Ashcroft, Tenet, Rumsfeld Cautioned 9/11 Commission Not To Go Too Far

by Thomas Wellborn

A  document obtained by the ACLU outlines how high-ranking Bush Administration members strongly cautioned the 9/11 Commission from digging too deeply into the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  The fax notification was addressed by Attorney General John Ashcroft, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and CIA Director George J. Tenet, and sent by Dick Cheney’s counsel  David Addington.

Document excerpt:

“In response to the Commission’s expansive requests for access to secrets, the executive branch has provided such access in full cooperation. There is, however, a line that the Commission should not cross — the line separating the Commission’s proper inquiry into the September 11, 2001 attacks from interference with the Government’s ability to safeguard the national security, including protection of Americans from future terrorist attacks.”

The commission, created by Bush in 2002, sternly admonished the Administration for destroying taped interviews and interrogations of terror suspects.

By: