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ALBANY — Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer’s new policy that permits illegal immigrants to obtain New York State driver’s licenses is “an absurd” decision that will provide a new gateway for terrorists, a member of the federal commission that investigated the 2001 World Trade Center attacks warns. “It’s a perfect formula for al-Qaida. They won’t be able to resist it. They will be able to come to New York,” said John Lehman, a former secretary of the Navy who served on the 9/11 Commission that warned of the nation’s vulnerabilities to terrorist strikes. Lehman joins a growing number of critics of...

The independent commission investigating the 9/11 attacks has examined a secret videotape of ex-President Clinton discussing an offer from Sudan to have Osama bin Laden arrested five years before the 9/11 attacks, former Navy Secretary and 9/11 Commissioner John Lehman revealed on Tuesday. Asked if the never-before-seen video confirms that Clinton admitted turning the offer down, Lehman told radio host Sean Hannity, "Well, that is what he said." While the video of Clinton's bombshell remarks, delivered to the Long Island Association in February 2002, had never been released prior to a request from the 9/11 Commission, NewsMax.com's exclusive audiotape shows...

CHOOSE A NAME FOR THIS LATEST CLINTON SCANDAL-- How about "WALLGATE" or "TREASONGATE"?

"...In April, CNSNews.com staff writer Scott Wheeler reported that a senior U.S. government official and three other sources claimed that the 1995 memo written by Jamie Gorelick, who served as the Clinton Justice Department’s deputy attorney general from 1994 to 1997, created "a roadblock" to the investigation of illegal Chinese donations to the Democratic National Committee. But the picture is much bigger than that. The Gorelick memo, which blocked intelligence agents from sharing information that could have halted the September 11 hijacking plot, was only the mortar in a much larger maze of bureaucratic walls whose creation Gorelick personally oversaw..."

"...So it's my clear belief that the wall itself developed this culture which restrained in a substantial way the exchange of information in the intelligence and law enforcement communities. The Bellows report, which was part of some recommendations following the Wen Ho Lee case, indicated that it was part of the culture at the FBI that if one made a mistake and shared information that was later deemed to be inappropriate, it was called a career- ender, so that the risk of a person sharing information improperly was at least known in the culture of the law enforcement community to...

According to The New York Times (8 July 2003): "the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 terror attacks said today that its work was being hampered by the failure of executive branch agencies, especially the Pentagon and the Justice Department, to respond quickly to requests for documents and testimony." Several alternative media have joined the bandwagon. George W. Bush is accused of obstructing the investigation...Former Jersey governor Thomas Kean, the commission's chairman is presented as an honest and uncompromising individual, who is courageously confronting the US government: "Without greater cooperation, Kean said, ''we cannot do the job we are supposed...

"...It was a deeply rewarding experience to work with highly capable colleagues and for such distinguished and thoughtful commissioners. Our commission sessions had long and occasionally heated discussion, but it was always productive and the commissioners themselves were devoted to achieving bipartisanship and unanimity. They understood very well that their impact would be greatest if they were unanimous..."

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission), an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation...is chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks...

...The former intelligence official said the first Able Danger report identified all four men as members of a "Brooklyn" cell, and was produced within two months after Mr. Atta arrived in the United States. The former intelligence official said he was among a group that briefed Mr. Zelikow and at least three other members of the Sept. 11 commission staff about Able Danger when they visited the Afghanistan-Pakistan region in October 2003...

In September 2000, one year before the Al Qaeda attacks of 9/11, a U.S. Army military intelligence program, known as “Able Danger,” identified a terrorist cell based in Brooklyn, NY, one of whose members was 9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta, and recommended to their military superiors that the FBI be called in to “take out that cell,” according to Rep. Curt Weldon, a longtime Republican congressman from Pennsylvania who is currently vice chairman of both the House Homeland Security and House Armed Services Committees...

