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Minutes
 of
 the
 July
 31
2 3
 Meeting
The
 Chair called
 the
 Commission
 to
 order
 at
 9:04
 AM on
 July
 31,
 2003.
 All
Commissioners were
 in
 attendance.
Minutes
The
 minutes
 of the
 July
 8,
 2003 meeting were agreed
 to,
 after
 the
 incorporation
of
 several minor
 changes.
 ess
 to
 White House Documents
The
 Vice Chair summarized
 the key
 points
 of an
agreement reached between
 the
 Commission
 and the
 White House regarding access
 to
 EOFand NSC
 documents:
1
Commissioners
 and key
 staff
 will have access
 to
 highly sensitive
 NSC and
 WhiteHouse documents. Individuals with access
 may
 share information with other colleagues
on
 a
 need
 to
 know basis. This agreement goes beyond
 access
 granted
 to the
 Joint
Inquiry
 and Congress,
 hi
 rare
 cases,
 access
 to
 certain documents
 may be
 reserved
 for
only
 the
 Chair
 and
 Vice Chair,
 but the
 Commission
 can
 then request wider access.
2
Commissioners
 and
 staff
 who
 take notes
 may
 bring them back
 to the
 Commission s
 K
Street
 office.
 The
 notes will
 be
 reviewed
 for
 proper classification
 on the
 spot,
 or, in
some cases, within
 1-2
 business days. Portion marking will expedite
 the
 process. Highly
classified
 material will
 be
 transported
 via
 approved courier channels.
3
Direct quotes
 from
 documents
 are
 permissible; however,
 the
 Commission will exerciserestraint
 and
 will
 not
 endeavor
 to
 recreate documents with verbatim notes.
 The
presumption
 is
 that
 the
 Commission
 will
 not
 quote directly
 from
 presidentialdeliberative documents. (Commissioner
 Ben-Veniste
 observed that
 the
 agreementallows
 for
 this issue
 to be
 subject
 to
 later discussion.)
4) The
 Commission will
 be
 granted
 access
 to
 circulated
 drafts
 on a
 case-by-case
 basis;
 the
Commission will
 not see
 uncirculated
 drafts.
5
The
 Commission
 is not
 prohibited
 from
 taking notes
 on
 draft
 documents.
6
The
 agreement
 further
 recognizes
 the
 Commission s need
 for
 access
 to
 this material
 in
order
 to
 complete
 its
 work.
 The
 Vice Chair noted that Judge
 Gonzales
 emphasized,again
 and
 again, conciliation.
 He
 noted that Judge Gonzales
 is
 committed
 to
 workingwith
 the
 Chair, Vice Chair,
 and
 staff
 on any
 problems that
 may
 arise.
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 SENSITIVECommissioner Ben-Veniste asked how the Commission is handling the review ofredactions in
 EOF
 documents. The Executive Director stated that he, the Chair, Vice Chair,
and
 General Counsel were allowed to review redactions,
 and-aekteothat
 he had reviewed all
of
 the redactions to date. The Executive Director observed that the body of redactions was
not
 controversial, but that he had made a request to the White House—in writing—toreconsider four^edactions.
 Three
 of the
 four
 redactions obscured the policy context of adecision,
 and
1
 fourth
 dealt with covert action. Commissioner Roemer agreed that such arequest
 shoum
 be made in writing. Commissioner Ben-Veniste suggested that it would be
helpful
 to
 have annotations next
 to
 redactions stating
 the
 subject
 matter
 of, and
 rationale
for
each redaction.Commissioner Ben-Veniste inquired if any documents had been limited to review by theChair and Vice Chair. The General Counsel Ban Marettsresponded that, to date, thecontinuity of government information was the only such
 information
 limited to review bythe Chair and Vice Chair, but
 addea
 that the Commission already knew about thisexception.Commissioner Fielding described the agreement as a phenomenal breakthrough.Commissioner Roemer concurred that the agreement brought the Commission into
uncharted
 territory and had broken new ground. While
 access
 isn't
 completely there, headded, the agreement established ground rules for access to material that the Joint Inquiry
did
 not get. The Vice Chair added that everything will depend upon implementation of theagreement. There will be bumps in the road, but the Judge has committed to workingthrough them.Commissioner Roemer expressed his concern that the NSC documents
 frequently
 recordannouncements
 of meetingsJbujfno
 documentation appears in connection with thosemeetings in terms of minutes or
 follow-up.
