Black and White and Read by Precious Few (President's Daily Brief)

[kskiska]

By ELISABETH BUMILLER

People call it a lot of things: the world's most exclusive newspaper, a supersecret product of the Central Intelligence Agency and a document so sensitive that widespread dissemination would endanger lives.

"This thing can kill people," said Milton A. Bearden, who ran the C.I.A.'s war against Soviet forces in Afghanistan.

Whatever the definition, the document is the innocuously named President's Daily Brief, a 10- to 12-page report produced overnight by the C.I.A. In recent weeks, it has become the hottest property in Washington.

Two powerful bodies are demanding to see it: the nonpartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is trying to determine how the Bush administration reached its conclusions about unconventional weapons in Iraq. Negotiations and threats of subpoenas continued last week, but so far the White House has claimed that the P.D.B., as it is called, is off limits under executive privilege. No one remembers any White House ever giving it up.

(snip)

"If the commission is going to understand what happened on 9/11," Mr. Roemer said, "these are vitally important documents."

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/10/politics/10LETT.html?ex=1069045200&en=5cdf84dd3e9b18c4&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

[Nlighten1]

1. I'm not holding my breath.

But I hope it gets in the right hands. Wouldn't it be great if this thing was leaked?

[lostnfound]

2. C'mon folks! Can you imagine that the Pres Daily Brief includes ...

any more than 'Don't forget your lunch and dress warmly; it's cold out there today'? Perhaps the reason it's top secret is because it's empty.