Report Details FBI's 9/11 Missteps

Justice Dept. Details 5 Missed Chances To Uncover Vital Information

(CBS/AP) 
Earlier this week it was reported that the 10 former 9/11 commissioners were to present a letter to White House chief of staff Andrew Card requesting detailed information about how various government agencies – including the FBI, CIA, Pentagon and State Department – have dealt with recent terrorist threats.

Acting through a new, nonprofit group, the ex-panel members began a series of forums Monday to assess how the 41 suggestions they made last summer are being implemented – and both the White House and Congress could be in for tough criticism.

A hearing Monday focused on the CIA and the FBI, which received sharp rebukes in the commission's final report.

"We're going to ask a lot of questions," said Thomas Kean, who was chair of the original 9/11 panel and is now a board member of the 9/11 Public Discourse Project.

A New York Times article said the commissioners' actions represent an unusual attempt to remain politically viable long after the end of their official investigation.

"There are a lot of our recommendations that have not been implemented," said Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey. And with terrorists threatening new attacks, he said, "we don't have a lot of time left to act."

The IG's review, a year old, is only now being released because of a court fight with lawyers for imprisoned terrorist conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui over how much of it should be disclosed. The portions on Moussaoui were deleted.

According to the report, CIA employees and four FBI agents assigned to the CIA's bin Laden unit on Jan. 5, 2000, accessed incoming cables containing a substantial amount of information about Mihdhar, including that he was traveling and that he had a U.S. visa. Those facts weren't disseminated to the FBI.