelligence during his testimony before the Commission two weeks ago. Since then, a growing number of Republicans in Congress have called for Gorelick to testify under oath while others have asked that she resign. Gorelick has so far refused to do either.
The documents include a memo from U.S. Attorney for New York Mary Jo White in which she warned, "It is hard to be totally comfortable ... when such prohibitions are not legally required."
Gorelick rejected that view in formulating the policy enacted by Attorney General Janet Reno.
The documents have fuelled the debate over the Commission's impartiality. Some have suggested that partisanship is crippling a complete examination of the events leading up to September 11, 2001.
Don Stewart, a spokesman for Sen. Cornyn told Talon News, "Either they want the whole story or they don't. The families of the victims, the American people, and the Congress deserve the whole story."
He added, "The comments of Mary Jo White are stark to me. She recognized the flaw with the wall. It's stunning."
The Commission issued a statement about the closed-door meeting that described the president and vice president as "forthcoming and candid." All participants agreed that the meeting was "cordial."
President Bush expressed satisfaction with the meeting as well.
He said, "It was wide-ranging, it was important, it was just a good discussion."
He dismissed the perception that his appearance with Cheney was to ensure their stories matched.
"If we had something to hide we wouldn't have met with them in the first place," Bush said.
Copyright © 2004 Talon News -- All rights reserved.
Bush once again declines an opportunity to expose and hold the Clinton Admin accountable for American deaths on the home land. Craig Livingstone is still a free man.
She certainly has a fine head on her shoulders.
What McClellan meant:
The commission should really avoid partisanship. The next time partisan liberals distort the purpose of the 911 Commission, a few more memos will be declassified.
McClellan meant:
"C'mon DOJ guys. Be fair.
Next time you declassify a memo, make sure to let The White House take part in the action.
DING! DING! DING! We have a winner!!
Prairie
Precisely.
Prairie
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