Nation & World News
White House calls Clarke's
2002 testimony too sensitive
Last week's attempts
to discredit Richard Clarke’s
inflammatory statements
have been denied
By Frank Davies
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
WASHINGTON — Don't expert to
read anytime soon what Richard
Clarke said two years ago about the
Bush administration's efforts against
terrorism, despite Republican requests
to declassify his testimony in an effort
to discredit him.
Behind closed doors Clarke gave an
exhaustive, 10-year overview of coun
terterrorism with details, names and
other sensitive information the CIA and
White House has consistently refused
to release, say three people who heard
the testimony or read it la ter.
"Knowing what he said, it's going to
be very difficult to declassify much of
that testimony," said Eleanor Hill, staff
director of the congressional investiga
tion into the Sept. 11,2001, attacks.
On June 11, 2002, Clarke was the
leadoff witness before the joint in
. quiry on Capitol Hill. His testimony
took six hours and filled 191 pages.
Republicans complain that Clarke's
^testimony then is very different from
his recent criticism that Bush did not
focus on terrorism before the Sept. 11
attacks. Some Democrats who have
read both see no inconsistencies.
What's lost in the furor is that
Clarke's testimony in 2002 "covered
some of the most highly classified,
sensitive programs in the intelligence
community," said Tim Roemer, the
only member of both the current
Sept. 11 Commission and the con
gressional inquiry.
"For seven months last year the ad
ministration said this absolutely could
« not be declassified," Roemer, a former
Democratic congressman, said. "To do
so now would not only be wrong, it
would look very political."
Republican leaders in Congress
Tuesday pressed ahead with their re
quest to declassify as much as
possible of Clarke's testimony.
Rep. Porter Goss, chairman of the
House Intelligence Committee, said
through a spokesperson that he be
lieves Clarke, a counterterrorism ad
viser for 10 years, did contradict his
closed-door testimony with his pub
lic remarks last week before the Sept.
11 Commission.
Goss, a Sanibel, Fla., Republican,
asked the executive branch to begin a
review of Clarke's earlier testimony
and recommend what can be declas
sified. Fie said he did not need
Chuck Kennedy (KRT)
Former administration counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke testifies before the 9-11
Commission on March 24, 2004, in Washington, D.C.
committee approval.
Rep. Jane Harman of California,
ranking Democrat on Intelligence,
objected, saying Goss was overstep
ping his authority.
"This is a stunning violation of
House rules that can only feed the im
pression that sensitive materials are
being selectively declassified for polit
ical reasons," Harman said.
Harman also said White House of
ficials should remove themselves
from any declassification decisions
because of a conflict of interest.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Bill
Frist, R-Tenn„ said again that Clarke
has told "two very different stories" —
a non-critical appraisal of the Bush
administration efforts in 2002, fol
lowed by his assessment last week
that Bush did not see terrorism as an
urgent problem.
Other Republicans suggested
Clarke committed perjury.
Minority Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said
"not one shred of evidence was given,
but that wasn't the point. The point
was to have the perjury accusation on
television and in the newspapers."
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the
ranking member of Senate Intelli
gence, said he reviewed Clarke's 2002
testimony and "found nothing very
different from what he's saying now."
Because of his longevity in the White
House, Clarke was a natural leadoff wit
ness in June 2002. According to two
staffers who spoke on condition of
anonymity, Clarke delved into sensitive
covert actions, disputes about how to
get Osama bin Laden, and use of the
Predator drone for such attacks.
One staffer said that at least 90 per
cent of the testimony dealt with issues
and events before Bush became presi
dent in January 2001.
Roemer said members of the joint
inquiry quizzed Clarke in detail on
many events because the Bush admin
istration had refused to release relevant
National Security Council documents.
Hill would not discuss the sub
stance of the testimony, but said it was
so sensitive that she would be sur
prised if much of it comes out.
"And that's a problem, because to
fairly judge somebody's credibility, it
has to be in the context of everything
he said that day," added 1 till, a former
federal prosecutor.
Hill battled intelligence agencies
for seven months over declassifying
data before the joint inquiry's final re
port was released in July 2003.
Dozens of pages on covert actions and
the possible involvement of Saudi
Arabia in Sept. 11 were blacked out.
Clarke has said the entire testimony
should be released, along with docu
ments such as his recommendations in
2001 for more aggressive actions
against al-Qaida terrorists. The White
House refused to give those documents
to the joint inquiry, but has given more
to the independent commission.
"There's a lengthy paper trail of e
mails, memos and documents that
will help test Clarke's credibility," Roe
mer said.
The joint inquiry in Congress asked
to interview national security adviser
Condoleezza Rice in May 2002 "to
obtain a better understanding of the
development of counterterrorism pol
icy in the Bush administration."
The White House refused, and
Rice's deputy, Stephen Hadley, re
sponded to written questions instead.
(c) 2004, The Miami Herald.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
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