[UPDATE: Please do not overlook the last of the updates below.]
This is information that I'm sure all of us are aware of, but may have forgotten. So, I think it's important to put it out there again on the eve of the SSCI Phase II Investigation regarding the use or mis-use of Pre-war Intelligence.
Simply put, Bush Limited Access and Disclosures of Classified Information to only 8 Members of Congress per a policy memo [last blockquote below] written and signed on October 5, 2001.
Therefore, Congress could not possibly have had access to the same intelligence information that the White House had! Period. Exclamation Point!
Details below the fold
I was toolin' around the internet, and came across a blog post by
Faiz on 7/26/05 over at Think Progress
10/5/01: Bush Pulls Security Clearances From 92 Senators
Faiz' blog is terrific, and focuses on the hypocrisy of Bush and the security clearance of Karl Rove, but is just as relevant to what Congress had access to where intelligence information was concerned.
In part:
"We can't have leaks of classified information. It's not in our nation's interest." - President George W. Bush, 10/9/01.
President Bush's defiant statement came in the immediate weeks following 9/11, as the administration clamped down on the information it provided to Congress. President Bush issued an order [Scanned PDF Document] limiting access to classified intelligence only to 8 members of Congress -- the Speaker of the House, House Minority Leader, Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, and chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees.
What precipitated this course of action?
Gannett News Service reported on 10/1/01 that Bush was restricting information because, "The Washington Post reported last week that various lawmakers had been told there would be more terrorist attacks if the United States retaliated."
Here's what the Washington Post reported:
Asked whether more terrorist attacks are inevitable if the United States retaliates, [Sen. Richard] Shelby said, "You can bet on that." U.S. intelligence officials have told members of Congress there is a high probability that terrorists associated with Osama bin Laden will try to launch another major attack on U.S. targets here or abroad. [Washington Post, 10/6/01]
So at this slightest whiff of evidence that information was being leaked, President Bush pulled classified intelligence access for 92 senators.
Ari Fleisher held a
press briefing on 10/9/01 to field questions regarding the "Presidential Memo".
Since the Memo was scanned, it wasn't possible to copy and paste, so I re-typed it (formatted a bit differently) here:
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
October 5, 2001
MEMORANDUM FOR:
THE SECRETARY OF STATE
THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
THE DIRECTOR OF FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
SUBJECT: Disclosures to the Congress
As we wage our campaign to respond to the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, and to protect us from further acts of terrorism, I intend to continue to work closely with the Congress. Consistent with the longstanding executive branch practice, this Administration will continue to work to inform the leadership of the Congress about the course of, and important developments in, our critical military, intelligence, and law enforcement operations. At the same time, we have an obligation to protect military operational security, intelligence sources and methods, and sensitive law enforcement investigations. Accordingly, your departments should adhere to the following procedures when providing briefings to the Congress relating to the information we have or the actions we plan to take:
i) Only you or officers expressly designated by you may brief Members of Congress regarding classified or sensitive law enforcement information; and
(ii) The only Members of Congress whom you or your expressly designated officers may brief regarding classified or sensitive law enforcement information are the Speaker of the House, the House Minority Leader, the Senate Majority and Minority Leaders, and the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Intelligence Committees in the House and Senate.
This approach will best serve our shared goals of protecting American lives, maintaining the proper level of confidentiality for the success of our military, intelligence, and law enforcement operations, and keeping the leadership of the Congress appropriately informed about important developments. This morning, I informed the House and Senate leadership of this policy which shall remain in effect until you receive further notice from me.
[signed:] George W. Bush
HTML Source for the above memo can be obtained at
FAS.org
Plus if you are looking for information on the
Most Secretive Government Ever, head on over to the
FAS.org-Project on Government Secrecy and for information regarding the
wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am National Intelligence Estimate, please head on over to
Global Security.org
To my knowledge, Bush's policy memo on 10/5/01 has not been rescinded.
So, if you need one single piece of evidence that disproves the lie that Congress had the same intelligence information that the White House had - this is it.
Update [2005-11-12 23:51:33 by Terre]:: For additional research information on release dates, including the controversy over the October, 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) see The National Security Archive]
[UPDATE: jorndorff has posted downthread with a link to a 12/14/01 AP archived article that stated "On Oct. 12, Bush dropped the limitations entirely." No actual public record rescinding the notice/memo of the initial policy is known. If anyone can find it, I'll update.]
Update [2005-11-13 2:6:4 by Terre]:: OK, on 10/10/01 Ari again discussed the "leak" issue here and here and basically said that the four leaders of Congress met with Bush, and that all parties "seem to be satisfied" and that "no memo would be forthcoming". I couldn't find anything else at WH.gov around that time.]
Update [2005-11-13 11:34:32 by Terre]:: It appears that the original 10/05/01 policy memo was modified, in some way, during a meeting between the four leaders of Congress and Bush, but there is no written record of any "mutual agreement" available on the internet. What was agreed to is unknown. Please see the cached segment of the NYTimes article Wartime Secrecy. Thanks gshenaut Additionally, bonddad (THANKS!) was kind enough to post below, plus email me a formatted section from the First Senate Report, that is not in any way ambiguous, and is another excellent rebuttal to wingnut talking points.
From The First Senate Report
(U) Conclusion 85. The Intelligence Community's elimination of the caveats from the unclassified White Paper misrepresented their judgments to the public which did not have access to the classified National Intelligence Estimate containing the more carefully worded assessments.
Conclusion 86. The names of agencies which had dissenting opinions in the classified National Intelligence Estimate were not included in the unclassified white paper and in the case of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the dissenting opinion was excluded completely. In both cases in which there were dissenting opinions, the dissenting agencies were widely regarded as the primary subject matter experts on the issues in question. Excluding the names of the agencies provided readers with an incomplete picture of the nature and extent of the debate within the Intelligence Community regarding these issues.
Conclusion 87. The key judgment in the unclassified October 2002 White Paper on Iraq's potential to deliver biological agents conveyed a level of threat to the United States homeland inconsistent with the classified National Intelligence Estimate.
LINK