Part of 9/11 Report Remains Unreleased; An Inquiry Is Begun
Tuesday, November 2, 2004 at 05:36PM
TheSpook
One last chapter of the investigation by the
Sept. 11 commission, a supplement completed more than two months ago,
has not yet been made public by the Justice Department, and officials
say it is unlikely to be released before the presidential election,
even though that had been a major goal of deadlines set for the panel.
Drawing from this unpublished part of the inquiry, the commission
quietly asked the inspectors general at the Departments of Defense and
Transportation to review what it had determined were broadly inaccurate
accounts provided by several civil and military officials about efforts
to track and chase the hijacked aircraft on Sept. 11. David Barnes, a
spokesman with the Department of Transportation, said yesterday that if
the reviews found wrongdoing, the inspector general could recommend
administrative penalties or ask federal prosecutors to begin a criminal
investigation. "The investigation is ongoing,'' Mr. Barnes said, "and
we don't know when it will be done." In testimony before the
commission, officials had described a quick response to the hijackings
that narrowly missed intercepting some of the planes, but the
commission's investigators later determined from documentary evidence
that none of the military planes were anywhere near the four airliners.
In addition, officials at the Federal Aviation Administration testified
that they had notified the military within a few minutes of each
hijacking, but the investigation found that tape recordings
contradicted that assertion. [more]
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