For Immediate Release
July 14, 2004
WHAT DID HE KNOW AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT?
Bush Fights the Release of More Potential Damaging Information
"The White House's refusal to release this one-page summary stands in
the way of getting to the bottom of our intelligence failures, and
weakens our ability to fight the war on terror. There is serious need
for change and reform, but before we do that we have to have
accountability from this administration.
"In stark contrast to this administration, today we saw Prime Minister
Tony Blair take responsibility for intelligence failures related to the
Iraq war. We know where the buck stops in London. We don't know where
the buck stops in Washington."
-- Senator Richard Durbin, 7/14/04,
Conference Call with Reporters
Today, the New York Times reports that the Bush Administration is
fighting the release of a widely disseminated one-page summary about
Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. The document is
particularly important given that Bush and his National Security Adviser
Condoleezza Rice did not read the entire 90-page National Intelligence
Estimate report presented to them prior to the war.
BUSH REFUSES TO RELEASE ONE-PAGE SUMMARY OF PRE-WAR IRAQ CLAIMS
White House Fights Release of One-Page Summary of NIE. The New York
Times reports today, "The White House and the Central Intelligence
Agency have refused to give the Senate Intelligence Committee a one-page
summary of prewar intelligence in Iraq prepared for President Bush that
contains few of the qualifiers and none of the dissents spelled out in
longer intelligence reviews, according to Congressional officials."
BUSH AND RICE NEVER READ THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE
Bush and Rice Did Not Read the NIE. A senior administration official who
briefed reporters in July 2003 said neither Bush nor national security
adviser Condoleezza Rice read the NIE in its entirety. "They did not
read footnotes in a 90-page document," said the official, referring to
the "Annex" that contained the State Department's dissent. The official
conducting the briefing rejected reporters' entreaties to allow his name
to be used, arguing that it was his standard procedure for such sessions
to be conducted anonymously.
Rice Didn't Read CIA Memo Warning of Dubious Intelligence In Bush State
of the Union. When asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" whether she read a
memo from the CIA which had debunked the Niger/yellowcake claim, Rice
responded, "I don't remember the memo. It came after it had been taken
out of the speech, and so it's quite possible that I didn't." "Meet The Press," 9/28/03]
Bush Was Kept In The Dark About False Niger Claim. "The official said
Bush was 'briefed' on the NIE's contents, but 'I don't think he sat down
over a long weekend and read every word of it.' Asked whether Bush was
aware the State Department called the Africa-uranium claim 'highly
dubious,' the official, who coordinated Bush's State of the Union
address, said: 'He did not know that.'"
Bush Is "Not a Fact-Checker." "'The president was comfortable at the
time, based on the information that was provided in his speech,' the
official said of the decision to use it in the address to Congress. 'The
president of the United States is not a fact-checker.'" Post, 7/19/03]
BUSH INGNORED WARNING ON IMMINENT AL QAEDA ATTACK PRIOR TO 9-11
Bush Fought Release of PDBs. The Washington Post reported in February
2003 that the 9-11 Commission was threatening a legal showdown with the
White House. The White House placed such severe limitations on the
release of materials forcing "at least three Democratic members of the
bipartisan panel vote in favor of issuing a subpoena to the White
House for the documents, known as the President's Daily Brief (PDB)."
August '01 PDB Warned Of An Imminent Al Qaeda Attack Inside the US. Bush
received a Presidential Daily Briefing on August 6, 2001, entitled, "Bin
Laden Determined to Attack in US." However, Bush did not hold a cabinet
meeting on terrorism until September 4, even though his counterterrorism
chief Richard Clarke had requested one in January 2001. Clarke believes
that Bush "ignored" the threat of terrorism. Richard Clarke, Against All Enemies, pp. 231-237; CBS "60 Minutes,"
3/21/04]