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 For Immediate Release
Dec 16, 2002 Contact: Press Office
202-646-5188
POLS NAMED TO 9/11 PANEL RAISE LIKELIHOOD OF DEMOCRAT AND REPUBLICAN COVER-UP

U.S. Security No Better Off Than A Year Ago

Judicial Watch Supports Truly Independent Investigation

(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and abuse, said today that the appointment of additional politicians to the 9/11 panel, formally known as National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, will reduce the effectiveness of the panel and contribute to a cover-up of the failures of both political parties to combat terrorism. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert appointed former Illinois governor Jim Thompson and attorney Fred Fielding to the 10-member panel. Republicans and Democrats each get to appoint five members. Politicians will attempt to reach consensus, avoid casting blame on any political party, and water down any report to shift blame while attacking only the easiest, most obvious targets.

The recent resignations of Henry Kissinger and George Mitchell as heads of the 9/11 panel were positive developments. The American public was treated to a brief look at the calculations politicians make concerning political risk and potential business conflict of interests. In the end, both Kissinger and Mitchell opted to bail out, given the severe criticism that followed.

The American public deserves a review of the terrorist attacks by national security and intelligence experts, not politicians. The presence of politicians on the 9/11 panel will actually derail the investigation and the detailed analysis required. As it is currently being formed and implemented, the 9/11 panel will prove to be a complete whitewash. Judicial Watch details the process for conducting a thorough, independent review of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in its book, Fatal Neglect: The U.S. Government’s Continuing Failure to Protect American Citizens from Terror. Judicial Watch accurately forecast the Congressional Joint Intelligence Committee’s failed, half-hearted “investigation” of 9/11, and is conducting its own investigation into a number of terrorist operations and activities, both in the United States and in Europe.

“Most politicians will cover-up, compromise and double-talk when it comes to making tough decisions and telling the American people the truth about how the leadership of both parties have failed them and continue to place them in grave danger. Judicial Watch supports a truly independent investigation of 9/11 – so that the chips may fall where they may,” stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.

See the Washington Post article, “Hastert Selects Two To Serve on 9/11 Panel,” Monday, December 16, 2002; Page A09.


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