WASHINGTON, DC - 3/10/04 - Following public criticism from Senator John Kerry that the Bush administration was in effect "stonewalling" the federal panel investigating the September 11 attacks by stipulating a one-hour limit for questioning, the White House announced Tuesday that it would no longer insist upon the one-hour limit, but stipulated that Mr. Bush would provide all his answers in the form of mime and interpretive dance.
The White House has had a strained relationship with the commission, known formally as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, or NCOTAUTUS, as it is never referred to, since Congress created it in 2002 over the initial objections of the Bush administration. There have been repeated disputes with the White House over the panel's access to classified documents and to witnesses, including the president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice.
Mr. McClellan indicated on Tuesday that the White House would not reconsider its refusal to allow Ms. Rice to testify, as the panel has requested, and would allow Mr. Bush's questioning to be conducted only by the commission's chairman and vice chairman, instead of the full ten-member panel. He added however that the president was looking forward to testifying, and was eager to provide any information that might shed light on the commission's investigation. "He has been prancing about the White House in his new tights for days," Mr. McClellan said. "He is very excited."
The commission has also scheduled private interviews with former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore, who have agreed to meet with the full panel for as long as they are needed and to answer all questions orally.
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