In response to the Bush administrations false promise of cooperation.
What DO they have to hide?
Kean's 9/11 commission stops being polite
WASHINGTON -- The national commission investigating the 9/11 terrorist attacks flexed its muscle yesterday, issuing a subpoena for documents from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The panel also warned it may drop its nice-guy image -- essentially, the image of its chairman, former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean -- and begin demanding, instead of asking for, documents from other agencies.
"This disturbing development at one agency has led the commission to re-examine its general policy of relying on document requests rather than subpoenas," read a formal statement from the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
The commission also warned that the FAA's behavior "has significantly impeded the progress of our investigation."
In response, the FAA issued its own statement, saying it was "surprised" by a subpoena that it deemed "unnecessary."
Greg Martin, an FAA spokesman, conceded that the agency had provided the panel with everything it usually develops as a result of airline accidents and even "highjackings."
"We now recognize that these procedures, though historically adequate in the context of most aviation accidents, were not satisfactory to the commission and its staff," the FAA statement read.
It then added: "No documents were ever knowingly withheld from the commission."
Martin said any implication that the FAA withheld documents is a "terrible mischaracterization and unfortunate, given the amount of cooperation we have provided in the past."
Martin said his agency would continue to work with the commission to ensure that "it gets everything it wants."
Like so much involved with the commission in the past, this development -- termed "extraordinary" by Kean on Tuesday -- has its quirks.
The commission actually might have the documents it has subpoenaed.
"That's possible, we just don't know yet," explained Alvin Felzenberg, the commission's spokesman.
This it how it happened:
Last May, the commission asked the FAA to provide all documents related to the agency's tracking of the four airlines hijacked Sept. 11, 2001, including "without limitation" all materials related to how the FAA communicated with the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the joint American-Canadian air defense arm.
The FAA appeared to have complied, said Felzenberg, by sending boxes of material. When panel staff members interviewed FAA employees, however, they learned that "various tapes, statements, interview reports, and agency self-assessments" had been held back, according to the commission statement.
The documents and tapes, the statement insisted, are "highly material to our inquiry" and the FAA acted "inexplicably."
Staff members again asked for the material. Again the FAA sent over what Felzenberg called "20 or so boxes" of documents. Those boxes arrived late last week, he said, so panel staff members don't know whether the FAA has fully complied.
Felzenberg said the subpoena would ensure not only that the FAA complied but that the panel "can show its displeasure, in the only way it has."
The commission statement also warned that the panel might have to seek extension of the deadline given it by Congress to issue a report by May.
"We want to express our growing concern about whether delays such as that we have encountered with the FAA will prevent the commission from completing its work and issuing its report within the time frame set by statute."
What DO they have to hide?
Kean's 9/11 commission stops being polite
WASHINGTON -- The national commission investigating the 9/11 terrorist attacks flexed its muscle yesterday, issuing a subpoena for documents from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The panel also warned it may drop its nice-guy image -- essentially, the image of its chairman, former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean -- and begin demanding, instead of asking for, documents from other agencies.
"This disturbing development at one agency has led the commission to re-examine its general policy of relying on document requests rather than subpoenas," read a formal statement from the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
The commission also warned that the FAA's behavior "has significantly impeded the progress of our investigation."
In response, the FAA issued its own statement, saying it was "surprised" by a subpoena that it deemed "unnecessary."
Greg Martin, an FAA spokesman, conceded that the agency had provided the panel with everything it usually develops as a result of airline accidents and even "highjackings."
"We now recognize that these procedures, though historically adequate in the context of most aviation accidents, were not satisfactory to the commission and its staff," the FAA statement read.
It then added: "No documents were ever knowingly withheld from the commission."
Martin said any implication that the FAA withheld documents is a "terrible mischaracterization and unfortunate, given the amount of cooperation we have provided in the past."
Martin said his agency would continue to work with the commission to ensure that "it gets everything it wants."
Like so much involved with the commission in the past, this development -- termed "extraordinary" by Kean on Tuesday -- has its quirks.
The commission actually might have the documents it has subpoenaed.
"That's possible, we just don't know yet," explained Alvin Felzenberg, the commission's spokesman.
This it how it happened:
Last May, the commission asked the FAA to provide all documents related to the agency's tracking of the four airlines hijacked Sept. 11, 2001, including "without limitation" all materials related to how the FAA communicated with the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the joint American-Canadian air defense arm.
The FAA appeared to have complied, said Felzenberg, by sending boxes of material. When panel staff members interviewed FAA employees, however, they learned that "various tapes, statements, interview reports, and agency self-assessments" had been held back, according to the commission statement.
The documents and tapes, the statement insisted, are "highly material to our inquiry" and the FAA acted "inexplicably."
Staff members again asked for the material. Again the FAA sent over what Felzenberg called "20 or so boxes" of documents. Those boxes arrived late last week, he said, so panel staff members don't know whether the FAA has fully complied.
Felzenberg said the subpoena would ensure not only that the FAA complied but that the panel "can show its displeasure, in the only way it has."
The commission statement also warned that the panel might have to seek extension of the deadline given it by Congress to issue a report by May.
"We want to express our growing concern about whether delays such as that we have encountered with the FAA will prevent the commission from completing its work and issuing its report within the time frame set by statute."
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