White House Letter To 9/11 Commission About Access To Notes

UNCLASSIFIED WHEN SEPARATED FROM ENCLOSURES THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON

August 13, 2003 Daniel Marcus, Esq. f General Counsel National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States 2100KStreetN.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 Dear Mr. Marcus: Following up on our prior discussions, I am sending you the enclosed notes taken by Richard Ben-Veniste, Tim Roemer, and Dana Hyde while reviewing certain sensitive documents made available to the Commission in response to EOF Document Request No. 2. As I explained during our meeting last Thursday, portions of these notes do not comply with our subsequent understanding of the principles for Commission review and handling of EOF documents (memorialized in your letter to me dated July 29, 2003). For example, Ms. Hyde's notes — and, to a lesser extent, Mr. Ben-Veniste's notes — "effectively recreate" substantial portions of the EOF documents reviewed. Moreover, Mr. Roemer's notes^- and. to a_ lesser extentJVIr. BenTYenists's notes -- directly quote EOF documents and those quotes are not "reasonably limited." Nevertheless, we are returning these notes to the Commission as an accommodation, in large part because they were taken before the note-taking procedures were finalized. We understand, however, that you will share our concerns with the Commission to ensure compliance with the letter and spirit of our agreement in the future. Our provision of these notes to you without redactions is based in part on your representation that the Commission will abide by the agreed-upon presumption to not quote from presidential deliberative materials in the Commission's report. This letter also applies to some of the notes, which we returned to you last week, taken on NSC documents. Finally, as agreed at our meeting last week, notes taken by Mr. Hurley on highly sensitive documents, which did "effectively recreate" significant portions of highly sensitive documents, will be retained by the EOF, but will, of course, be available for review by Mr. Hurley in the NEOB. We continue to appreciate the constructive way in which you and we have been able to work together to balance the constitutional interests of the Executive Branch with the needs of the Commission in carrying out its important mission. Sincerely, Tticjmas AMonheim Associate Counsel to the President Enclosures UNCLASSIFIED WHEN SEPARATED FROM ENCLOSURES