ig\.

ON Oft

TIER A INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

a* of December 3, 2003

DECEMBER

12/4: Mr. James Steinberg (12 - 3 p.m., at K Street)

Former Deputy National Security Adviser

12/9: Dr. John Hamre (3 - 5 p.m., at K Street)

Former Deputy Secretary of Defense

12/10: ADM James Loy (9 a.m. -12 p.m., at DHS)

Administrator, Transportation Security Agency

12/12 Asa Hutchinson (2-4 p.m. at DHS)

Under Secretary of Homeland Security

12/16: Ms. Janet Reno (1-4 p.m., at K Street)

Former Attorney General

12/17: Mr. John Ashcroft (10 a.m. 12p.m., at Justice)

Attorney General

12/18: Mr. Dick Clarke (9 a.m. - 5 p.m., at K Street)

Former National Coordinator for Counterterrorism

JANUARY

1/6: Mr. Dale Watson (9 a.m.-11 a.m., at K Street)

Former Assistant Director for Counterterrorism, FBI

1/7: Madeleine Albright (3-5 p.m., at K Street)

Former Secretary of State

1/8: Mr. Louis Freeh (9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at K Street)

Former Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation

1/8: Mr. James Pavitt (1-5 p.m., K Street)

Director of Operations, Central Intelligence Agency
Tier A Interview Schedule (continued)

1/12: Mr. Dick Clarke (9 a.m. - 5 p.m., at K Street)

Former National Coordinator for Counterterrorism

1/12: Mr. Richard Armitage (2 - 4 p.m., at State)

Deputy Secretary of State

1/13: Mr. Robert Mueller (9:30 -1:30 p.m., at FBI)

Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation

1/14: Mr. Sandy Berger (10 a.m. - 4 p.m., at K Street)

Former National Security Adviser

1/15: Mr. Strobe Talbott (9 a.m. - 1 p.m., at K Street)

Former Deputy Secretary of State

1/15 Mr. John Podesta (2-5 p.m. at K Street)

Former White House Chief of Staff

1/20: General Anthony Zinni (ret.) (1-4 p.m., at K Street)

Former Commander, United States Central Command

1/21: Secretary Colin Powell (2-4 p.m., at State)

Secretary of State

1/22: Mr. George Tenet (9 a.m. - 4 p.m., DCI Conference Room)

Director of Central Intelligence

1/22: Secretary John Snow (10 a.m. - 12 p.m., at Treasury)

Secretary of the Treasury
 GUIDELINES FOR DEPARTMENT AND AGENCY INTERVIEWS

It is in our mutual interest to have certain agreed upon general principles and procedures
for interviews in order to avoid disagreements at interviews to the extent possible. Both sides
will apply a "rule of reason" and be flexible in interpreting these guidelines. The various
notification provisions in these guidelines will allow the Executive Branch to identify and
discuss with the Commission any concerns any planned areas of inquiry may pose with regard to
the constitutional interests of the Presidency or particularly sensitive classified information. Both
sides will attempt in good faith to resolve any such concerns.

PRINCIPLES

In general, interviewers will:

• Focus only on what they need to know, that is, information of particularized importance
to the Commission's statutory mandate
• Seek information not otherwise available, first looking at prior testimony and documents
to determine whether the information is available elsewhere
• Look to the substance of discussions and the arguments presented in discussions rather
than verbatim exchanges
• Inquire into agency positions only when it is important to understand the significance not
only of a position taken but of which Department took it (e.g., DOD's position on the use
of military force)
• Not inquire about particular statements, or particular disagreements, for their own sake or
because they might be interesting

More specifically:

Witnesses may discuss positions taken by their agency or other agencies at White House or
National Security Council meetings (including, but not limited to CSG, Deputies, or Principals
Committee meetings), but interviewers will not elicit verbatim quotes from witnesses about what
participants said in such meetings, unless the quotation is especially important to understand
what took place in the meeting. To the extent the perceived need to elicit verbatim quotes may
be anticipated by the interviewer, this need should be discussed in advance of the interview.
With regard to post-9/20/01 matters, interviewers will not inquire into details of specific
operations, though interviewers may question officials about post-9/11 policies and programs
developed to deal with terrorist threats in response to the events of 9/11, including the
implementation and evaluation of those policies and programs. Except where there is a special
need, interviewers will not inquire into deliberations with regard to either the formulation or
implementation of policies after 9/20/01.
PROCEDURES

Pre-meetings for certain high-level interviews

With regard to interviews of witnesses at or above the Assistant Secretary level,

interviewers will meet with Executive Branch representatives reasonably in advance of any
interview in which they anticipate asking questions about specific positions taken by the witness
or other Departments or Agencies at White House or NSC meetings (including, but not limited to
CSG, Deputies, or Principals Committee meetings) and identify to the extent possible: the
specific meetings they wish to ask about, the specific Departments' and Agencies' positions
about which they wish to ask, and, as noted above, to the extent the need for verbatim quotes can
be anticipated, any verbatim quotes they may seek to elicit. Where feasible, a pre-meeting may
be scheduled to discuss a number of high-level interviews with a particular Department or
Agency, as long as the meeting provides this information with respect to each separate
interviewee.

