Sk B1 Family Liaison Fdr- Questions From The Family Steering Committee For 5-1-03 Briefing And Draft Commission Response 535

DRAFT

April 30, 2003

To: Tom & Lee From: Chris Kojm Re: Suggested answers to questions posed by family representatives.

The following twelve questions were provided by the Family Steering Committee in preparation for this Thursday's meeting. Suggested answers appear in boldface.

1) Have all of the required staff members been hired? Yes, nearly all staff has been hired. Our total staff will number 53, plus 8 consultants. Can you foresee the need for more members to be hired? We can foresee the need for a few additional individuals (perhaps 2 or 3) with specialized talents to assist the existing teams. Was money an issue in your decision making process as for the number and quality of staff members hired? Yes, our overall budget request ($14million) has been driven by the proposed staffing pattern. Our policy has been to match salaries for all staff coming on board (within government salary caps), so that they will decide to stop whatever they are doing to take on this assignment. 2) hi 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. We will post staff biographies on the web site. We will also post the names of key staff and the names of teams and team leaders. 3) Have you selected or hired a family liaison? The family steering committee believes that Bob Monetti, of the Pan Am 103 families, and would be a qualified individual for the position. We were very close on a family liaison candidate who dropped out at the last minute. Nonetheless, we are very far along and expect to name a person or persons shortly.

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? All Commissioners have received their Top Secret Codeword clearances. 15 staff has their full Top Secret Codeword clearances; an additional 21 are very close to completion; 13 are in process, and 3 are just beginning. The clearance process within the US government runs an average of 6 to 8 months; we are getting staff cleared in about a month's time. While clearances always take longer than one wants, we are doing very well within the context of the USG. 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? At CIA and FBI, our staff has already visited and are beginning the process of reviewing documents At NSA, Homeland Security (including INS components), Defense (including NORAD), State (diplomacy), Transportation and Treasury, we have met with designated points of contact and established working relationships. In coordination with the White House, we expect to submit document requests and begin reviewing documents at these agencies within the next two weeks. We expect to begin a process of review of congressional oversight at our next public hearing, within the month. We have begun, as you know, interacting with the City of New York and the Port Authority. We will have our New York City office up and running around the middle of May and the investigation will proceed from that point forward.

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? As you know, we have 9 work teams. These teams will do most of the investigative work of the Commission staff. Each team is submitting work plans for Commission review — outlining key questions, key areas of document requests, and key individuals to interview. The Commissioners guide and shape these work plans. As of today, the Commission has reviewed 5 of 9 work plans. 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?

We have highly capable Commissioners. In addition, we have a highly capable staff. We have a strong representation of attorneys, former congressional staffers, and senior individuals with Executive branch experience who have either testified or prepared senior officials for testimony. We are confident that we will have a strong investigation. 7) What interviews, if any, have been conducted thus far? What interviews are scheduled? Interviews require careful preparation, and we will be scheduling extensive interviews as soon as the teams are ready to do so. What information have you requested? We are and will be requesting extensive document requests across the entire breadth of the Commission's mandate. Was there a need for a subpoena? We have not filed subpoenas yet. With the Executive branch, our record on cooperation in getting the information we need has been "so far, so good." But we understand that the toughest questions are still ahead of us, and there may be rough patches. We believe we will get the information we need. What materials have been studied (reports, articles, books, etc.)? Our staff, as step one, has done an exhaustive review of all the open literature in their respective areas of responsibility. Have staff members been assigned required reading? Yes. What specifically are those readings? Those readings are the staff summaries of the Joint Inquiry, Joint Inquiry hearings, and -as staff clearances become available -- the Joint Inquiry report and relevant interview reports. 8) Will everyone have the same level of security clearance? If not, what is the varying levels of clearance for each Commissioner and how will that affects 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? Our goal is to have all Commissioners and staff at the same level of clearance — Top Secret Codeword. Access by staff to individual sensitive highly classified compartments will be on a need-to-know basis. 9) What is the process that you have developed for handling any potential conflicts of interest?

All Commissioners have filed, or in one case will soon file, financial disclosure statements with the Senate Ethics Committee. These statements are matters of public record, and numerous press articles have been written about the Commissioners' disclosure statements.

All staff earning more than $102,000 must file financial disclosure statements within 30 days of employment, and have done so. These statements, too, are a matter of public record. In connection with both Commissioners and staff, we have been in detailed and sometimes daily contact with the staff of the Senate Ethics Committee. The Committee has given us much useful guidance that has had a direct impact on our hiring decisions. In addition, we have asked all staff to file with our General Counsel statements about possible financial or other conflicts of interest. Who in particular on the commission and staff has potential conflicts of interest, according to your records? What are they specifically? Our General Counsel and the Senate Ethics Committee have provided much useful guidance so that Commissioners and staff can avoid such conflicts of interest. 10) Have you received the complete Joint Intelligence Committee's Report? If not, when are you scheduled to receive it? All Commissioners and all cleared staff now have access to the Joint Inquiry Report 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? Phil, Dan -- What do we know about the 13 subpoenas? 11) When is Eleanor Hill scheduled to brief you on the JIC's findings? Eleanor Hill briefed the Commission in March on the Joint Inquiry's report. Specifically, what do you consider as "unfinished business" by the JIC? There is much unfinished business in areas that the Joint Inquiry wanted to investigate -foreign policy, visa issuance, aviation security, congressional oversight, the story of the conspiracy itself. The Joint Inquiry's perception of its unfinished business directly influenced the creation of the Commission's mandate. We are required, by law, to look into these areas of the Joint Inquiry's unfinished business. Will you be delving into those areas? Yes.

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? Eleanor Hill and we are in general agreement about the Joint Inquiry's "unfinished business" and the task before us. 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? We would welcome from you, and from all parties, information to correct the hearing record. We need your help to get the job done right, and please do not hesitate to provide such information to us. We may well seek to interview one or more of the witnesses again.

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?