NYT: 9/11 Panel Members Alarmed; Weren’t Told of Rice-Tenet Meeting

[DeepModem Mom]

9/11 Panel Members Weren’t Told of Meeting
By PHILIP SHENON
Published: October 1, 2006

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 — Members of the Sept. 11 commission said today that they were alarmed that they were told nothing about a White House meeting in July 2001 at which George J. Tenet, then the director of central intelligence, is reported to have warned Condoleezza Rice, then the national security adviser, about an imminent Al Qaeda attack and failed to persuade her to take action.

Details of the previously undisclosed meeting on July 10, 2001, two months before the Sept. 11 terror attacks, were first reported last week in a new book by the journalist Bob Woodward....(T)he White House and Ms. Rice have disputed major elements of Mr. Woodward’s account, with Ms. Rice insisting through spokesmen that there had been no such exchange in a private meeting with Mr. Tenet and that he had expressed none of the frustration attributed to him in Mr. Woodward’s book.

“It really didn’t match Secretary Rice’s recollection of the meeting at all,” said Dan Bartlett, counselor to President Bush, in an interview on the CBS News program “Face the Nation.”...

***

The disclosures took members of the bipartisan Sept. 11 commission by surprise last week. Some questioned whether information about the July 10 meeting was intentionally withheld from the panel.

In interviews Saturday and today, commission members said they were never told about the meeting despite hours of public and private questioning with Ms. Rice, Mr. Tenet and Mr. Black....“None of this was shared with us in hours of private interviews, including interviews under oath, nor do we have any paper on this,” said Timothy J. Roemer, a Democratic member of the commission and a former House member from Indiana. “I’m deeply disturbed by this. I’m furious.”...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/washington/01cnd-book.html?hp&ex=1159761600&en=797d904aeadd4206&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Delphinus]

1. But Condi said it didn't happen!

Condi wouldn't lie ... :sarcasm:

[MissWaverly]

37. and one point Mike Wallace questioned Woodward

he talked to over 200 people and he says he has tapes of the interviews, so in case
anyone wants to spin this...

[Old and In the Way]

2. Gee, I wonder what else this administration didn't tell the Commission

in their depositions?

[C_U_L8R]

4. and what lies they told the commission

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. Am I confused, or hasn't this already been public knowledge for a while?

I could have sworn that I had already read about Tenet meeting with Sleezy quite some time ago.

Am I mistaken?

And, if I'm not, then who are these people on the 9/11 COmmission that don't have people informing them of things such as this?

[Infomaniac]

33. I recall somthing too.

Didn't Tenet testify about a "hair on fire" meeting over a possible terrorist strike? Maybe this is what we both recall? From Robert Clarke's book and testimony:

'Hair on fire'
Clarke said that “on June 21, I believe it was, George Tenet called me and said, 'I don't think we're getting the message through. These people aren't acting the way the Clinton people did under similar circumstances.' And I suggested to Tenet that he come down and personally brief Condi Rice, that he bring his terrorism team with him.

“And we sat in the national security adviser's office. And I've used the phrase in the book to describe George Tenet's warnings as ‘He had his hair on fire.’ He was about as excited as I'd ever seen him.

“And he said, ‘Something is going to happen.’”

'Find out all that you can'



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4619346/

[Whoa_Nelly]

51. From the 9/11 Commission hearings--TENET DID TELL RICE

So WTF did the 9/11 Commission NOT listen to or read in transcript???


http://www.9-11commission.gov/archive/hearing10/9-11Commission_Hearing_2004-04-13.pdf

Reports similar to these were made available to President
Bush in morning meetings with DCI Tenet, usually attended by
Vice President Cheney and National Security Advisor Rice, as
well. None of these reports mentioned that the attacks might
occur in the United States. At the end of May, Counterterrorism
Center Chief Cofer Black told Rice that the current threat level
was a 7 on a scale of 10, as compared to an 8 during the
Millennium.

