Editorial: Bush’s secret chat

Friday, April 30, 2004 | 8:44 a.m.

On Thursday President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney took questions from members of the 9-11 commission during a closed meeting that lasted about three hours. Afterward the president told reporters the session was cordial and that he "answered every question." Nevertheless, Bush wouldn't say specifically what the 9-11 commission members asked him.

There's a reason why the president was able to deflect, at least for now, what went on during the meeting. Under the ground rules the White House dictated to the 9-11 commission, the meeting was not taped. A single staff member of the commission was allowed to take notes, but the White House wouldn't let in a stenographer, who at least could have provided an accurate, historical account.

So here we have a bipartisan commission investigating the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, and we may never know what the president actually told the commission's members. In contrast, earlier this month the commission taped its individual meetings with former President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. And, unlike the case with Clinton and Gore who appeared separately, Bush and Cheney appeared together before the commission. The Bush-Cheney arrangement makes it look as if the two were worried they couldn't keep their stories straight otherwise.

Bush fought the creation of the 9-11 commission, and only agreed to its formation after he came under tremendous public pressure to have an independent commission investigate what went wrong and what can be done in the future to prevent similar devastating terrorist attacks. While the commissioners were able to hear firsthand from the president, it truly is shameful that the American people weren't afforded that same opportunity.