Ny B7 Commissioners Fdr- Entire Contents- Letters And Memos Re Fsc And Commission 804

NATIONAL COMMISSION ON TERRORIST ATTACKS UPON THE UNITED STATES Drew University Meeting Participants - May 15, 2003 Carol Ashley*, mother of Janice Ashley, 25 (Fred Alger Management, 93rd floor, WTC Tower One). Hometown: Rockville Centre, NY. Member, Families of September 11 (Memorial Committee Co-Chair); Member, Skyscraper Safety Campaign; Member, Coalition of 9/11 Families; Member, LMDC Family Advisory Council; Member, September's Mission; Member, WTC United Family Group; Member, Give Your Voice; Member, 9/11 Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism. Kristen Breitweiser*, wife of Ronald Breitweiser, 39 (Fiduciary Trust International, WTC Tower Two). Hometown: Middletown Township, NJ. Co-Chair, September 11th Advocates; Member, 9/11 Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism. Patty Casaz/a*, wife of John F. Casazza, 38 (Cantor Fitzgerald, 104th floor, WTC Tower One). Hometown: Colts Neck, NJ. Co-Chair, September 11th Advocates. Mary Fetchet*, mother of Bradley James Fetchet, 24 (Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, 89th floor, WTC Tower Two). Hometown: New Canaan, CT. Co-Chair, Voices of September 11th; Member, Skyscraper Safety Campaign; Member, Coalition of 9/11 Families; Member, LMDC Family Advisory Council; Member, September's Mission; Member, Families of September 11. Monica Gabrielle*, wife of Richard Gabrielle (Aon, WTC Tower Two) Hometown: Manhattan, NY and CT. Co-Chairperson, Skyscraper Safety Campaign; Member, Coalition of 9/11 Families; Member, 9/11 Families for a Secure America. Bill Harvey*, husband of Sara Manley Harvey, 31 (Fred Alger Management, 93rd floor, WTC Tower One). Hometown: Manhattan, NY. Member, Voices of September 11th. Mindy Kleinberg*, wife of Alan Kleinberg, 39 (Cantor Fitzgerald, 104th floor, WTC Tower One). Hometown: East Brunswick, NJ. Co-Chair, September llth Advocates. Steven Push, husband of Lisa Raines (Senior Vice President, Genzyme, American Airlines Flight 77); Board Member and Acting Treasurer, Families of September 11. Sally Regenhard*, mother of Christian Michael Otto Regenhard, 28 Probationary Firefighter, L131, Red Hook, missing at WTC; Hometown: Bronx, NY. Founder and Chairperson, Skyscraper Safety Campaign; Member of Coalition of 9/11 Families; 9/11 Families for a Secure America. Lone Van Auken*, wife of Kenneth Van Auken, 47 (Cantor Fitzgerald, 105th floor, WTC Tower One). Hometown: East Brunswick, NJ. Co-Chair, September 11th Advocates; Member, 9/11 Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism.

Denotes member of Family Steering Committee.

Talking Points for THK

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- 4k Talking Points for THK RE: Meeting with family groups Date: May 13,2003 OPENING REMARKS • I am delighted all of you could be here today and on such short notice • I hope we are able to conduct many meetings of this kind and would like us to meet frequently in the course of the next year. • We will all have to make appropriate adjustments in our schedules to do this. I personally intend to be available as much as I can, consistent with my other responsibilities. • As you know, I said when I was appointed chairman of the 9-11 Commission that I considered this the most important thing I would be doing for the time in which I would be serving. I meant that. • I also said I would continue in my capacity here and would fulfill other commitments I made prior to my appointment. I also meant that. So I ask your indulgence if it takes a little while to coordinate schedules. • Once we move into the summer, I expect to have more time. I will continue to make further adjustments after the next school year begins. • Before we start, let me tend to just a little of housekeeping. WASHINGTON HEARINGS • As you know, we will be conducting our second public hearing in Washington May 22 and 23, in Hart Senate Office Building, starting each day at 9:00 o'clock. • The Commission itself will conduct its regular business over dinner the evenings of May 21. • The topics of the hearing are two: the role of Congressional oversight of national security and homeland security issues; and civil aviation security before, on, and after September 11, 2001. • We will hear from members of Congress who hold key positions on the committees that have a say over what goes on in federal agencies responsible for our security. We will also hear from members who represent areas where the attacks on our country took place September 11,2001. • On the matter of airline security, we will hear from government representatives, including those in positions of responsibility on September 11, and we will hear from experts in the field of aviation safety and security. • We welcome your input into the hearing process, and any materials you wish to provide us. • As I said in New York, open public hearings are a way of sharing information and obtaining http://kinesis.swishmail.com/webmail/imp/view.php?thismailbox=INBOX«feindex=l55&id=2& 5/15/03