The threat reports surged again in June and July, reaching an
even higher peak of urgency. A terrorist threat advisory in late
June indicated that there was a high probability of near-term
spectacular terrorist attacks resulting in numerous casualties.
Headlines from intelligence reports were stark. Quote, "Bin
Ladin threats are real," close quote. Quote, "Bin Ladin planning
high-profile attacks," close quote. The intelligence reporting
consistently described the upcoming attacks as occurring on a
catastrophic level, indicating that they would cause the world
to be in turmoil, consisting of possible multiple, but not
necessarily simultaneous, attacks. A late June report stated
that Bin Ladin operatives expect near-term attacks to have
dramatic consequences of catastrophic proportion.

Rice told us Clarke and his Counterterrorism and Security
Group were the nerve center in coordinating responses but that
principals were also involved. In addition to his daily meetings
with President Bush and weekly meetings to go over other issues
with National Security Advisor Rice, Tenet continued his regular
meetings with Secretary Powell and Secretary Rumsfeld. The
foreign policy principals talked on the phone every day on a
variety of subjects, including the threat.

<snip>
At Rice's request on July 5th, the CIA briefed Attorney
General John Ashcroft on the al Qaeda threat, warning that a
significant terrorist attack was imminent, and a strike could
occur at any time. That same day officials from domestic
agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration, met
with Clarke to discuss the current threat. Rice worked directly
with Tenet on security issues for the G- 8 summit. In addition
to the individual reports, on July 11th top officials received a
summary recapitulating the mass of al Qaeda- related threat
reporting on several continents. Tenet told us that in his
world, quote, "the system was blinking red," close quote, and by
late July it could not have been any worse. Tenet told us he
felt that President Bush and other officials grasped the urgency
of what they were being told.

On July 27th Clarke informed Rice and Hadley that the spike
in signals intelligence about a near-term attack had stopped. He
urged keeping readiness high during the August vacation period,
warning that another report suggested an attack had just been
postponed for a few months.

[Spazito]

58. The Woodward book specifies a meeting on July 10th, a meeting

urgently requested by Tenet OUTSIDE of the regular meetings and that meeting was not revealed during the 9/11 Commission hearings by any of the participants.

[leveymg]

80. No, the specific 7/10 Rice-Tenet-Black meeting isn't mentioned by

the Commission Report. However, that extract seems to back up what Woodward wrote Tenet, Black and Clarke were saying to anyone at the White House who would listen.

Only one thing happened between 7/10 and 7/27 that would cause the red lights to stop blinking - Bush came back from the Genoa Summit and was safely sent off on his vacation. The White House, believing the threat was primarily to Bush, called off the terrorism alert, and shut everything down until the next Principal's Meeting scheduled for Sept. 4, and the follow-on visit to DC of the Pakistani ISI delegation on 9/11 - 9/12. This from the excellent 9/11 Timeline at Cooperative Research:

Mid-July 2001: More G-8 Summit Warnings Describe Plane as Flying Bomb US intelligence reports another spike in warnings related to the July 20-22 G-8 summit in Genoa, Italy. The reports include specific threats discovered by the head of Russia’s Federal Bodyguard Service that al-Qaeda will try to kill Bush as he attends the summit. Two days before the summit begins, the BBC reports: “The huge force of officers and equipment which has been assembled to deal with unrest has been spurred on by a warning that supporters of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden might attempt an air attack on some of the world leaders present.” The attack is called off.

[OKthatsIT]

65. RECALL??? WTF, she TESTIFIED UNDER OATH...

IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE FU*KIN NATION!

Why doesn't CSPAN CLIP HER ASS'n LIES!!

[elehhhhna]

78. To. The. Hague. She's going DOWN.

She's already got prison teeth anyway.

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. More proof that BushCo knew there was an attack coming

did everything they could to ignore it and then covered up their malfeasance afterward.

Can you spell Inside Job?

[Delphinus]

8. I can ...

... said it for a while now ... MIHOP.

[BrklynLiberal]

11. yep. yup. yes. uh-huh. si. oui.

[Nostradammit]

49. Inside job: I-N-S-I-D-E J-O-B :Inside Job

Ain't no doubt left in my mind.

[UpInArms]

50. Ashcroft was warned not to fly - July 2001

Ashcroft Flying High

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2001

(CBS) Fishing rod in hand, Attorney General John Ashcroft left on a weekend trip to Missouri Thursday afternoon aboard a chartered government jet, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart.

