Meeting with Chairman Kean, Deputy Director Kojm – Archive

May 15, 2003

Madison, New Jersey

Meeting with Chairman Kean, Deputy Director Kojm and Family Liaisons Emily Walker and Ellie Hartz

Commission and staff members: Chairman Tom Kean; Deputy Director Chris Kojm; Emily Walker, Family Liaison and Manager of the New York Office; Ellie Hartz, Family Liaison.

Family members: Carol Ashley, Patty Casazza, Beverly Eckhert, Mary Fetchet, Monica Gabrielle, Bill Harvey, Mindy Kleinberg, Steve Push, Lorie Van Auken

Questions submitted to Commission:

1. Why was General Mahmoud of Pakistan meeting with Senator Bob Graham and Rep. Porter Goss, the chairmen of the Senate and House Intelligence committees, on the morning of September 11 and what were they talking about?

2. Who were the Pentagon officials who were advised on September 10th not to fly the next day due to security concerns? Who gave them the warning and where did that individual get the information? Why wasn’t the same warning given to the American public?

Discussion Points

  1. Family Liaison
    1. Appointments to Family Liaison staff position
      1. Emily Walker
        • Manager, Commission’s New York City Office,
          26 Federal Plaza, including management of family liaison responsibilities
        • Member, Independent Commission’s investigative Team 9: Immediate Response at World Trade Center and Pentagon
        • Was at work in WTC 7 on September 11th
        • Experience
          1. Citibank/Citigroup (on September 11 was in WTC 7)
          2. 1995-2003 Private Consulting
          3. 1993-1995 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
          4. 1991-1993 Executive Secretary to Secretary of the Treasury Brady 1988-1991
        • contact her at familyliaison@9-11commission.gov. (Amended 6-19-03)
      2. Ellie Hartz
        • 9/11 widow of John Clinton Hartz of Basking Ridge, NJ, Fiduciary Trust International, 94th floor, WTC Tower Two
        • Member, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) Families Advisory Council
        • Connecticut resident
        • contact her at familyliaison@9-11commission.gov. (Amended 6-19-03)
  2. Role
    • act as facilitator keep families updated
    • keep Commission appraised of issues
    • follow through on information / recommendations
    • Family liaisons will be based in the New York office and will have an 800 number in addition to e-mail address
  3. FSC recommendations
    1. have a press conference announcing the opening of the New York Office and introducing the family liaisons use the press conference to publicly launch the investigation of the immediate response in New York and at the Pentagon
      • include specifics about information the team will be seeking
    2. Public Hearings
      1. Publicity
        1. the Commission sent press releases about the upcoming hearings to 300 newspapers
        2. Commission will get Department Of Justice list of family members to contact them about future hearings
          1. FSC recommendations:
            • advertise extensively prior to all upcoming public hearings
            • send out a press release the week before and again the day before
            • use the media to the fullest
          2. FSC suggestions for the public hearings:
            • prominently display the Commission’s website
            • announce next public hearing dates at conclusion
            • provide closed circuit telecast for family members on west coast and others who are unable to attend the hearings
            • devise a way for the FSC to submit questions to the Commissioners and/or respond to testimony during the hearings
            • the commission should:
              • indicate that the investigation is a patriotic event whose goal is to make our nation more secure
              • give examples of the progress that it has already made in national security
              • explain the process by which it is acquiring information
          3. The Investigation
            1. Whistle-blower/ Anonymous tips
              1. Currently, there is internal guidance to staff to refer the caller to General Counsel
              2. There will be a place on the official website, http://www.9-11commission.gov, to submit questions.
              3. FSC/family recommendations: during opening remarks of the public hearing, there should be a statement about how to provide information anonymously.
              4. there should be a number where anonymous callers can call in directly.
                • staff members should be able to access all questions in a central location to get the full picture
            2. Classified information
              1. Clearance
                75% of staff has clearance
              2. Access
                • the problem with the Joint Inquiry Report is that is was written with a single classification; it isn’t sourced precisely
                • the Commission will try to write its report at the secret level or below
                • the commission is working on systems to communicate with each agency and is trying to get help from the White House
              3. Information requests and Subpoenas
                1. The time allowance for non-compliance for requests for information will vary from case to case
                2. 2. FSC/family recommendations
                  • publicize the names of those who are subpoenaed
                  • if witnesses need to be sworn in, and the Commission wants to avoid the public ceremony, do it in private, before the public hearing starts
                  • those who are testifying in closed session should be sworn in
          4. VII Conflict of Interest
    1. Every Commissioner is meeting with the General Counsel to review their financial disclosure statement for possible conflict(s) of interest
    2. VIII Conference Call A.In a conference call on May 14 arranged by the Commission, family members discussed aviation issues and questions about September 11th with Team 7 staffmembers who are investigating aviation and transportation security. Both the FSC and the Aviation team staff felt the conference call was extremely productive. B. FSC/family recommendation teleconferencing between the FSC and Commission staff should be used with the other teams as well
    3. IX Implementation
    4. A.Since the Commission got the full money it requested, there will be enough to pursue implementation of the Commission’s recommendationsB. Possible methods to pursue implementation:testifying before Congress meeting with the editorial boards of large newspapers