Questions for Thomas Pickard and Louis Freeh

Family Steering Committee Questions
for Thomas Pickard and Louis Freeh

March 18, 2004

Tom Pickard, acting FBI Director, June 23, 2001- September 3, 2001

  1. What information on al Qaeda and possible terrorist plans did you receive during your tenure as acting FBI director?

•Who provided this information?
•What did you do with this information?
•Did you inform incoming director Mueller?
•Did you inform anyone on the National Security Council?
•How often did you receive briefings from the New York field office which was the focal point of the terrorist investigation?

  1. Please explain why the July 10, 2001, Phoenix memo got no farther than FBI headquarters.
  2. How long was agent Wright in possession of the information before he reported it?

•Please verify that the memo was sent to the New York Field office which was the clearinghouse for intelligence on suspected Middle Eastern terrorists.
•Did you receive any response/request for further action from John O’Neill, head of the Counterterrorism unit there?
•Why wasn’t the Phoenix memo shared with “threat subgroup” of the interagency Counterterrorism Security Group?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A30176-2002May16¬Found=true

  1. Please discuss the briefing(s) and updates on terrorism given you by retiring director Freeh as you prepared to assume the position of acting Director.
  2. Did you communicate critical information about terrorist surveillance and warnings to incoming Director Mueller? How was this information communicated—via personal meeting, phone, letter/FAX, e-mail? Do you have copies of any written documents?
  3. In the June 12, 2001, Diamondback sting operation, involving illegal arms purchases for Pakistan, the Taliban and bin Laden,

“Federal agents involved in the case later express puzzlement that Washington higher-ups didn’t make the case a higher priority, pointing out that bin Laden could have gotten a nuclear bomb if the deal was for real. Agents on the case complain that the FBI didn’t make the case a counter-terrorism matter, which would have improved bureaucratic backing and opened access to FBI information and US intelligence from around the world.”

•Why wasn’t Diamondback made a counter-terrorism case?
http://unansweredquestions.org/timeline/main/randyglass.html

~*~

Louis Freeh, Former FBI Director, September 1, 1993-June, 2001

  1. What information on al Qaeda and possible terrorist plans did you receive during your tenure as FBI director?

•Who provided this information?
•What did you do with this information?
•Did you inform anyone on the National Security Council?

  1. Did you communicate critical information about terrorist surveillance and warnings to incoming either acting Director Pickard or in-coming Director Mueller?
  2. Did you discuss the terrorism, including information from terrorist surveillance and warnings, with Attorney General John Ashcroft? What was his response? How was this information communicated — via personal meeting, phone, letter/FAX, e-mail? Do you have copies of any written documents?
  3. Why wasn’t all data relevant on terrorists sent to NYC field office?
  4. What information was provided to you by John O’Neill, head of the Counterterrorism unit?
  5. When was ALEX disbanded and why?
    http://www.newyorker.com/printable/?fact/020114fa_FACT1
  6. Why weren’t the flight schools shut down, or the terrorists deported, if the “FBI Knew Terrorists Were Using Flight Schools” for years, as reported in the Washington Post, September 23, 2001.
    http://www.propagandamatrix.com/fbi_knew_terrorists_using_flight_schools.html
  7. The Federal Code specifically assigns the FAA Administrator and the F.B.I. Director joint responsibility for domestic aviation security.
    http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/49/44904.html

•When were Logan, Dulles and Newark airports, the three airports from which the terrorists departed, last evaluated prior to September 11th?
•What were the observations, conclusions and recommendations at each airport?
•Were there follow-up assessments in the case of deficiencies?
•Are the nation’s airports routinely assessed?
•Is there a written plan coordinating the activities of the FAA , US Customs, INS and other law enforcement personnel?

  1. In the June 12, 2001, Diamondback sting operation, involving illegal arms purchases for Pakistan, the Taliban and bin Laden,

“Federal agents involved in the case later express puzzlement that Washington higher-ups didn’t make the case a higher priority, pointing out that bin Laden could have gotten a nuclear bomb if the deal was for real. Agents on the case complain that the FBI didn’t make the case a counter-terrorism matter, which would have improved bureaucratic backing and opened access to FBI information and US intelligence from around the world.” http://unansweredquestions.org/timeline/main/randyglass.html

•Why wasn’t Diamondback made a counter-terrorism case?