In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft was traveling exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the Justice Department cited what it called a "threat assessment" by the FBI, and said Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term.

"There was a threat assessment and there are guidelines. He is acting under the guidelines," an FBI spokesman said. Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department, however, would identify what the threat was, when it was detected or who made it.

...more...

[Bridget Burke]

68. And guns were banned from cockpits in July 2001....

Pilots had been allowed to carry guns from the days of Hijackers wanting trips to Havana. Apparently few pilots ever went armed & the practice had pretty much died out.

I'd prefer that pilots concentrate on flying the plane; if guards are needed, hire some. But the timing of the ban--July of 2001--does make me wonder....

www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1003153,00.html

[sattahipdeep]

64. intentional or unintentional acts

The commission was created and put in place because of
the relentless pressure and outcry by the 9/11 family
members and their public supporters, who had three
objectives in mind: (1) Getting all the facts; (2)
establishing accountability for those who failed us
through their intentional or unintentional acts; (3)
providing recommendations for real fixes and meaningful remedies.

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/edmondsweaver.php?articleid=9655

The commission fulfilled none of those three objectives.
Regarding their responsibility to report all the facts, they
either refused to interview all relevant experts and
witnesses, or they censored the reports provided to them
by those with direct and firsthand information. Both
these acts were selective and intentional.

[calimary]

72. What is astounding to me is how the 9/11 commissioners assumed

the White House was going to cooperate. I mean - REALLY cooperate. After that same White House fought tooth and nail to stall or even kibosh such hearings to begin with, and do you remember the hoops they jumped through trying to keep contradicta from having to testify? That the commissioners went ahead anyway and gave these fuckers the benefit of the doubt, and did NOT approach this with at least a small measure of suspicion and cynicism, CONSIDERING THE TRACK RECORD ALREADY IN EVIDENCE EVEN BACK THEN, is stunning to me. What did they think this was? A screening of "Alice in Wonderland"? I'm sure some of the republi-CONS on the panel were already thoroughly predisposed toward giving the White House any kind of free pass it demanded, but SURELY Richard Ben Veniste or Jamie Gorelick or Bob Kerrey or SOMEBODY from our side had at least a tiny shred of wariness? Especially when bush and cheney refused to be "visited" under oath, or on the record, or by the full panel, or "visited" separately. WHY was their own personal system not "blinking red"?

Honest to GOD. I can't believe the naivete of these people. Just stunning.

[gristy]

6. You know what is most amazing about what's been going on this weekend?

That it's the friggin' weekend!

We've got members of Congress being interviewed re. Tenet/Rice. We've got the FBI starting up their investigation on Foley. It used to be that the Grand Ol' Pedophile party would do their news dumps late Friday, and by the time everyone got back to work on Monday, it was "old news".

No more, apparently.

[exlrrp]

56. That only works just so many times

The Repubs have been playing the "Friday afternoon dump" games for years--evrybody's finally wised up, even the MSM

[truthisfreedom]

7. just when rove thought it couldn't get any worse, they let Woodward in on

too much stuff (after his puffy previous work) and now look. wow. what incredible luck we're having.

where will this go from here? i can't wait. i've made so much popcorn that i'm going to have to run to the store for more! 8^)

[Jackpine Radical]

9. Now you know why Bush REALLY gave Tenet that Medal of Freedom.

It was a small token of his appreciation for his role in the coverup.

[Tin Man]

35. Did someone call for my favorite gag-reflex inducing PHOTOGRAPH ?

George Tenet, the man who got the "intelligence on Iraq wrong" as well as "accidentally left the 16 words" in the SOTU address, receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom on December 14, 2004

[mikeytherat]

59. And WHY did Tenet get that medal?

For, and I quote El presidente Bush here, "his great contributions to the War on Terror."

:wtf:

mikey_the_rat

[calimary]

74. Makes you wonder how tightly bush pulled that ribbon around Tenet's

neck before he clasped it in back? You know, just as a subtle little reminder - just between the two of them - that bush had him by the throat.

[daleo]

82. The look like mafia or something

That's some picture.