...We do know that Able Danger made their report about four of the attackers in 2000. We do know the report was submitted and the request for action was denied. We do know the Gorelick policy ‘wall’ was in effect at the time. We do know Clinton was President and Dick Clark was terrorism guru. We do know 9-11 commission staffers were briefed on these events and 9-11 commissioners were not...

WASHINGTON - The new National Intelligence Director, John Negroponte, is not yet heeding a top recommendation of the Sept. 11 Commission to tear down barriers that divided U.S. spy agencies, one of the panel's Republican commissioners said Monday. As part of a panel discussion about the progress of intelligence changes, former Navy Secretary John Lehman said Negroponte has two other full-time jobs: serving as the president's chief intelligence adviser and managing the 15 U.S. intelligence agencies. "So far, it's still early days, but the job that we on the 9/11 Commission were most concerned about — we really didn't care...

...After intense work, Sens. Joe Lieberman, John McCain and Susan Collins have introduced comprehensive legislation that differs on only a few matters with the Commission recommendations. The Senate leadership has pursued the same bipartisan course that enabled the Commission's five Democrats and five Republicans to achieve unanimity on comprehensive and decisive findings and reform recommendations. The House is following suit with somewhat different legislation and there is no reason now why differences cannot be resolved in a Senate-House Conference and a landmark bill presented to the president before the election recess. This accomplishment, to paraphrase Mark Twain, will gratify our...

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Pentagon knows exactly where Osama bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan, it just can't get to him, John Lehman, a member of the 9/11 Commission, said Thursday.   Lehman's remarks echoed those made Tuesday by Secretary of State Colin Powell, who said the al-Qaida leader was alive and operating in the western part of Pakistan.   Bin Laden is living in South Waziristan in the Baluchistan Mountains of the Baluchistan region, Lehman told the San Bernardino Sun after delivering a keynote speech on terrorism at Pitzer College in Claremont.   In the interview, Lehman noted, "There...

CLAREMONT - The Pentagon knows exactly where Osama bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan, it just can't get to him, a member of the 9-11 Commission said Thursday. Commissioner John Lehman's remarks echoed those made Tuesday by Secretary of State Colin Powell, who asserted the al-Qaida terror kingpin was alive and operating in the western part of that country. Bin Laden is living in South Waziristan in the Baluchistan Mountains of the Baluchistan Region, Lehman said, after delivering a keynote speech on terrorism at Pitzer College in Claremont to kick off the university's three-day writer's festival. In the exclusive interview,...

Watchdog Appeals Non-Investigation of Kerry Awards & Conduct Additional Navy Documents Sought Under Open Records Law (Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed an appeal letter with Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England over a September 17, 2004 letter from the Naval Inspector General (“IG”), Vice Admiral Ronald A. Route, concerning the awards and conduct of Lieutenant (junior grade) John Forbes Kerry, USNR. The appeal letter was also addressed to Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Vern Clark, and to the Pentagon’s Inspector General, Joseph E. Schmitz....

The U.S. Navy has launched a new probe into Sen. John Kerry's Silver Star citation, after the Navy Secretary whose signature appears on the document said he never signed the award. "It is a total mystery to me," former Navy Secretary John Lehman told the Chicago Sun-Times in August. "I never saw it. I never signed it. I never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not written by me," he complained. The Lehman document is the last of three versions of Kerry Silver Star citation that have been posted to Kerry's campaign website. On Friday, Navy Inspector...

Navy Launches Second Kerry Medal Probe The U.S. Navy has launched a new probe into Sen. John Kerry's Silver Star citation, after the Navy Secretary whose signature appears on the document said he never signed the award. "It is a total mystery to me," former Navy Secretary John Lehman told the Chicago Sun-Times in August. "I never saw it. I never signed it. I never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not written by me," he complained. The Lehman document is the last of three versions of Kerry Silver Star citation that have been posted to Kerry's...

