ny b7 commissioners fdr- entire contents- letters and memos re fsc and commission 804

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Page 1: NY B7 Commissioners Fdr- Entire Contents- Letters and Memos Re FSC and Commission 804

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N A T I O N A L C OMMIS S ION O N

T E R R O R I S T A T T A C K S U P O N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S

Drew U niversity M eeting Participants - May 15,2003

Carol Ashley*, mother of Janice A shley, 25 (Fred A lger M anagement, 93rd floor, WTC Tower

O ne). Ho metown: Rockville C entre, N Y. M ember, Families of September 11 (M emorialCommittee C o-Chair); M ember, Skyscraper Safety C ampaign; M ember, Coalition of 9/11Families; M ember, L M D C Family A dvisory C ouncil; M ember, September's M ission; M ember,W T C U nited Family Group; M ember, Give Y our Voice; M ember, 9/11 Fam ilies U nited toBankrupt Terrorism.

Kristen Breitweiser*, wife of Ronald Breitweiser, 39 (Fiduciary Trust International, WTCTower Two). Hometown: M iddletown Township, N J. Co-Chair, September 11 th A dvocates;M ember, 9/11 Families U nited to B ankrupt T errorism.

Patty Casaz/a*, wife of John F. Casazza, 38 (Cantor Fitzgerald, 104th floor, WT C T ower O ne).

H ometown: C olts N eck, N J. C o-C hair, S eptember 11 th A dvocates.

Mary Fetchet*, mother of Bradley James Fetchet, 24 (K eefe, Bruyette & W oods, 89th floor,W T C T ower T wo). H ometown: N ew C anaan, CT . Co-Chair, Voices of September 11 th; M ember,Skyscraper Safety C ampaign; M ember, C oalition of 9/11 Families; M ember, L M D C FamilyA dvisory C ouncil; M ember, September's M ission; M ember, Families of September 11.

Monica G abrielle*, wife of Richard Gabrielle (Aon, WTC Tower Two) Hometown: M anhattan,N Y and CT . Co-Chairperson, Skyscraper Safety C ampaign; M ember, C oalition of 9/11 Families;

M ember, 9/11 Families for a Secure A merica.

Bill Harvey*, husband of Sara M anley H arvey, 31 (Fred A lger M anagement, 93 rd floor, W T CTower One). Hometown: M anhattan, N Y. M ember, Voices of September 11 th.

Mindy Kleinberg*, wife of A lan Kleinberg, 39 (Cantor Fitzgerald, 104th floor, WT C T owerO ne). H ometown: East Brunswick, N J. Co-Chair, September llth A dvocates.

Steven Push, husband of Lisa Raines (Senior Vice President, Genzyme, American Airlines

Flight 77); Board M ember and A cting T reasurer, Fam ilies of September 11.

Sally Regenhard*, mother of C hristian M ichael O tto R egenhard, 28 Probationary Firefighter,

L131, R ed H ook, missing at W T C ; H ometown: Bronx, N Y. Founder and C hairperson,

Skyscraper Safety C ampaign; M ember of C oalition of 9/11 Families; 9/11 Families for a SecureA merica.

Lone Van Auken*, wife of K enneth Van Auken, 47 (Cantor Fitzgerald, 105th floor, W T CTower O ne). Hom etown: E ast Brunswick, N J. Co-C hair, September 11 th A dvocates; M ember,9/11 Fam ilies U nited to B ankrupt T errorism.

D enotes member of Family Steering C omm ittee.

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Talking Points for THK Page 1 of 3- 4k

Talking Points for THK

RE: Meeting with family groups

Date: May 13,2003

OPENING REMARKS

• I am delighted all of you cou ld be here today and on such short notice

• I hope we are able to conduct m any m eetings of this kind and would like us to meetfrequently in the course of the next year.

• We will all have to m ake appropriate adjustm ents in our schedules to do this. I personallyintend to be available as m uch as I can, consistent with my other responsibilities.

• As you know, I said when I was appointed chairman of the 9-11 Com m ission that Iconsidered this the most im portant thing I would be doing for the tim e in which I would be

serving. I m eant that.