[BrklynLiberal]

10. Did they honestly think that BushCo was forthright and honest with them??

Were they all born on September 10th under a cabbage patch?
I would bet that the report on what they WEREN'T told would be 10 times as big as the report on what they were told.

[Pierzin]

12. This is more than Outrageous... Bush & Co Must Resign

I thought I had heard about a meeting they had in July as well, though the media managed to bury the story under something else at the time, as they always do.

“None of this was shared with us in hours of private interviews, including interviews under oath, nor do we have any paper on this,” said Timothy J. Roemer, a Democratic member of the commission and a former House member from Indiana. “I’m deeply disturbed by this. I’m furious.”...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/washington/01cnd-book...
(-I'm saving part of you post for my journal) nice one DeepModemMom

[DURHAM D]

13. Woodward's book helps highlight the fact that the

9/11 commission was a political sham and the commissioners (Kean in particular) were just a bunch of tools.

That's a good thing - the commission has already become a joke in mainstream culture. Only people that still care what it says - the msm.

[ShortnFiery]

14. And George Tenet has his shiny "Medal of Freedom" for holding this

information back from the 9-11 commission. I don't know who disappoints me more (men with basic morality who have SOLD-OUT), Tenet or Powell. Both men had credibility but later sold their souls to the devil - just for the promise of more accolades and increased power. :shrug: :(

[elehhhhna]

79. Tenet was writing a book but it's been scrubbed. Wonder why.

[MGKrebs]

15. Next up: Staffers shredding documents,

"lost" files, maybe even secret slush funds?

Could Gannon/Guckert be involved in this?

[nosmokes]

16. i think it's a safe bet this the only info withheld from the commission.

probably just the tip of a very large iceberg.

[6000eliot]

17. Am I correct in recalling

that Bush and Cheney would not testify under oath before the commission? If so, was it because they didn't want stuff like this biting them on the ass later?

[RamboLiberal]

21. And remember how they fought not to let Rice appear in public?

It was the pushing of survivors like the Jersey Girls and 9-11 families and citizens like us that got the WH to relent.

Also remember all the slamming of Richard Clarke - how they tried through their pundit minions to paint him as some kind of pinko. Everything he wrote and said is being proven. Guess tomorrow they have to bring out their pinko paint for Woodward.

[calimary]

76. Yes they did. bush refused to testify by himself. He had to have

dick there next to him.

They jointly refused to give sworn testimony under oath. In fact, bush later characterized it as a "visit." "We visited." Furthermore (and forgive me for repeating, but I said this farther upthread), they neither allowed the full commission to ask them questions, they also allowed no notes to be taken. It was not on the record.

And they fought like roosters in a cockfight to keep contradicta from having to testify. She, unfortunate lass, WAS sworn in, under oath. I remember that. Got up extra early to watch it, live, for myself.

[Spazito]

18. The key statement in this, imo.....

is this one:

“It really didn’t match Secretary Rice’s recollection of the meeting at all,”

The White House IS admitting the meeting took place yet NO ONE told the 9/11 Commission. For them to even admit such a meeting took place means they know the proof is out there and they aren't sure to what extent, in what detail.

[DeepModem Mom]

19. You busted 'em! nt

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

20. That statement...

Is so evocative of another time in the US.

Watergate.

[DeepModem Mom]

22. I've now edited to include that info in the OP. nt

[FogerRox]

34. Spazito, I got here late, I think you make an excellent point, Bingo !

[Maccagirl]

36. That proves that Clinton told the truth to Wallace

last Sunday, and Rice lied to the Post on Monday.

[catzies]

42. Whoop--there it is!!! Good catch.

:thumbsup:

[Ilsa]

48. Headline: "White House Denies Existence of Meeting

That NSA Rice Says Transpired With No Surprises." Perhaps we should ask "The Ministry of Truth" (Fox News). Or is Bartlett working for them or vice versa?

[frylock]

23. big fucking deal. so panel members are alarmed..

what will come of this? Will the Warren Commission on 911 reconvene? Of course not. They'll all express their indignation for the public record, then it's business as usual. Meanwhile we still haven't any answers as to what lead up to the so-called security failures that allowed that shit to happen. This is just so much fluff.

