WASHINGTON – Working in secret, the Sept. 11 commission is finishing a final report that several members believe will be done by week’s end and have unanimous support.
The endorsement of all 10 commissioners is important if the findings and recommendations for improvements – most notably in intelligence-gathering – are to avoid charges of partisanship in a presidential election year.
“They are all taking their broader responsibility seriously,” said Norm Ornstein, a political analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. “They know this is not about scoring political points in the heart of a campaign but about making sure the attacks don’t happen again.”
A report without any dissenters would be an accomplishment given the charges of partisanship that surfaced during public hearings featuring officials such as national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Attorney General John Ashcroft and former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke.
As recently as last month, former Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., and several other commissioners on the panel of five Republicans and five Democrats said unanimity might not be possible.
The meetings since then have changed his mind.
“We’ve had a good personal relationship in our internal deliberations, with no traces of partisanship,” Gorton said.
Added Democratic commissioner Jamie Gorelick, a former deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration: “We have a lot of consensus.”
The commission, www.9-11commission.gov, was established by Congress in 2002 to investigate government mistakes before the attacks and recommend ways to better protect the country against terrorists. Commissioners and their staff have interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, including President Bush, and reviewed more than 2 million documents.
The final report is due July 26. The commission hopes to have the report finished this week and wants to release the 500-plus-page document on July 22 to avoid competing with the Democratic National Convention, which begins on July 26.
Specifics about the report are being closely held by the commission. Several commissioners previously said the report will highlight significant intelligence failures but refrain from assigning blame to individuals in the Bush and Clinton administrations to avoid the appearance of partisanship.
The commission plans final back-and-forth revisions with the White House this week, with the aim of submitting the complete, declassified report to private publisher W.W. Norton &Co. by Friday. Norton has promised the panel a quick turnaround so the $10 paperbacks can be ready for sale July 22.
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