Who thinks knows for a fact that Condi’s lying?

“There may not be a silver bullet but we knew at that time there were terrorists in the country … We knew this prior to 9/11.” (Pat Sellitto, who lost his 23 year-old son in the WTC attacks, punctures a talking point on CNN 04/08/04).

The Center for American Progress busts the lies in Condi’s opening statement and in the Q&A portion. CAP also provides a sourced list of the Bush administration’s sorry history of stonewalling, impeding and attempting to suffocate the 911 commission.

Unable to dispute the facts that are in the public realm, the administration continues to distort information outside public scrutiny to diminish anticipated criticism:

“She was more than happy to visit with the commission. Only five members actually showed up, despite the fact that it was scheduled for the entire commission.” (“>03/09/04 WH briefing)

“What McClellan didn’t tell reporters was that on Nov. 21 — long before Rice met with the five commissioners in February — the White House counsel’s office had sent the commission a letter saying no more than three commissioners could attend meetings with White House aides of Rice’s rank.” (04/07/04 USA Today/Hall)

(Gotcha via Dan Froomkin, WP 04/07/04)

Maybe that’s why the BushCo spokesbots are already out, venting their “outrage” that the commission has been hijacked by politicking partisans … a politicking partisan spin if ever there was one. Selective declassification is one of the remaining arrows in the Bush administration’s quiver as they try to shift blame on the Clinton administration while burying documentary evidence that contradicts this.

On April 1, 2004, it was discovered that the Bush White House had not turned over about 75% of the almost 11,000 pages of Clinton records “that document custodians had determined should be released to the Commission investigating the terrorist attacks” to the Commission, even though the records were vital to the panel’s mission. Clinton “had given authorization to the National Archives to gather evidence from Mr. Clinton’s files that was sought by the independent Commission … But the Bush administration … had final authority to decide what would be turned over.” (9/11 Commission: Opposition and Obfuscation, CAP)

The Bush administration will probably attempt to sit on the 911-commission’s report until after the election, though it’s doubtful the public, the 911 families’ groups, or facts on the record will allow it:

The chairman of an independent commission looking into US counterterrorism activities prior to the September 11 attacks said he could not guarantee that the panel’s report will be released before the November presidential election because of a protracted White House vetting process.

Former Republican New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean said he was “surprised” by the situation, but saw no way around it. …

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” television program, Kean said White House vetters will go over his report “line by line to find out if there’s anything in there which could harm American interests in the area of intelligence.” A special clearance team led by White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and made up of top US intelligence and counterterrorism officials has already been set up, he said.

But the report, expected to contain hundreds of pages of findings and testimony, is unlikely to be finished before July, according to congressional officials. That will leave the vetting team only three to four months to complete its work, if American are to see the document before they go to the polls on November 2. (04/05/04 AFP)

You can read the transcript of Kean’s appearance (with fellow 911 commissioner Lee Hamilton) on Meet the Press April 04/04, or access the online video here.

And check out these Sadly, No! archived posts for more detailed debunking of Condi’s talking points testimony: Battle Station Crawford, Condi, Now and Then and The Summer of George.

I didn’t see all of the testimony due to work rearing its ugly head, but I’ll definitely catch up at the official 911 commission site here, and access the video at CNN.

And tapping my feet to World o’Crap’s ditty while I’m doing it …

(Update: While publishing this, I received an error notice on some linkage. I double-checked and they all seemed fine, but if you have trouble with any, let me know and I’ll repair or provide an alternate source. Also added a link to CAP’s fact-check of the the Q&A portion of Condi’s testimony.)