[Subdivisions]

24. ORDER A NEW INVESTIGATION...NOW!!!!

..in the meantime, watch 9/11 Press for Truth again.

[frylock]

25. check out part 1 of 911 mysteries if you haven't already..

I watched it yesterday. Pretty strong meat.

[0007]

44. Check out this book if ya like strong meat.....

[frylock]

47. thanks man..

my shelves are lined with books on the subject. Dr Griffin's was the first one I read.

[keopeli]

26. self-deleted

[DeepModem Mom]

28. You might consider posting this as a separate post. Excellent...

if somehow disturbing!

[keopeli]

38. Already did it, DMM

It was one of those things that started small and grew! lol

Thanks, and thanks for all of your wonderful posts as well.

link

Peace

[The Count]

27. Another direct lie from "we don't torture" Condi..."memo was historic:

"We never imagined plandes could be used to bring down buildings" and "I was never told of AlQuaeda"

[Hissyspit]

29. Welcome to reality, panel folks. You should've spent time on DU

over the last several years. You wouldn't be alarmed at all.

[gordianot]

30. Notice how it was WH counsel and not Condi speaking?

She is one of the few in the Bush administration who almost sounds coherent when she lies. They must be worried. Strange times indeed.

[patricia92243]

31. THIS is whateverybody needs to be talking about instead of Bush knows the

war is going to be more difficult than we were told.

9/11 has been the Republicans ace for a long time. This is what needs to be talked about in his TV interviews and here and everyelse that people are talking.

[many a good man]

32. Commision didn't want to appear too "partisan"

They knew about the meeting-- they had the records of it. They just decided not to pursue it.

[William Bloode]

39. Well now,

"Some questioned whether information about the July 10 meeting was intentionally withheld from the panel".

Ya don't say! I woulda never guessed.

:sarcasm:

[speedoo]

40. After we win a house in November, (I hope two) it will be time...

to investigate the conduct of several 9/11 Commission witnesses under oath. Condiliar is guilty of perjury.

[AtLiberty]

41. Sheesh --

Wake up, 9-11 panel.

You weren't told 70 percent of what you should have in that lame, so-called "investigation" you conducted. What do you expect when you refuse to probe too deeply?

[lovuian]

43. Rice told a lie

or forgot to mention it...

[damntexdem]

45. Hey, perpetrating perjury and lying to Congress doesn't bother Bushistas.

Why should they care how they lie to an investigating commission, whether or not under oath?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

46. who would you trust more? Dixie chicks or Condi Rice?

I'd vote for those babes banned from Clear Channel.

[alcibiades_mystery]

52. Here's how you know they're lying: "Secretary Rice's recollection"

Boo-yah. Finito. If it didn't happen, Bartlett would have said "It never happened." Instead, he says the account "didn't match" Condi's "recollection." Er, I don't recall, anybody? This is the thinnest form of plausible deniability, and only emerges when you've been well and truly caught out there. They thought Tenet had been bought off with his medal of freedom. The 9/11 Commission should reconvene for immediate under-oath questioning about this matter.

[wiley]

53. They probably just vetted it past Tom Kean

It's pretty clear he's a liar, and would do anything to get junior elected. I pray Jersey does not make the serious mistake of entrusting their safety, security and prosperity to Tom Kean, Jr., who was just recently endorsed by a felon in a Virginia prison.

Why does this surprise anybody. Bush had to testify with Cheney, and it had to be in secret. Pretty obvious they had a lot to hide. Should have used our "new torture techniques" to get the truth out of them, since they are pathologically incapable of telling it. Our nation's safety was at risk, wasn't it? Oh wait, they were making us safer. Should have just used a ruler on their knuckles.

[DemInDistress]

54. and this nugget went unnoticed..

