Cheney, Rumsfeld Told Investigators To Whitewash 9-11

By Pat Shannan

A respected human rights organization has unearthed an official document dating to the Bush administration, which proves that powerful figures in the White House actively discouraged the official panel set up to investigate the 9-11 attacks from looking too deeply into the attack.

In March, through a FOIA request, the ACLU obtained 42 pages of illuminating documents exposing further the Bush administration’s duplicity regarding the facts of the 9-11 attacks, Guantanamo detainees and other matters. Buried on page 26 of these is a letter revealing that senior Bush administration officials sternly cautioned the 9-11 Commission against probing too deeply into the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The notification came in a letter dated Jan. 16, 2004 that was addressed by Attorney General John Ashcroft, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and CIA Director George J. Tenet. The key document indicates once more the behind-the-scenes charade that went on—and continues to go on—with those high-ranking officials attempting to cover-up the facts and truth of the 9-11 attacks. The ACLU described it as a fax sent by David Addington, then-counsel to former Vice President Dick Cheney.

In the message, the officials denied the bipartisan commission’s request to question terrorist detainees, informing its two senior-most members that doing so would “cross a line” and obstruct the administration’s ability to protect the nation.

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

The 9-11 Commission, officially called the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, was formed by President Bush in November 2002 “to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks” and to offer recommendations for preventing future attacks.

“The commission staff’s proposed participation in questioning of detainees would cross that line,” the letter continued. “As the officers of the United States responsible for the law enforcement, defense and intelligence functions of the government, we urge your commission not to further pursue the proposed request to participate in the questioning of detainees.”

The letter was obviously prompted by correspondence from the commission two days earlier informing Rumsfeld and Tenet that the commission was zeroing in on seven of more than 100 suspects interviewed by the CIA in order to “form an independent evaluation of the credibility of the suspects’ statements.”

The targeting of these “seven core conspirators,” named along with the others in a previous letter, apparently frightened Rumsfeld and Tenet into worrying that the 9-11 Commission might learn more than they were supposed to know about these interrogations.

Some speculated that this was an attempt by the Bush administration to ensure its torture of detainees, which has since been widely documented, remained secret.

Court watcher and political observer Marcy Wheeler wrote, “Whoever made these annotations appears to have been most worried that commission staff members could make independent judgments about the detainees and the interrogations.” The official didn’t want anyone to “independently evaluate the interrogations conducted in the torture program.”

Eventually, the commission’s co-chairs harshly criticized the administration for having purportedly destroyed tapes of its interrogations with terror suspects. 9-11 Commission members Thomas Kean and Lee H. Hamilton wrote that although President George W. Bush had ordered all executive branch agencies to cooperate with the probe, “recent revelations that the CIA destroyed videotaped interrogations of al Qaeda operatives leads us to conclude that the agency failed to respond to our lawful requests for information about the 9-11 plot. . . . Those who knew about those videotapes— and did not tell us about them—obstructed our investigation.

“There could have been absolutely no doubt in the mind of anyone at the CIA—or the White House—of the commission’s interest in any and all information related to al Qaeda detainees involved in the 9-11 plot. Yet no one in the administration ever told the commission of the existence of videotapes of detainee interrogations.”

Pat Shannan is the assistant editor of American Free Press. He is also the author of several videos and books including One in a Million: An IRS Travesty and I Rode With Tupper, detailing Shannan’s experiences with Tupper Saussy when the American dissident was on the run in the 1980s. Both are available from FIRST AMENDMENT BOOKS for $25 each.