Talking Points for THK

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answers. • But they are not the only way. • I expect us to be questioning some of these witnesses again in closed session. • I also expect us to be questioning others, who might be better able to provide certain kinds of information. NEW STAFF • Now I want to say something about two additions to our staff. • From the day of our first meeting, all of us thought it a good idea to have on board people whose primary responsibility would be to serve as liaison to you- the families. • We had a detailed search to find the right persons. • I am happy to tell you that we now have them. • Before introducing them to you, let me say a word about what we intend them to do and what we do not. • First, their role is not to replace your access to me, or to other commissioners, or to the commission staff. • As I said a few moments ago, the Commissioners and the staff intend to be open to you and to meet with you frequently. • I see the family liaison representatives as "facilitators". • They will keep you apprised of developments. • They will be on call to carry your concerns to us on a timely and regular basis. • They will serve as a repository of information and contacts and perform roles that in other organizations are often referred to as part of a "clearinghouse." • They will meet with you even more frequently than we can. • They will also help us assure that all the meetings we have with you are both substantive and productive. • It will be they who will see that what we agree to at these meetings is carried out. • It will also be they who will be giving you and us "updates" of progress that is made between meetings. • Let me now introduce both of our family liaison representatives and say a word or two about each. EMILY WALKER http://kinesis.swishmail.com/webmail/imp/view.php?thismailbox=INBOX&index=l 55&id=2.... 5/15/03

Talking Points for THK

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• Emily Walker has served as an executive with Citigroup both here and abroad. She was also Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and Executive Secretary to Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas F. Brady, a great New Jerseyan, I might add. She was working Building 7 the day the twin towers were attacked. She lost many close friends that terrible day and has shared in the grief of those they left behind ever since. I should say too, that September 11 was not the first time she witnessed the dastardly effects of terrorism up close. Twice, when she was working in London, she saw buildings destroyed and innocents murdered. • Emily is a single mother, raising two daughters all by herself. She made it a point to bring both daughters to our first hearing. She wanted them to hear what was said, live and in person, so they would be able to recall it for the rest of their lives. • Emily is also the manager of the office the Commission will open in about a month in New York, at 26 Federal Plaza. She will also be working with team 9, the team looking into the immediate response to the September 11 attacks in New York and at the Pentagon. ELLIE HARTZ • Ellie Hartz lost her husband in the attack upon the World Trade Center. She serves on the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's Family Advisory Council. She has two grown children. • Ellie has had a successful career in her own right in real estate. She used to live in New Jersey with her husband, but returned to New Canaan, Connecticut after the attack. One day, we hope to bring her back to the great state of New Jersey. • She is also interested in the affairs of our region, and very dedicated to the arts. She holds a degree in cartography and serves on the Board of Trustees of Urban Stages in New York. • I will now ask each of them to say a few words.

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Memo to: Governor Kean and Representative Hamilton

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Memo to: Governor Kean and Representative Hamilton Through: Executive Director Philip Zelikow From: Deputy for Communications, Al Felzenberg Re: Relations with Family Groups Date: May 8,2003 As I was reviewing the second set of questions the family groups submitted and the draft of your response, which I found sensitive to their concerns and respectful, some thoughts entered my mind which Philip suggested I pass along to you in the form of this memo. I am pleased to do so in the hope they prove helpful to you and, especially to the members of our staff who will be interacting on a regular basis with family representatives. I have concluded, before I joined the Commission, on a basis of interviews with family members I read in the press or saw on television, that group cohesion has, for many of the families, shaped the nature of the stance they take to government officials and to the Commission. This is most understandable. Because so many people were thrown together because of no common interest other than a sharing in a common sense loss, they have become a constant part of each other's lives. Within the family groups, we have seen the kind of factions and splits that occur in other organizations and movements. Whatever sense of unity that exists is based on a common feeling that they need to pressure the government for answers. It is that common activity (pressing for answers) that has produced the cohesion I describe. While this cohesion may have been born in common grief and in a shared perception that someone somewhere in the government is "stonewalling" or otherwise "not being helpful", it has, I sense, taken on a life of its own. The Commission, I fear, runs the risk of becoming, in their minds, yet the latest in a list of groups they charge with not being responsive. I think this is what produced their criticism of Commissioners who have said that, while the Commission would hold people and agencies to account, "finger pointing" would not be its primary focus. I picked up on some of this after your recent meeting with family representatives concluded. Ms. Breitweiser came up to me to say the New Jersey Attorney General had put out a directive late last year to the effect that no illegal immigrants would be receive licenses to drive in that state. She then informed me that her gardener is an illegal alien and has just obtained such a license. "You see," she told me, "they don't mean a thing they say and nothing will ever change." I asked her whether she contacted the A.G., the Governor's office, either of her two representatives in the Assembly or her State Senator. She said "no" and did not appear interested in doing so. She repeated the assertions with the others looking on and nodding. I suppose that in emotional situations such as this, affirmation from others similarly situated takes on an increased importance. Perhaps she was just too angry and hurt to want to talk with people who could solve her problem. Others, who can only sympathize, are more abundant. I don't know all the facts of this particular situation. What I do know is that these family organizations appear to be taking on a political life of their own. They are more than "support" groups and certainly more than "pressure groups" Through more frequent meeting with them and retaining staff to keep the family groups apprised http://kinesis.swishmail.com/webmail/imp/view.php?thismailbox=INBOX&index=116&id=2.... 5/15/03

Memo to: Governor Kean and Representative Hamilton

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of the Commission's activities, the Commission may be able to transcend the "us against them" stance that appears to be developing, or at least has with the Commission's predecessors. Governor Kean is sufficiently poised to turn the situation around. I have observed him go into meetings with people bent on "storming the gates" and emerge from it with all sides talking about their common agenda. I imagine Congressman Hamilton has done the same. This may be more difficult to affect with groups that feel the pain of wounds that may never heal fully. It is, though, worth a try. Might I suggest that next time the families meet with the Commission they do not sit on one side of the table with the Commissioners on the other? This may feed a desire for confrontation. Now, let me say something about the role of the staff who will relate day to day with the families. The families must not get the sense that the two staffers are here to "manage" the family groups. They won't be "screened" from principals or allow what they demand to be "filtered" any more than tough reporters like Michael Isikoff will settle for talking to me when they really want to grill Philip or you. So, I think, the two staffers' role as "facilitators" needs to be spelled out to the families. Staff, they must know, are not here to deny access. There is also a bit of the "social worker" aspect to this function, which both women are more than able to fill. I think the Commission we could profit enormously by talking to people who have administered counseling to other victims of great tragedies and may have witnessed the "cohesion" of which I speak. I think the Commission needs to comprehend it. I realize the Commission's task is not made any easier by those who egg people on, not realizing the unintended damage they may be causing to both the work at hand and to the grieving by inflating suspicions, inflating expectations, or just picking at scabs. I hope you find this helpful. 1

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THOMAS H

Dear Members of the Family Steering Committee: We believe the Commission's meeting with you on May 1, 2003 was a highly productive one. We appreciated the opportunity to meet with you and to respond both to questions submitted beforehand as well as those raised in the course of our nearly two hour meeting. Thomas H. Kean CHAIR Lee H. Hamilton

As we indicated to you, we remain available and would be pleased to meet with you again at a mutually agreeable time and place, so that we can continue to keep you informed of the Commission's work. To that end, we would like to invite you to a meeting with Tom Kean and a number of staff, from 2 - 3 PM on May 15, 2003, at Mead Hall, Drew University, in Madison, NJ.

VICE CHAIR Richard Ben-Veniste Max Cleland Fred F. Fielding Jamie S. Gorelick Slade Gorton John Lehman Timothy J. Roemer James R. Thompson Philip D. Zelikow EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Input from the families is critically important to us. For example, [copies of documents from the Hamburg trial are an immediate, significant contribution to our work. We also want to thank you for the opportunity to review minutes, as you recorded them, of the May 1, 2003 meeting. While we believe that it is useful to have a sense of your questions )rior to meetings, we continue to believe that it is most useful to engage directly with you in dialogue. We find the process of response to written interrogatories less helpful in fostering and continuing the positive dialogue that is so important on behalf of our shared goal: the fulfillment of the Commission's mandate. Joint Inquiry (JI) information. Commissioners are fully aware of ic Commission's mandate to build upon the work of the JI. Commissioners and staff are reading the JI report and related ocuments as part of their work. All Commissioners have access o the entirety of the JI Report and all information compiled by the [. The Commission also takes very seriously its mandate to review Congressional oversight and resource allocation. Intelligence agencies. We have reached out to key intelligence agencies and the interactions have been positive. Agencies have been responsive so far to document and access requests. We >elieve we will get the information we need. We have assembled extensive lists of individuals we intend to interview. Non-classified areas of investigation. We have established very good points of contact with several Federal agencies outside of the intelligence community, and have already initiated a number of document requests. We have established points of contact with New York entities, and will soon be doing so with the airlines. Our next hearing, May 22-23, will take up the topic of aviation, and several individuals both inside and outside the government will be asked to testify on aviation security issues. We believe strongly that interviews—essential to the work of the Commission—must follow careful preparation, and we expect to begin them soon.