July 21 2001..john asscroft warned not to fly commercial jets
so he used private chartered jets at the cost of 1600.00 dollars an hour. This is 11 days after the supposed
tenet-rice meeting. but there is more..
When Tenet testified in public at the 911 hearings he was asked this question,"did you meet with the chimp during the month of August?" tenet replies,"NO" chimp was in crawford and I was in Maryland. So I accept that
however later in the afternoon on that same day both tenet and kean appeared on camera to amend tenet's sworn
testimony to include meeting the chimp on August 18 2001 2 days after Moussouari was arrested, and August 25 2001 tenet spent the day at the ranch in Crawford with rice, and some war hawk generals, also on August 31 2001 when chimpy came back from vacation just in time to have the Labor Day weekend off. My question is,"what did they discuss at those 3 subsequent meetings" Osama, Enron, h'm.. I'd like to know because if they failed to discuss the Phoenix Flight Memo, Asscrofts threat assessment, the Aug.6 01' PDB (alright you covered your ass memo) then their guilty of gross dereliction of duty

2001 the summer of threat, the system was blinking red..

[mhatrw]

55. How many more lies about 9/11before we get a real investigation?

[leesa]

57. And what day in July 2001 did the CIA meet with OBL in Dubai? And

what day in July 2001 did the US threaten to bomb Afghanistan come October 2001? Busy month...no wonder a poor girl can't remember.

[Tight_rope]

60. Of course the Condi was told. No surprise here. Moving along!

[JoMama49]

61. aren't there minutes of all of these meetings? how can you keep

one of these "official" meetings secret? Surely, they must keep records of WH meetings?

[lala_rawraw]

62. 911pressfortruth.com, watch it, and you will understand

why they did not know

[Canuckistanian]

63. I have but one thing to say - PHASE II

The longer Pat Roberts delays this, the worse it looks.

Get on the ball, Harry Reid! Nov. 15th is long past.

[newspeak]

66. and, the American public

some being little lemmings, do not understand how this affects them!!! The Iran-Contra, BCCI scandal was huge, because, not only, did a segment of our government put drugs on the streets, a cabal, with parts of the justice dept. were raring to usurp power--power from Congress, power from "we the people." The media made Oliver North look like some kind of damn hero, shredding evidence and his participation into covert activities. Did they steal the PROMIS software? We're talking drugs, gun running, theft-and where were the American citizens? Poppy Bush apparently lies to Congress-remember, "I was out of the loop." He apparently was the loop, moreso, than Reagan. But, the American public can only dwell on Clinton's lie on a BJ. It seems that's the only thing that matters. Serious scandals that eventually affect all of us are disregarded, while a BJ that only hurt a family is taken seriously. 9-11 is the crux to everything that has happened, from the Iraq war, decrease in civil liberties, sweetheart contracts with buddies, pushing towards privatization, selling our infrastructure to the highest bidder. The truth must be exposed before there's nothing left of us. It's time for all citizens to face reality, not the illusion that this administration is attempting to shove down our throats!!! I want to see an independent 9/11 investigation, experts not appointed by the administration, who are truly non-partisan!!! I want to see *, Cheney, and the whole damn cabal under oath.

[Zorra]

69. Yeah, Dems need to bring this out front and center again. n/t

[Marie26]

67. Sounds like perjury to me

Is Fitzgerald busy?

[gratuitous]

70. Considering the curiosity level of the 9/11 panel

Are they really surprised that the administration played them for chumps? I mean, they showed all the inquisitiveness of a pro wrestling referee and even let Chimpy and Crashcart testify together and without being sworn. And apparently that didn't strike any of the commission members as the least bit out of the ordinary.

Surprised, my sweet Aunt Fanny. There's a whole lotta answers we don't have, and the clubby, chummy folks inside the Beltway are the least likely and the least inclined people on the face of the planet to get those answers.

[FourScore]

71. Oh the SHOCK!!!

Check these out:

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-714321269021951...
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-999558027849894...
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=1162851149755261...

[rodeodance]

73. ohmy Condi charmed them all.

[lennilenape]

75. I forgot!

Can't they outlaw, "I can't remember?' or, "That's not my recollection!" or, "I can't remember that point in time." ???? and shit like that?

[leveymg]

77. Are the Commissioners "furious" enough to press perjury charges?

After all, someone's a liar here. Let a federal Grand Jury sort it out.

For more about the apparent perjuries of Condi, Tenet and Black, please see, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/2/114456/850

and for a discussion of how Phil Zelikow, Condi's pal on the 9/11 Commission staff, might have have helped obscure the facts, see, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/2/121537/191

[leftchick]

81. kick

.