Jesse Ventura Tells AFP He Won’t Back Off Publicizing 9-11 Views By Mark Anderson On April 9, this editor for AMERICAN FREE PRESS had the opportunity to speak directly with famed ex-professional wrestler, author and former governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura in order to discuss a host of subjects, including censorship of his column on the Sept. 11 attacks and his provocative conspiracy show, which airs on cable television. Ventura confirmed that his TRU-TV cable series on major conspiracies, which some assumed had been canned after its first installment concluded early this year, is alive and well. A new season with 10 episodes will hit the airwaves in the fall of 2010, he said. LISTEN TO AFP'S PODCAST WITH JESSE VENTURA While the former Navy Seal who became a high-profile independent Minnesota governor would love to specify the 10 topics, he was not yet fully at liberty to reveal what they are, though he did say one is about the shooting of John F. Kennedy. “Initially there were seven episodes; now they’re ordering 10 more,” he stated in an upbeat manner, while noting that some decisions still have to be made on what will air and in what order. “We have 20 conspiracies that we’ll have to pare down to 10. I’ll have to battle with the network, but in the end we’ll settle on 10 of them. They promised JFK. There is no pecking order at all.” The straight-talking Ventura had just finished filling in for CNN’s Larry King Live as a guest host when he spoke with this AFP writer. Notably, Ventura had Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) as one of the guests on the show the evening of April 9. Another was “defrocked” former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich who, despite harboring more liberal views than Paul, concurred with the Texas congressman on several matters, particularly Paul’s insistence that the United States end its interventionist foreign policy that is a factor in bankrupting the nation. Ventura, though he appeared on an establishment media show, remarked without hesitation that America’s constant wars continue because certain connected people get rich from them. Ventura may be famous for having been a wrestler, but his brawn is complemented by brains and a tough-mindedness often missing in political and journalistic discourse these days. One of the main issues he wrestles with now is resistance to his frank discussion of the conventional story of what really happened on 9-11-2001. Recently, The Huffington Post Internet news site quickly took down a column Ventura had posted there that questioned the government’s 9-11 story. Ventura’s column mentioned San Francisco architect Richard Gage, whose group, Architects and Engineers for 9-11 Truth, has grown to more than 1,100 architects, engineers and other technical experts who have presented considerable evidence to challenge conventional 9-11 “wisdom.” Ventura minces no words when it comes to 9-11, which is the touchy topic that likely is the main factor keeping corporate news organs from reviewing a book on conspiracies written by a man who commands the attention of a large cross-section of Americans, including young activists. Ventura was well received by thousands of young activists at Paul’s huge counter-convention for renegade Republicans and independents in Minneapolis in September 2008, held at the same time as the establishment Republican National Convention nearby in St. Paul. This AFP writer first met Ventura there and shot a video interview of him, discussing ballot-access laws and other hurdles that make it hard for independent and “third party” candidates to get elected to office and make needed changes. In 2004, Ventura found himself informing young Americans by conducting a class on third-party politics as a guest teacher at Harvard University, where he attracted a record turnout of 300 students in the lecture hall. While recalling that The Huffington Post pulled his 9-11 article only one hour after it was posted—much faster than the 24 hours some readers assumed—Ventura indicated he will not drop the 9-11 issue. Ventura agreed with this writer’s observation that pure logic demands that we question how airplane impacts and jet fuel fires alone could destroy both 110- story towers (the government theory). “How could [the twin towers] be pulverized into powder [by a fire]?” he said. “[The destruction of the towers] threw steel girders 500 feet.” He recalled the irony of Arianna Huffington bugging him for a long time to post his articles on her Internet site, only to mistreat him later. “She was on my case for two years,” he said. He remarked that while the policy of the Post is, “they don’t do conspiracy theories,” the Post will not hesitate to run articles on other conspiracy theories, including the government’s conspiracy theory on Osama bin Laden’s alleged deep involvement in masterminding 9-11. Ventura’s one other column submitted to the Post, about the Obama administration’s war on drugs, was posted without a problem. But Ventura will not write for the Post ever again. Meanwhile, he is chagrined that his latest book, American Conspiracies: Lies, Lies and More Lies That the Government Tells Us, has been on the New York Times Bestsellers’ List for more than four weeks at the time of this interview, but that the Times and other major media seem indifferent to providing more publicity. “Nobody in the mainstream press has reviewed my book,” he said. “I brought that up on Larry King Live tonight. I get the feeling it could be another two months in the top 10—and it still won’t get reviewed.” Ventura also told AFP that the BBC denied his recent request for legal permission to use well-known news footage on his TRU-TV series that shows a BBC reporter reporting that World Trade Center Building 7—the third building to crumble that day, though it was not hit by a plane—had already fallen, when, at the time she reported it, the building had not fallen yet and was clearly visible in the background, along the Manhattan skyline. “All we wanted to do was ask the reporter, ‘Who told you that building had collapsed?’ ” Ventura said. “She got done with the broadcast at 5 p.m., and the building did not collapse until around 5:20.” Mark Anderson is a longtime newsman now working as the deputy editor for American Free Press. Together he and his wife Angie provide many photographs of the events they cover for AFP. Mark welcomes your comments and inputs as well as story leads. Email him at at truthhound2@yahoo.com.