In other cases, agency representatives may speak with Commission staff to seek
additional information concerning interviews.

Other consultations

If the Commission plans to ask any questions of any witness concerning individual
conversations with, or statements by, the President, Vice President, National Security Advisor,
White House Counsel, or Deputy National Security Advisor, the Commission will consult
reasonably in advance with the EOF about the planned areas of inquiry for any such questioning.

If the Commission plans to question any witness about time at another agency (including
the White House or NSC), it will give reasonable advance notice of that fact to the agency
representative.

Disputes

If disputes arise during interviews, both sides can try to contact Dan Marcus or Steve
Dunne at the Commission or Dan Levin, Bryan Cunningham or Tom Monheim to try to resolve
the issue. If any question is not answered and in subsequent discussions it is agreed it should be
answered, the Commission will have additional interview time with the witness (possibly by
phone) to answer the deferred question(s).
 THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
November 21,2003

Daniel Marcus, Esq.

General Counsel
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
2100KStreetN.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037

Dear Mr. Marcus:

I am writing to confirm the conditions under which we currently intend to provide the
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States ("Commission") with access
to officials from the Executive Office of the President ("EOF"). These conditions apply to those
individuals made available in response to the Commission's requests for "interviews" (Le,, EOF ;
Interview Request No. 1, dated August 27,2003 and EOF Interview Request No. 2, dated \r 23,2003) a

Vice Chairman Hamilton dated October 27 and October 31,2003), as well as EOF officials made'
available in response to subsequent Commission requests.

As we have discussed, I believe it is in our mutual interest to memorialize these

conditions in writing, in order to nmiiniize misunderstandings and to avoid, to the maximum
extent possible, any potential for disagreements during the meetings. I anticipate that both sides
will apply a "rule of reason" when applying these conditions.

OUT approach to developing the conditions for access to EOF officials has been guided by
our responsibility to protect the crucial Constitutional prerogatives of the Presidency, for this and
future Presidents, while attempting to accommodate the unique needs associated with the
Commission's responsibility to prepare a detailed report - for the President, the Congress, and
ultimately the American people — on the attacks on September 11,2001. In this spirit, we
currently are prepared to provide the Commission with access to EOF officials as follows:

• EOF officials will be made available voluntarily and strictly as a matter of comity
between the Executive and Legislative branches;

• Commission access to EOF officials will be provided at "meetings" or "policy

briefings," which are not, and should not be referred to as, "testimony" or "interviews";

• Meetings will be reasonably limited in time (generally from 1-2 hours in duration, not
including time required for prepared statements, if any, made by EOF officials);

• EOF officials will not be placed under oath;

• We will inform you on a case-by-case basis whether we request that meetings be

recorded; otherwise, meetings will not be recorded;
 • EOP representatives will be present at the meetings (generally one representative per
meeting from the Office of the Counsel to the President or the Office of the Legal
Adviser to the National Security Council);

• Commission representatives may attend the meetings (generally no more than five such
representatives may be present). For Assistants to the President (or equivalent) and
above, the Commission Chair or Vice Chair must be present; up to two other
Commissioners and two staff members may attend. For Deputy Assistants to the
President (or equivalent),, the Chair or Vice Chair may be present, but at least one
Commissioner must be present For other EOF officials, no Commissioners need be
present;

• Meetings will be held in a SCD? in EOF office space, and all Commission and staff
members attending a meeting must have security clearances sufficient for any classified
information to be discussed;

• Absent unusual circumstances, EOP officials will only be made available for one
meeting.

As you have recognized, our accommodation with regard to making EOP officials
available to the Commission does not set any precedent, either for future Commission requests or
for requests for state secrets, Presidential communications, or deliberative materials of this or
other Presidents in any other context. Furthermore, these EOP officials are being made available
to the Commission with due regard for the Constitutional separation of powers and reserving all
legal authorities, privileges and objections that may apply, including with respect to other
governmental entities or private parties.

Consistent with our agreement regarding other EOP materials, information obtained from
EOP officials is being made available to the Commission in confidence and as in closed session.
The Commission should make every effort to protect this mfonnatiott from any unauthorized
disclosure and from use for any unauthorized purpose.

We hope and expect that the above cooperative arrangements will proceed smoothly and
respect the concerns of the Executive Branch. Tf difficulties arise, we will work with you in an
. effort to resolve them in a mutually satisfactory fashion. Should implementation of these
arrangements ultimately fail to meet our expectations, we reserve the right to modify or
terminate them consistent with the constitutional separation of powers.

I look forward to continuing to work with you as the Commission completes its work.

Sincerely,

lonheim
Associate Counsel to the President