• I also said I would continue in m y capacity here and would fulfill other com m itm ents I madeprior to m y appointm ent. I also m eant that. So I ask your indulgence if it takes a little whileto coordinate schedules.

• Once we m ove into the sum m er, I expect to have more time. I will continue to make furtheradjustments after the next school year begins.

• Before we start, let me tend to just a little of housekeeping.

WASHINGTON HEARINGS

• As you know, we will be conducting our second public hearing in Washington May 22 and23, in Ha rt Senate Office Building, starting each day at 9:00 o'clock.

• The Com m ission itself will conduct its regular business over dinner the evenings of May 21.

• The topics of the hearing are two: the role of Congressional oversight of national securityand hom eland security issues; and civil aviation security before, on, and after September 11,2001.

• Wewill hear from m embers of Congress who hold key positions on the committees that havea say over what goes on in federal agencies responsible for our security. We will also hear

from m embers who represent areas where the attacks on our country took place September11,2001.

• On the matter of airline security, we will hear from governm ent representatives, includingthose in positions of responsibility on September 11, and we will hear from experts in thefield of aviation safety and security.

• We welcom e your input into the hearing process, and any m aterials you wish to provide us.

• As I said in New York, open public hearings are a way of sharing information and obtaining

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Talking Points for THK Page 2 of 3

answers.

• But they are not the only way.

• I expect us to be questioning some of these witnesses again in closed session.

• I also expect us to be questioning others, who might be better able to provide certain kinds

of information.

NEW STAFF

• Now I want to say something about two additions to our staff.

• From the day of our first meeting, all of us thought it a good idea to have on board peoplewhose primary responsibility would be to serve as liaison to you- the families.

• We had a detailed search to find the right persons.

• I am happy to tell you that we now have them.

• Before introducing them to you, let me say a word about what we intend them to do andwhat we do not.

• First, their role is not to replace your access to me, or to other commissioners, or to thecommission staff.

• As I said a few mom ents ago, the Comm issioners and the staff intend to be open to you andto meet with you frequently.

• I see the family liaison representatives as "facilitators".

• They will keep you apprised of developments.

• They will be on call to carry your concerns to us on a timely and regular basis.

• They will serve as a repository o f information and contacts and perform roles that in otherorganizations are often referred to as part of a "clearinghouse."

• They will meet with you even more frequently than we can.

• They will also help us assure that all the meetings we have with you are both substantive andproductive.

• It will be they who will see that what we agree to at these m eetings is carried out.

• It will also be they who will be giving you and us "updates" of progress that is made betweenmeetings.

• Let me now introduce both of our fam ily liaison representatives and say a word or twoabout each.

EMILY WALKER

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Talking Points for THK Page 3 of 3

• Emily Walker has served as an executive with Citigroup both here and abroad. She was alsoDeputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and Executive Secretary to Secretary of theTreasury Nicholas F. Brady, a great New Jerseyan, I m ight add. She was working B uilding 7the day the twin towers were attacked. She lost many close friends that terrible day and hasshared in the grief of those they left behind ever since. I should say too, that September 11was not the first time she witnessed the dastardly effects of terrorism up close. Twice, whenshe was working in London, she saw buildings destroyed and innocents m urdered.

• Emily is a single mother, raising two daughters all by herself. She made it a point to bringboth daughters to our first hearing. She wanted them to hear what was said, live and inperson, so they would be able to recall it for the rest of their lives.

• Emily is also the manager of the office the Commission will open in about a month in NewYork, at 26 Federal Plaza. She will also be working w ith team 9, the team looking into theimmediate response to the September 11 attacks in New York and at the Pentagon.

ELLIE HARTZ

• Ellie Hartz lost her husband in the attack upon the World Trade Center. She serves on theLower Manhattan Development Corporation's Fam ily Advisory Council. She has two grown

children.

• Ellie has had a successful career in her own right in real estate. She used to live in NewJersey with her husband, but returned to New Canaan, Connecticut after the attack. Oneday, we hope to bring her back to the great state of New Jersey.

• She is also interested in the affairs of our region, and very dedicated to the arts. She holds adegree in cartography and serves on the Board of Trustees of Urban Stages in New York.

