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U.S. agencies delaying 9/11 probe, panel saysCommission: Problems with Pentagon 'particularly serious'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The commission investigating the attacks of September 11, 2001, said Tuesday that the first six months have been slow going largely because government agencies have been slow to turn over documents. "Extensive and prompt cooperation from the U.S. government, the Congress, state and local agencies, and private firms is essential," according to the interim report by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. The panel is headed by Thomas H. Kean, former governor of New Jersey. The vice chairman is Lee Hamilton, former chairman of the House Intelligence and International Relations committees. The commission's final report is due in May 2004. The report named the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service -- and the FBI as being slow or unresponsive in turning over requested information. "The problems that have arisen so far with the Department of Defense are becoming particularly serious," according to the report. "We have not received responses to requests relating to NORAD [North American Aerospace Defense Command] and other DoD components, including the JCS [Joint Chiefs of Staff] and the department's historical office." The commission said "records requested from DoJ are overdue" and that it disagreed with the Justice Department's "insistence on having agency representatives present during interviews of serving officials." It said the former INS has "been slow in providing briefings" and the FBI "got off to a slow start in responding to the commission's requests," though it noted that the situation has improved in both cases. FBI Director Robert Mueller said thousands of documents were provided at the beginning of the probe, and more agents have been assigned to help comply with the panel's requests. "Going back, I'll tell you we provided 49,000 documents to them at the outset," he said Tuesday night on CNN's "Larry King Live." "And we want to and have fully cooperated with them." Mueller said the slow start might have been due to issues that had to be resolved before some documents could be released, such as the case against Zacarias Moussaoui, charged with collaborating with the September 11 hijackers. Meanwhile, the commission's report praised some sectors of the government, including the White House, the CIA and the State Department. "We can say that we have received and we are in the process of receiving access to a wide range of sensitive documents [from the executive office of the president] and that, to date, no requested access has been denied," the commission said. "The Central Intelligence Agency has been arranging needed briefings and providing intelligence products, including essential information that has been developed since 9/11," according to the interim report.
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