Rice to testify in public, under oath
Bush, Cheney to meet in private with full commission
Tuesday, March 30, 2004 Posted: 11:49 AM EST (1649 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After days of intense pressure, the White House on Tuesday agreed to allow national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify publicly and under oath before the commission investigating the September 11 attacks.
In a letter to the commission, White House counsel Alberto Gonzales said the commission must agree in writing that Rice's appearance would not set a precedent for testimony by White House staff -- and that the commission "will not request additional public testimony from any White House official, including Dr. Rice."
Commissioners said they accepted those terms and would work to schedule a session "promptly."
The White House had resisted letting Rice testify in public, arguing that it would be a violation of executive privilege.
Calls to waive that privilege have mounted since last week's testimony by former counterterrorism deputy, Richard Clarke, who said the Bush administration did not put enough focus on the threat of terrorism prior to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (Clarke book a bestseller)
Rice has blasted Clarke in numerous interviews, but said her refusal to appear under oath and in public -- as Clarke did -- was a matter of principle. (Interactive: Bush and terrorism)
Earlier, the White House had offered a compromise, proposing to have Rice give a private, unsworn rebuttal. But several commissioners said Rice should give public, sworn testimony if she wanted to rebut Clarke's criticism.
"A major part of our duty is to see to it that everything possible is released to the general public, and no compromise on a private visit by Condoleezza Rice is going to satisfy that need," former Sen. Slade Gorton, one of the commissioners, told CNN.
And Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle called on the White House to end what he called a campaign of "character assassination and retribution" by its supporters against Clarke, whose allegations are also detailed in a new book.
"The commission should declassify Mr. Clarke's earlier testimony -- all of it, not just the parts the White House wants -- and Dr. Rice should testify before the 9/11 commission, and she should be under oath and in public," said Daschle, D-South Dakota.
The White House also said the full commission will be allowed to meet privately with both President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on similar conditions.
Earlier, the administration had agreed to let only the commission's chairman and vice chairman meet with Bush and Cheney.
In February, Rice spoke privately with commissioners for several hours.
During her earlier testimony, Rice was not under oath, and there are no transcripts of her session. The only records of the session are notes taken by commissioners and White House staffers, sources said.
Getting to agreement
White House lawyers and officials have had several conversations with the commission. As of late Monday, no agreement had been reached, according to two sources. Earlier in the day, a commission official said the panel was still hopeful that the White House would relent and allow public testimony from Rice.
Spokesmen for both the 9/11 commission and the National Security Council would not confirm that discussions were taking place between the White House and the commission to release portions of Rice's previous statement.
Al Felzenberg, a spokesman for the commission, said Rice's February comments would remain classified unless that status was changed by a government classification committee. Her original, private interview would be treated in the same way as those of more than 1,000 people who have met with the commission in private sessions, he said.
Sean McCormack, a spokesman for the NSC, said the classification committee is made up of full-time government employees who are called upon to conduct reviews. While Rice would have no role in the process, NSC staffers would be involved, he said.
"Whenever Dr. Rice talks to the commission, both in the past and the present, we want her input reflected in the public report, certainly within the bounds of the classification system," McCormack said.
Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer of New York and Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts had planned to introduce a resolution calling on the White House to let Rice testify publicly before the commission, saying it is "essential" for "a full accounting of the events preceding and following" 9/11.
Senate Republicans had said they were confident they could block that resolution from coming to a vote.
The 9/11 commission is scheduled to issue a public report outlining its findings by late July.
CNN's Dana Bash, Suzanne Malveaux, John King and Steve Turnham contributed to this report.