• I will now ask each of them to say a few words.

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Memo to: Governor Kean and Representative Ham ilton Page 1 of 2

Memo to: Governor Kean and Representative Hamilton

Through: Executive Director Philip Zelikow

From: Deputy for Communications, Al Felzenberg

Re: Relations w ith Family Groups

Date: M ay 8,2003

As I was reviewing the second set of questions the family groups subm itted and the draft of yourresponse, which I found sensitive to their concerns and respectful, some thoughts entered my mindwhich Philip suggested I pass along to you in the form of this memo. I am pleased to do so in thehope they prove helpful to you and, especially to the members of our staff who will be interactingon a regular basis with family representatives.

I have concluded, before I joined the Com mission, on a basis of interviews w ith family mem bers Iread in the press or saw on television, that group cohesion has, for many of the families, shaped

the nature of the stance they take to governm ent officials and to the Commission. This is mostunderstandable.

Because so many people were thrown together because of no common interest other than asharing in a common sense loss, they have become a constant part of each other's lives. Within thefamily groups, we have seen the kind of factions and splits that occur in other organizations andmovements. W hatever sense of unity that exists is based on a comm on feeling that they need topressure the government for answers. It is that common activity (pressing for answers) that hasproduced the cohesion I describe.

While this cohesion m ay have been born in comm on grief and in a shared perception that someonesomewhere in the government is "stonewalling" or otherwise "not being helpful", it has, I sense,taken on a life of its own. The C om mission, I fear, runs the risk of becom ing, in their minds, yetthe latest in a list of groups they charge w ith not being responsive. I think this is what producedtheir criticism of Comm issioners who have said that, while the Com mission would hold people andagencies to account, "finger pointing" w ould not be its primary focus.

I picked up on some of this after your recent meeting with family representatives concluded. Ms.Breitweiser came up to m e to say the New Jersey Attorney Gene ral had put out a directive late lastyear to the effect that no illegal imm igrants would be receive licenses to drive in that state. Shethen inform ed me that her gardener is an illegal alien and has just obtained such a license.

"You see," she told m e, "they don't m ean a thing they say and nothing will ever change." I askedher whether she contacted the A.G., the Governor's office, either of her two representatives in theAssembly or her State Senator. She said "no" and did not appear interested in doing so. She

repeated the assertions with the others looking on and nodding. I suppose that in emotionalsituations such as this, affirmation from others similarly situated takes on an increasedimportance. Perhaps she was just too angry and hurt to want to talk with people who could solveher problem. Others, who can only sympathize, are m ore abundant.

I don't know all the facts of this particular situation. W hat I do know is that these familyorganizations appear to be taking on a po litical life of their own. They are more than "support"groups and certainly more than "pressure groups"

Through more frequent meeting with them and retaining staff to keep the family groups apprised

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Memo to: Governor Kean and Representative Ham ilton Page 2 of 2

of the Com mission's activities, the Com mission may be able to transcend the "us against them"stance that appears to be develop ing, or at least has with the Comm ission's predecessors.Governor Kean is sufficiently poised to turn the situation around. I have observed him go intomeetings with people bent on "storming the gates" and emerge from it with all sides talking abouttheir commo n agenda. I imagine Congressman Hamilton has done the same.

This may be more difficult to affect with groups that feel the pain of wounds that may never healfully. It is, though, worth a try. Might I suggest that next time the fam ilies meet with the

Com mission they do not sit on one side o f the table with the Com missioners on the other? Thismay feed a desire for confrontation.

Now, let me say something about the role of the staff who w ill relate day to day with the families.The families must not get the sense that the two staffers are here to "manage" the fam ily groups.They won't be "screened" from principals or allow what they dem and to be "filtered" any morethan tough reporters like Michael Isikoff will settle for talking to me when they really wa nt to grillPhilip or you. So, I think, the two staffers' role as "facilitators" needs to be spelled out to thefamilies. Staff, they must know , are not here to deny access. There is also a bit of the "socialworker" aspect to this function, which bo th wo men are more than able to fill.