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THOMAS H

Commission structure. We are keenly aware of the importance of strong internal communication within the Commission staff. The senior managers understand it is their job to insure the staff work together with an effective, productive division of labor among the teams. We are satisfied with their progress in uniting and directing this work. We are unaware of any requirement of outside counsel for potential witnesses and interview candidates. We will work to avoid delays in our investigative work. The Commission has made no decisions about the structure of its final report. Your reference to a book must be alluding to the report itself; we know of no other planned book connected to our work.

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Staff names have been made available to you; please feel free to reach us through the Front Office and/or the family liaison staff that will be named soon. In closing, we thank you for your continued willingness to bring information to the attention of the Commission, your strong support, and your helpful suggestions. We hope that you will join us on May 15. Please contact Stephanie Kaplan at (202) 331-4060 or skaplan@9-11 commissipn.gov to make the appropriate arrangements. With best regards, x| 0x01 graphic

Thomas H. Kean Lee H. Hamilton Chair Vice Chair Family Steering Committee May 8, 2003 Page 2

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May 5, 2003 Dear Governor Kean, Congressman Hamilton, Commissioners and Staff, Thank you for meeting with us last Thursday afternoon and for taking the time to respond to the questions we had submitted earlier. As a result of our meeting, however, additional questions have been raised. We would appreciate a response to these additional concerns: Joint Inquiry Information 1. How many Commissioners have read the classified Joint Inquiry Report in its entirety? How many Staff members have read the classified Joint Inquiry Report in its entirety? (Prior to reading all 500,000 pages of the Joint Inquiry documents, it seems logical to read the Joint Inquiry's full report since the independent commission's mandate is to "build upon" the Joint Inquiry's work—not unnecessarily duplicate it). 2. How many Commissioners have read the 150 interview reports supplied by the Joint Inquiry in their entirety? 3. How many Staff members have read the 150 interview reports in their entirety? 4. Have you formulated any leads or investigative roadmaps from either the classified Joint Inquiry Report or the 150 interview reports? Have those leads been acted upon? 5. Regarding the 500,000 pages of documents from the Joint Inquiry, when will you request each agency's log of what documents were either reviewed or submitted to the Joint Inquiry? Isn't each agency required to maintain a log of all documents produced for the JIC? 6. What is the commission's position with regard to assertions of congressional privilege on the part of any congressman, staffer, and/or committee made in response to an inquiry by the Commission? Congressional oversight is an integral part of the Commission's mandate and must be addressed thoroughly and expeditiously. 7. The FSC continues to be concerned about the precedent created by allowing the submission of redacted documents to the JIC. All commissioners have top security clearances and are tasked with using the JIC's work as a starting point. Without full and open disclosure by the JIC, one is made to wonder what is being hidden and what message this sends to other congressional committees of whom similar requests will be made by the Commission in the future.

Intelligence Agencies 1. Have you reached out to each intelligence agency and provided them with lists of information and documents needed? What agencies have replied? What agencies

have met any of your requests? If agencies do not meet your requests, what do you plan to do? 2. Have you determined a list of witnesses to testify from the intelligence agencies? Are you planning to issue any requests for depositions? If so, have you done so yet? If not, why not? Non-classified/Non-privUeged areas of investigation 1. Regarding areas of non-classified information and/or areas that the Joint Inquiry did not investigate (therefore, areas that are not being held up by congressional privilege or executive privilege), what work has been done? For example, have you served interrogatories to the FAA, INS, Port Authority, City of NY, Department of Transportation, or the airlines? Have you submitted any deposition requests to those agencies? Have you conducted any interviews? Have you requested any individual's attendance for a future hearing? If not, why not?

