Reply #57: CNN Report on Leaked Presidential Briefing

[JPZenger]

Someone became furious that the White House was lying about the contents of this Presidential Briefing and leaked the substance of its contents to CNN. The White House was claiming earlier today that it was mainly a "historical" list of things that happened in the 1990s, not forward-looking - which is a lie.

Here is a great article. It is worth reading all the way through:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/09/bush.memo.ap/index.html

"It suggested al-Qaeda might have a support system in place on U.S. soil, the sources said.

The document also included FBI analytical judgments that some al-Qaeda activities were consistent with preparation for airline hijackings or other types of attacks...

told the president that there were numerous -- at least 70 -- terror-related investigations under way by the FBI in 2001 involving matters or people on U.S. soil, the sources said.

And the final bullet told the president of a recent intelligence report indicating al-Qaeda operatives were trying to get inside the United States to carry out an attack with explosives, the sources said. There was no specifics about the timing or target, the sources said.

The sources said the briefing memo did not provide the exact date of that intelligence but made clear it was in the 2001 time frame, and that FBI and other agencies were investigating it...

They said final bullet in the presidential memo was based on an intelligence report received in May 2001 that indicated bin Laden operatives were trying to cross from Canada into the United States for an attack."