While the PIDB continues to advocate for the review and public release of all outstanding 9/11 records, the Board has identified two sets of classified records as high priorities for review and declassification. Today, we will examine these priority records—a President’s Daily Briefing (PDB) summary and a collection of interview transcripts—in further detail and highlight the Board’s past efforts to secure their release.
The 9/11 Commission compiled the PDB summary and conducted the interviews to fulfill its statutory mandate to investigate the attacks, report the commission’s findings, and recommend corrective measures. Shortly before the Commission was dissolved in 2004, it sent a letter to the Archivist of the United States, John Carlin, urging that all 9/11 records “not already publicly available should be made available to the public to the greatest extent possible.”
However, neither the Archivist of the United States nor the 9/11 Commission had the legal authority to declassify these records; consequently, they remain classified today. While the Board will discuss the legal frameworks and our strategy for their public release in a future post, let us first take a closer look at the records themselves.
The President’s Daily Brief Summary
The President’s Daily Brief (PDB) is a daily intelligence product containing high-level, all-source information and analysis on national security issues produced for the President and key cabinet members and advisers.
The “PDB summary” is a 7,000-word synopsis of these Presidential briefings, compiled by the 9/11 Commission. It was created after a comprehensive review of all PDBs that mentioned any of al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, and Afghanistan in the three years leading up to the attacks.
- Why is the PDB Summary a Priority? The PDB summary outlines information shared with the President by the intelligence community concerning the threat posed by Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda to America.
The PDB summary is within the purview of the Presidential Records Act and is in the custody of the George W. Bush Presidential Library. The document is classified at the TOP SECRET level and is protected pursuant to a Special Access Program (SAP).
In 2021, the Board submitted a written letter to President Biden asking that the PDB summary be prioritized for declassification. At present, a full five years after President Biden directed its release, the PDB summary remains under review for declassification by stakeholder agencies.
9/11 Commission Interview Transcripts: The Transition Between Presidents
The 9/11 Commission conducted interviews with President Bill Clinton; Vice President Al Gore; National Security Advisors Condoleezza Rice and Samuel Berger; National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counterterrorism Richard Clarke; and Chief of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Bin Laden unit Michael Scheuer. In total, the interview transcripts constitute over 1,000 pages of classified material.
- Why Are the Interview Transcripts a Priority? Collectively, the transcripts offer the American people a glimpse into the highest levels of the national security apparatus of the United States before, during, and after the attacks.
The transcripts carry a variety of security markings: CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET, and TOP SECRET, with some transcripts subject to additional Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) or Special Access Program (SAP) controls.
The Board has been advocating greater public access to these interview transcripts and has achieved some success to date. The Board’s aforementioned mentioned letter to President Biden in 2021 contributed to Executive Order 14040: Declassification Reviews of Certain Documents Concerning the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001.
In response to the Executive Order, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released a number of documents, which release the PIDB applauded. Additionally, a redacted version of an interview conducted by the 9/11 Commission with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney was released via the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) in 2022. However, further release of 9/11 Commission transcripts of interviews conducted with high-ranking national security personnel who served during the Clinton and/or Bush administrations has not occurred.
Looking Ahead
As we approach the 25th anniversary of the attacks, a complete and transparent historical record is more vital than ever. The Board is committed to navigating the complexities of declassification to ensure that these pivotal moments in our nation’s history are accessible to every American.