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Head of 9/11 commission threatens White House with subpoena
Washington, Oct 26: The Chairman of a commission investigating the September 11 attacks says he is prepared to subpoena some documents relevant to his probe from the White House, if it fails to turn them over within weeks, The New York Times reported today.
Washington, Oct 26: The Chairman of a commission
investigating the September 11 attacks says he is prepared to
subpoena some documents relevant to his probe from the White
House, if it fails to turn them over within weeks, The New
York Times reported today.
Former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean told the
newspaper the White House was continuing to withhold several
highly classified intelligence documents.
Kean also said in an interview on Friday that he believed the bipartisan 10-member commission would soon be forced to issue subpoenas to other executive branch agencies because of continuing delays by the Bush administration in providing documents and other evidence needed by the panel, according to the report.
The remarks were his first explicit public warning to the White House that it risked a subpoena and a politically damaging courtroom showdown with the commission over access to the documents, including Oval Office intelligence reports that reached President Bush's desk in the weeks before the September 11 attacks, the paper said.
White House spokeswoman Ashley Snee said that the White House believed it was being fully cooperative with the commission. The Times quotes Snee as saying the White House hoped to meet all of the panel's demands for documents.
Bureau Report
Kean also said in an interview on Friday that he believed the bipartisan 10-member commission would soon be forced to issue subpoenas to other executive branch agencies because of continuing delays by the Bush administration in providing documents and other evidence needed by the panel, according to the report.
The remarks were his first explicit public warning to the White House that it risked a subpoena and a politically damaging courtroom showdown with the commission over access to the documents, including Oval Office intelligence reports that reached President Bush's desk in the weeks before the September 11 attacks, the paper said.
White House spokeswoman Ashley Snee said that the White House believed it was being fully cooperative with the commission. The Times quotes Snee as saying the White House hoped to meet all of the panel's demands for documents.
Bureau Report