I think the Commission we could profit enormously by talking to people who have administered

counseling to other victims of great tragedies and may have witnessed the "cohesion" of which Ispeak. I think the Comm ission needs to comprehend it. I realize the Com mission's task is notmade any easier by those who egg people on, not realizing the unintended damage they may becausing to both the work at hand and to the grieving by inflating suspicions, inflating expectations,or just picking at scabs.

I hope you find this helpful.

1

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THOMAS H Page 1 o f3

Thomas H. Kean

CHAIR

Lee H. Hamilton

VICE CHAIR

Richard Ben-Veniste

Max Cleland

Fred F. Fielding

Jamie S. Gorelick

Slade Gorton

John Lehman

Timothy J. Roemer

James R. Thompson

Philip D. Zelikow

EXECUTIVEDIRECTOR

Dear Members of the Family Steering Committee:

W e believe the Commission's meeting with you on May 1, 2003was a highly productive one. We appreciated the opportunity tomeet with you and to respond both to questions submittedbeforehand as well as those raised in the course of our nearly twohour meeting.

As we indicated to you, we remain available and would be pleasedto meet with you again at a mutually agreeable time and place, sothat we can continue to keep you informed of the Commission'swork. To that end, we would like to invite you to a meeting withTom Kean and a number of staff, from 2- 3 PM on M ay 15, 2003,at Mead Hall, Drew University, in Madison, NJ.

Input from the families is critically important to us. For example,[copies of documents from the Hamburg trial are an immediate,significant contribution to our work. W e also want to thank youfor the opportunity to review minutes, as you recorded them, of

the May 1, 2003 meeting.

While we believe that it is useful to have a sense of your questions)rior to meetings, we continue to believe that it is most useful toengage directly with you in dialogue. W e find the process ofresponse to written interrogatories less helpful in fostering andcontinuing the positive dialogue that is so important on behalf ofour shared goal: the fulfillment of the Commission's mandate.

Joint Inquiry ( J I ) information. Commissioners are fully aware ofic Commission's mandate to build upon the work of the JI .

Commissioners and staff are reading the JI report and relatedocuments as part of their work. All Commissioners have access

o the entirety of the JI Report and all information compiled by the[ . The Commission also takes very seriously its mandate to

review Congressional oversight and resource allocation.

Intelligence agencies.W e have reached out to key intelligenceagencies and the interactions have been positive. Agencies havebeen responsive so far to document and access requests. W e>elieve we will get the informationwe need. W e have assembledextensive lists of individuals we intend to interview.

Non-classified areas of investigation. We have established verygood points of contact with several Federal agencies outside of the

intelligence

community, and have already initiated a number of documentrequests. We have established points of contact with New Yorkentities, and will soon be doing so with the airlines. Our nexthearing, May 22-23, will take up the topic of aviation, andseveral individuals both inside and outside the government will beasked to testify on aviation security issues. W e believe stronglythat interviews—essential to the work of the C omm ission—mustfollow careful preparation, and we expect to begin them soon.

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THOMAS H age  o  

_ x j 0x08

Commission structure. We are keenly aware o f the impo rtance ofstrong internal co mm unicatio n within the Commission staff. Thesenior managers understand it is their job to insure the staff worktogether with an effective, productive division o f labor amo ng theteams. W e are satisfied with their progress in un iting and directingthis wo rk.

We are unaware of any requirement o f o utside counsel fo r

potential witnesses and interview candidates. W e will work toavoid delays in our investigative work.

The Commission has made no decisions about the structure of itsfinal report. Y our reference to a book must be alluding to thereport itself; we know of no other planned book connected to ourwork.

Staff names have been m ade available to yo u; please feel free toreach us through the Front Office and/or the family liaison staffthat will be named soon.

In closing, we thank you f o r your co ntinued willingness to bringinformation to the attention of the Commission, your strongsupport, an d your helpful suggestions. W e hope that yo u will joinus on May 15. Please contact Stephanie Kaplan at (202) 331-4060o r s k a p l a n @ 9 - 1 1 commissipn.gov to make the appropriatearrangements.