 The Executive Director noted that suchdocuments may not actually exist, but for
 cases
 in which they do, they are encompassed bythe recently-submitted
 EOF
 Document Request No. 3. He noted
 further
 that this
 will
 be a
key
 question of access for the Commission,Commissioner Roemer then asked if the Commission would gain
 access
 to the pre-9/11 draft of NSPD-9. He observed that a document is not a
 draft
 if it has been circulatedthrough everyone and given to the President. The Executive Director agreed with thisassessment. The General Counsel stated that NSPD-9 was the Commission's first request to
view
 a circulated
 draft
which, according to the agreement, can be done on a case-by-casebasis. Commissioner Gorelick expressed her belief that it should be an easy
 case.
 The
Executive
 Director stated that Judge Gonzales had yet to make a decision, and that theChair and Vice Chair would follow-up.Commissioner Gorelick inquired as to whether the White House documents could bearranged in chronological order. She added that the Commission ought to compile anintegrated timeline of events on
 9/11
reconciling various times and time zones involved in
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 She
 went
 on to
 observe that there
 was
 deep
 confusion
 in the
 publicbetween
 the
 Commission
 and the
 Joint Inquiry.Senator
 Cleland
 inquired
 as to
 whether
 the
 Commission would have access
 to the
 same
information
 as Bob
 Woodward did.
 The
 Executive Director explained that
 the
 Commission
would
 have much greater
 access.
Moussaoui Agreement
Commissioner
 Ben-Veniste
 inquired about
 the
 impact
 on theCommission s
 Moussaoui agreement
 if the
 criminal trial
 is not
 completed
 by the
publication date, or furthermore, if the case is dismissed altogether and moved to a militarytribunal.
 The
 General Counsel stated that they
 had not
 discussed
 the
 latter point,
 but
 that
 the
understanding
 was, based
 on
 language
 in the letter,
 that
 the
 agreement only applied
 to the
court trial.
Declassification
Based
 on his
 experience with
 the declassification of the
 Joint Inquiryreport, Commissioner Roemer asked
 how the
 Commission
 was
 going
 to
 write
 and
 publicize
an
 unclassified report
 if the
 source material
 for the
 report itself
 is
 classified. CommissionerBen-Veniste inquired
 as to
 what mechanism
 the
 Commission would have
 in
 place
 if
 there
are
 objections
 to the
 report s
 declassification. He also asked
 what,
 if
 anything,
 the
Commission could learn
 from
 the
 Joint Inquiry declassification process.
 The
 ExecutiveDirector responded
 by
 stating that
 the
 Commission intends
 to
 write
 an
 unclassified report
and
 submit
 it to
 pre-publication
 review.
 He
 added that
 it is a
 more favorable position
 for the
Commission
 to
 assert that
 the
 report
 is
 unclassified, than
 to
 write
 a
 classified report
 and
force
 the
 Commission through
 the
 •traditiortaideclassification
 process.
The
 General Counsel suggested that
 the
 Commission build
 in a
 couple
 of
 months
 to
 allow
for
 the
 declassification process. Commissioner Gorton stated that
 the
 Commission should
use all of the
 time
 it has to
 write
 the
 report. Commissioner Gorelick expressed concern thatthere
 was no
 time
 to
 build
 in a
 couple
 of
 months before
 the May
 2004 deadline,
 and
 asked
if the
 statute would allow
 for
 declassification
 in the two
 months beyond
 the
 deadline.
 The
General Counsel said that
 the
 statute would probably accommodate this.
The
 Chair concurred that
 the
 Commission s report should
 be
 written
 so
 that
 it is
automatically released
 to the
 public.
 The
 Vice Chair noted that
 it
 will take
 a lot of
 work
 on
the
 part
 of the
 staff
 to
 limit
 the
 points
 of
 difference
 before
 the
 report goes
 to the
 WhiteHouse
 for
 review.
 He
 added that
 he and the
 Chair would
 try to get an
 agreement
 from the
White House
 to act
 very quickly. Commissioners Gorelick
 and
 Fielding concurred that
 the
White House would want
 the
 report
 to be
 released
 as
 soon
 as
 possible.
F I
 Access.
 The
 Vice Chair announced that
 the
 Commission
 had
 received
 the FBI
 timeline
and
 was
 granted access
 to the
 PENTTBOM s digital
 files at FBI
 Headquarters.
 The
Executive Director
 and
 General Counsel added that electronic access
 to the
 PENTTBOM
file
 enables
 the
 staff
 to
 search
 it on
 site,
 and
 obviates
 the
 need
 for
 further
 documentrequests
 as to
 this material.
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