The White House said that “an independent investigation would distract the government from waging the ongoing war on terrorism," the authors wrote. “At several points, it appeared that the proposal to create a 9/11 Commission was dead.”But following pressure from the victims’ families, the White House caved, allowing the commission to go forward. ADWhite House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez, who referred to Bush as his “client,” was the chief gatekeeper in the White House. “Once again, videotapes were not mentioned.”ADThe CIA said they would pose some questions from the commission to the detainees, then report back. “But the commission never felt that its earlier questions had been satisfactorily answered,” Kean and Hamilton wrote.

Source: Washington Post February 17, 2021 12:33 UTC