With best regards,

x| 0x01 graphic

Thomas H. Kean Lee H. Hamilton

Chair Vice Chair

Family Steering Committee

May 8, 2003

Page 2

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May 5, 2003

Dear Governor Kean, Congressman Hamilton, Commissioners and Staff,

Thank you for meeting with us last Thursday afternoon and for taking the time to respond

to the questions we had submitted earlier.

As a result of our meeting, however, additional questions have been raised. We would

appreciate a response to these additional concerns:

Joint Inquiry Information

1. How many Commissioners have read the classified Joint Inquiry Report in its

entirety? How many Staff members have read the classified Joint Inquiry Report

in its entirety? (Prior to reading all 500,000 pages of the Joint Inquiry documents,

it seems logical to read the Joint Inquiry's ful l report since the independent

commission's mandate is to "build upon" the Joint Inquiry's work—not

unnecessarily duplicate it).2. How many Commissioners have read the 150 interview reports supplied by the

Joint Inquiry in their entirety?

3. How many Staff members have read the 150 interview reports in their entirety?

4. Have you formulated any leads or investigative roadmaps from either the

classified Joint Inquiry Report or the 150 interview reports? Have those leads

been acted upon?

5. Regarding the 500,000 pages of documents from the Joint Inquiry, when will you

request each agency's log of what documents were either reviewed or submitted

to the Joint Inquiry? Isn't each agency required to maintain a log of all documents

produced fo r the JIC?

6. What is the commission's position with regard to assertions of congressionalprivilege on the part of any congressman, staffer, and/or committee made in

response to an inquiry by the Commission? Congressional oversight is an integral

part of the Commission's mandate and must be addressed thoroughly and

expeditiously.

7. The FSC continues to be concerned about the precedent created by allowing the

submission of redacted documents to the JIC. All commissioners have top

security clearances and are tasked with using the JIC's work as a starting point.

Without ful l and open disclosure by the JIC, one is made to wonder what is being

hidden and what message this sends to other congressional committees of whom

similar requests will be made by the Commission in the future.

Intelligence Agencies

1. Have you reached out to each intelligence agency and provided them with lists of

information and documents needed? What agencies have replied? What agencies

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have met any of your requests? If agencies do not meet your requests, what do

you plan to do?

2. Have you determined a list of witnesses to testify from the intelligence agencies?

Are you planning to issue any requests for depositions? If so, have you done so

yet? If not, why not?

Non-classified/Non-privUeged areas of investigation

1. Regarding areas of non-classified information and/or areas that the Joint Inquiry

did not investigate (therefore, areas that are not being held up by congressional

privilege or executive privilege), what work has been done? For example, have

you served interrogatories to the FAA, INS, Port Authority, City of NY,

Department of Transportation, or the airlines? Have you submitted any deposition

requests to those agencies? Have you conducted any interviews? Have you

requested any individual's attendance for a future hearing? If not, why not?

Commission's Structure/ Misc.

1. Because the commission staff has varying levels of clearance, what mechanism do

yo u have in place to ensure that the investigation itself does not suffer from

fragmentation? For example, how can each staff member see the overall picture of

the failures on 9/11 (a necessary component to conduct a thorough andeffective

investigation) if they are only allowed to read certain fragments of the Joint

Inquiry's final report? What safeguards are in place to ensure the "dots" of your

investigation are connected?

2. Have you spoken to the White House to gain their acquiescence to expedite all

requests for clearances for outside attorneys who may have to represent

individuals who are requested by you to testify, answer interrogatories, or bedeposed? Clearances can take upwards of 6 months, we want to ensure that

anyone whom the commission wants to testify, depose or answer interrogatories

can do so in a timely manner. What have you done to plan for this possible delay?

3. We have read in the press that the Commission will be publishing a book after the

investigation is complete. Is this true? If so, what is the purpose of this book?

Does this pose a possible conflict of interest for Commission members?

4. We would like to receive a list of all staff and Commissioner assignments.

Additionally, we would like to have staff contact phone numbers and email

addresses. We have received numerous requests from the public about forwarding

specific information to the commission, and we would like to be able to satisfy

these requests.5. We would like to receive a list of all individualswho will testify, be deposed, or

be served with interrogatories. In providing this list to us, we will be able to

conduct our own research on these individuals, formulate our own list of

questions and concerns, and then share this information with you, so as to ensure

that a comprehensive examination is done.

