Kean feels the wrath of irate 9/11 families:chairman faces hours of questi

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Kean feels the wrath of irate 9/11 families

Panel chairman faces hours of questions


Thursday, February 12, 2004


BY BOB BRAUN
Star-Ledger Staff

The head of the national 9/11 commission yesterday came under tough, often emotional questioning from families of the terror victims concerned the panel has too little time to finish its investigation and is prejudging its conclusions.

The family members met for three hours with the commission's chairman, Thomas Kean, a day after the panel compromised with the White House over access to classified Oval Office intelligence documents.

Members of the Family Steering Committee monitoring the commission's work said they were upset that the panel did not get full access to important documents, and angry over a published comment by Kean that the White House intelligence material contained "no smoking guns."


"'No smoking gun' -- that was a bad phrase," Kean said after the meeting at Drew University, where he is president. He said he "may have been misquoted" in a New York Times story saying he had found nothing in the White House documents to indicate that President Bush or top aides had forewarning of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"We did find lots of new information in the briefings, information that raises many new questions." said Kean.