Date Set for 9/11 Panel to Query Bush
President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney will appear together April 29 to answer questions in private before the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, a White House official said Wednesday.
They will meet at the White House with the members of the commission. Their appearance had been planned, but a specific date had not been announced.
The commission has been hearing public testimony from top officials to determine whether the attacks could have been avoided and to explore evident intelligence failures.
Bush at one time had hoped to meet with just the chairman and vice chairman of the commission and for only one hour.
Under pressure from the panel, however, he agreed to meet with all 10 members and answer questions for as long as necessary.
The commission’s pressure forced the White House to allow Bush’s national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, to give public testimony to the panel two weeks ago, after former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke accused Bush of having failed to consider terrorism an urgent priority when he took office.
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