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6. Regarding the investigation, we respectfully suggest that you not completely

focus on the top-level individuals of agencies and institutions (Director of the

CIA, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Defense, Mayor ofNYC). Lower-

level employees (field agents, air traffic controllers, air force lieutenants, NYFD

lieutenants, etc.) can yield fruitful information. Recall the Phoenix Memo and the

Moussouai case. Valuable information can be obtained from field operatives, staff

and mid-level managers. Information they provide can then be used to question

higher-level individuals. In this way, accountability can be more accurately

assigned.

We continue to be frustrated with the slow progress of this Commission. Although we

acknowledge that the start-up for any commission can be a slow process, we also know

the Joint Intelligence Committee faced problems due to time constraints and in fact were

unable to complete their work. Thus, there is an urgent need begin requesting documents

and conducting interviews. One of our greatest concerns is that the commission will run

out of time.

We look forward to your collective response.

Very truly yours,

The Family Steering Committee

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"ut

Questions Provided by the Family Steering Committee

fo r the Briefing on May 1,2003

1) Have all of the required staff members been hired? Can you foresee the need for moremembers to be hired? Was mon ey an issue in your decision making process as for the

number and quality of staff members hired?

2) In an effort to keep family members fully informed about the commission and its

work, we are requesting the biographies of all staff members for posting on our web-site.Additionally, we would also like to post the areas that each commissioner and staff

member is assigned to and responsible for.

3) Have you selected or hired a fam ily liaison? The family steering committee believesthat Bob M onetti, of the Pan Am 103 families, wou ld be a qualified individual for theposition.

4) Has everyone on the commission and staff received their clearances? If not, who hasnot received their clearance and why? When can we anticipate that everyone will havereceived his or her clearances?

5) What progress have the commissioners and staff members made in the investigation ofthe CIA, FBI, NSA, FAA, IN S, NO RAD , Transportation Department, TreasuryDepartment, Cong ressional oversight, Executive B ranch, Port A uthority, City of N ewYork, and Diplomacy?

6) What is the process that the comm ission will be following w ith regard to the different

areas of investigation? For example, how are you determining w hat specific informationand particular individ uals to investigate? Additionally, who on the commission will bedetermining and w riting the line of que stioning for potential witnesses, given that not all

commissioners have an investigative backgroun d?

7) What interviews, if any, have been conducted thus far? W hat interviews arescheduled? W hat inform ation have yo u requested? W as there a need for a subpoena?

What materials hav e been stud ied (reports, articles, books, etc.)? Have staff membersbeen assigned re quired reading? W hat specifically are those readings? What w ill yournext steps be?

8) Will everyon e have the same level of security clearance? If not, wh at are the vary inglevels of clearance for each Com missioner and how will that affect their ability to be aCommissioner? If varying levels of clearance exist, will that interfere with the breakdown

in investigative assignm ents , as well as, the commission mem bers' abilities to avoid an ypotential conflicts of interest?

9) What is the process that you have developed for handling any potential conflicts ofinterest? Who in particularon the commission and staff has potential conflicts of

interest, according to your records? What are they specifically?

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10) Have you received the complete Joint Intelligence Committee's Report? If not, when

are you scheduled to receive it? Who or what are the 13 outstanding subpoenas from the

JIC? Have you requested any subpoenas of your ow n thus far? Have you run into any

potential roadblocks with regard to receiving information or cooperation?

11) When is Eleanor Hill scheduledto brief you on the JIC's findings? Specifically, whatdo you consider as "unfinished business" by the JIC? Will you be delving into those

areas? Are there other subpoenas that should have been issued by the JIC but were not

due to time or informational constraints? What specific recommendations does Eleanor

Hill have for the commission?

12) Has the commission determined a rebuttal process? Specifically, during the opening

hearings in NYC, we heard witnesses give inaccurate statements to the commissioners.

How can we make the commission aware of those inaccuracies? Can or will you call

witnesses to testify again?