9/11 Commission Chair Kean says Times story did not endanger Americans

[BurtWorm]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-sargent/republican-cochair-of-9_b_24032.html

Republican Co-Chair of 9/11 Commission Says Times Piece Didn't Put American Lives At Risk, Contradicting Cheney and Tony Snow
READ MORE: 9/11, Dick Cheney, 2006, Tony Snow

Thomas Kean, the Republican former governor of New Jersey who co-chaired the 9-11 Commission, has said in an interview with me that he doesn't think the Times's publication of its story on the U.S.'s secret financial surveillance program put American lives at risk.

In the interview, Kean also defended the Times's right to publish the story -- though he said he didn't agree with their decision -- and said he opposes any criminal prosecution of the paper for publishing its scoop. Of attacks on the Times like those from Dick Cheney and White House press secretary Tony Snow, Kean said: "I would rather they keep the debate a moderate one...I don't think it helps."

This is important because those insisting that the Times put American security at risk by publishing the story -- including Treasury Secretary John Snow and many other critics -- have pointed specifically to Kean to bolster their case. They point out that Kean, along with other officials, privately argued against publication in discussions with top Times editors. In the interview with me, Kean did reiterate the fact that he'd made this case to the paper's top brass, and also reiterated that he thought publication ended the financial surveillance program.

But on the central question of whether the paper's story put national security or American lives at risk -- two assertions made recently by White House officials such as Cheney and Snow, and others in the GOP, such as Congressman Pete King, who is demanding criminal prosecution of the Times -- Kean appears to have broken with his fellow Republicans.....

[kenny blankenship]

1. Don't contradict the President!

Or maybe you just want some Gitmo time?