Ex-Senator Will Soon Leave 9/11 Panel:NYTimes

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/05/national/05TERR.html


Ex-Senator Will Soon Leave 9/11 Panel
By PHILIP SHENON

Published: December 5, 2003


WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 — Max Cleland, a former senator from Georgia and one of five Democrats on the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, is expected to resign within weeks, creating a vacancy with only six months left in the inquiry, commission officials said today.


His imminent departure from the panel has created concern among victims' family groups, because Mr. Cleland has been one of the commission's most outspoken members and has joined with advocates for the families in their criticism of the Bush administration. The time to find a replacement is limited because the commission is required by law to complete its work in May.


He has also criticized the commission's leadership for accepting a deal with the White House that will give only three members of the panel access to Oval Office intelligence briefings that were given to Mr. Bush in the weeks before the attacks. The commission and the White House have defended the agreement, saying it will allow the panel's representatives to see a full range of intelligence reports.


"We have limited access for a limited number of commissioners to a limited number of these Presidential Daily Briefings," Mr. Cleland said of the intelligence reports prepared for Mr. Bush each morning. "All of the commissioners should have had full access to all of the documents, and that will be the fatal flaw in the commission's report."