Bush, Cheney set for 9/11 session
Commission to meet in private
WASHINGTON -- The White House said yesterday it expects that President Bush rather than Vice President Dick Cheney will handle most of the questions when they appear jointly tomorrow before the commission investigating the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The administration also said there would not be a complete record of Bush's and Cheney's remarks because the White House had requested that no stenographer be present during the closed-door session.
Bush will not make an opening statement, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.
Despite some sharp exchanges between commission members and other witnesses at earlier sessions, McClellan said, ''You should not look at this as an adversarial process. We are all working toward the same objective here."
Bush and Cheney will meet in a private session with all 10 commission members at the White House. Members will be allowed to take notes of their remarks, McClellan said, but there will not be an official record.
''I don't think that this is unusual at all if you look back at other meetings," he said. The commission, however, has said it prefers to record interviews, particularly with high-level officials, unless there are strong objections.
Unlike witnesses in public sessions, Bush and Cheney will not be under oath.
Former President Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, and Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, were also not under oath when they appeared in private. Rice also testified, under oath, in a public session.
Questions have been raised about why the White House insisted on Bush and Cheney appearing together. Bush has declined to explain the decision. Some analysts have suggested the dual appearance is intended to prevent any differing accounts from the president and vice president.
Preparing for his appearance, Bush has been reviewing documents from the months leading up to Sept. 11 and has been consulting with White House chief of staff Andy Card, Rice, and White House counsel Alberto Gonzales.