Commission's Structure/ Misc. 1. Because the commission staff has varying levels of clearance, what mechanism do you have in place to ensure that the investigation itself does not suffer from fragmentation? For example, how can each staff member see the overall picture of the failures on 9/11 (a necessary component to conduct a thorough and effective investigation) if they are only allowed to read certain fragments of the Joint Inquiry's final report? What safeguards are in place to ensure the "dots" of your investigation are connected? 2. Have you spoken to the White House to gain their acquiescence to expedite all requests for clearances for outside attorneys who may have to represent individuals who are requested by you to testify, answer interrogatories, or be deposed? Clearances can take upwards of 6 months, we want to ensure that anyone whom the commission wants to testify, depose or answer interrogatories can do so in a timely manner. What have you done to plan for this possible delay? 3. We have read in the press that the Commission will be publishing a book after the investigation is complete. Is this true? If so, what is the purpose of this book? Does this pose a possible conflict of interest for Commission members? 4. We would like to receive a list of all staff and Commissioner assignments. Additionally, we would like to have staff contact phone numbers and email addresses. We have received numerous requests from the public about forwarding specific information to the commission, and we would like to be able to satisfy these requests. 5. We would like to receive a list of all individuals who will testify, be deposed, or be served with interrogatories. In providing this list to us, we will be able to conduct our own research on these individuals, formulate our own list of questions and concerns, and then share this information with you, so as to ensure that a comprehensive examination is done.

6. Regarding the investigation, we respectfully suggest that you not completely focus on the top-level individuals of agencies and institutions (Director of the CIA, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Defense, Mayor of NYC). Lowerlevel employees (field agents, air traffic controllers, air force lieutenants, NYFD lieutenants, etc.) can yield fruitful information. Recall the Phoenix Memo and the Moussouai case. Valuable information can be obtained from field operatives, staff and mid-level managers. Information they provide can then be used to question higher-level individuals. In this way, accountability can be more accurately assigned. We continue to be frustrated with the slow progress of this Commission. Although we acknowledge that the start-up for any commission can be a slow process, we also know the Joint Intelligence Committee faced problems due to time constraints and in fact were unable to complete their work. Thus, there is an urgent need begin requesting documents and conducting interviews. One of our greatest concerns is that the commission will run out of time.

We look forward to your collective response. Very truly yours, The Family Steering Committee

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Questions Provided by the Family Steering Committee for the Briefing on May 1,2003 1) Have all of the required staff members been hired? Can you foresee the need for more members to be hired? Was money an issue in your decision making process as for the number and quality of staff members hired? 2) In an effort to keep family members fully informed about the commission and its work, we are requesting the biographies of all staff members for posting on our web-site. Additionally, we would also like to post the areas that each commissioner and staff member is assigned to and responsible for. 3) Have you selected or hired a family liaison? The family steering committee believes that Bob Monetti, of the Pan Am 103 families, would be a qualified individual for the position. 4) Has everyone on the commission and staff received their clearances? If not, who has not received their clearance and why? When can we anticipate that everyone will have received his or her clearances? 5) What progress have the commissioners and staff members made in the investigation of the CIA, FBI, NSA, FAA, INS, NORAD, Transportation Department, Treasury Department, Congressional oversight, Executive Branch, Port Authority, City of New York, and Diplomacy? 6) What is the process that the commission will be following with regard to the different areas of investigation? For example, how are you determining what specific information and particular individuals to investigate? Additionally, who on the commission will be determining and writing the line of questioning for potential witnesses, given that not all commissioners have an investigative background? 7) What interviews, if any, have been conducted thus far? What interviews are scheduled? What information have you requested? Was there a need for a subpoena? What materials have been studied (reports, articles, books, etc.)? Have staff members been assigned required reading? What specifically are those readings? What will your next steps be? 8) Will everyone have the same level of security clearance? If not, what are the varying levels of clearance for each Commissioner and how will that affect their ability to be a Commissioner? If varying levels of clearance exist, will that interfere with the breakdown in investigative assignments, as well as, the commission members' abilities to avoid any potential conflicts of interest? 9) What is the process that you have developed for handling any potential conflicts of interest? Who in particular on the commission and staff has potential conflicts of interest, according to your records? What are they specifically?

10) Have you received the complete Joint Intelligence Committee's Report? If not, when are you scheduled to receive it? Who or what are the 13 outstanding subpoenas from the JIC? Have you requested any subpoenas of your own thus far? Have you run into any potential roadblocks with regard to receiving information or cooperation? 11) When is Eleanor Hill scheduled to brief you on the JIC's findings? Specifically, what do you consider as "unfinished business" by the JIC? Will you be delving into those areas? Are there other subpoenas that should have been issued by the JIC but were not due to time or informational constraints? What specific recommendations does Eleanor Hill have for the commission? 12) Has the commission determined a rebuttal process? Specifically, during the opening hearings in NYC, we heard witnesses give inaccurate statements to the commissioners. How can we make the commission aware of those inaccuracies? Can or will you call witnesses to testify again?