Possible Forged Documents in a CBS story anti-Bush hit-piece ought to revive questions as to whether there are any documents on John Kerry's website that are also forged. Particularly, still in question is the document entitled Silver Star which shows the 2nd and 3rd versions of his SS citation and in which John Lehman, Sec of Navy at the time, disputes its authenticity or validity. http://www.grassboots.org/#2

RECORD BREAK-IN It appears that the Kerry campaign is finally getting some of its own medicine, as it is feeling heat to release the bulk of the Sen. John Kerry's service record. For months, the campaign has been hiding behind Freedom of Information Act requests and what it has said was an exclusivity contract with its paid historian, Douglas Brinkley. But Brinkley late Friday said that there was nothing holding back the campaign from releasing documents. By some counts, there are more than 100 pages of documents related to Kerry's military service that may answer some of the many unanswered...

Sunday editorial, New York Post:KERRY'S WAR VS. KERRYFormer Navy Secretary John Leh man denied at week's end having written the Silver Star citation that appears on John Kerry's campaign Web site over Lehman's signature, dealing the Democrat's presidential campaign another stunning blow. Which makes us wonder: Does Kerry still believe that running on his Vietnam will gain him the White House? Kerry's Silver Star is the most prestigious of his Vietnam decorations — it's the nation's third-highest for combat valor — but there are at least three official versions of how he earned it. The most recent — and the...

JOHN FORBES KERRY SILVER STAR CITATION REVISIONS - FULL TEXTS "The Incredibly Shrinking Silver Star" NOTES Zumwalt Original Hyland Revision Lehman Revision HEADING: Aside from the differences in the issuing authority and minor punctuation, Kerry's middle name is shortened in the final revision to the initial "F." which more resembles Kerry's hero, John F. Kennedy. COMMANDER UNITED STATES NAVAL FORCES VIETNAM The President of the Unites States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to JOHN FORBES KERRY LIEUTENANT JUNIOR GRADE UNITED STATES NAVAL RESERVE for service as set forth in the following: CITATION COMMANDER IN CHIEF UNITED...

Former Navy Secretary John Lehman has no idea where a Silver Star citation displayed on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign Web site came from, he said Friday. The citation appears over Lehman's signature. "It is a total mystery to me. I never saw it. I never signed it. I never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not written by me," he said.

Kerry citation a 'total mystery' to ex-Navy chief August 28, 2004 BY THOMAS LIPSCOMB Former Navy Secretary John Lehman has no idea where a Silver Star citation displayed on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign Web site came from, he said Friday. The citation appears over Lehman's signature. "It is a total mystery to me. I never saw it. I never signed it. I never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not written by me," he said. The additional language varied from the two previous citations, signed first by Adm. Elmo Zumwalt and then Adm. John Hyland,...

Just turned on my TV and John Lehman was on Fox & Friends. It sounded like they had just been discussing the Front Page magazine article about Kerry's awards citations. Did anyone see the entire interview? Did Lehman shed any light on why HE signed Kerry's citations....13 years after Kerry left Vietnam?

John Kerry had his Citation for the Silver Star rewritten 14 years after he received it, according to Brit Hume, Fox News. The rewritten version signed by John Lehman, Secretary of Defense during the Reagan Admin., assumingly, Mr. Hume says, because Lehman would go along with a senior member on the Intelligence Committee.

Uneven military service records have proved toxic to John Kerry's campaign for president, prompting him to post his full military record on his Web site (www.johnkerry.com) for critics to peruse. But one sharp-eyed Washington Times reader — a former B-52 pilot and U.S. Air Force colonel — isn't buying Mr. Kerry's pre-emptive strike. It is for an action that took place in 1969, but it is signed by Secretary of the Navy John Lehman. Strangely, Lehman was secretary of the Navy from 1981 to 1987," he noted. "How could Kerry have received a citation from an official that would not...

While researching Kerry's medal controversy found that the page(s) on his website re the document for his bronze star that was signed by Lehman (Secy of the Navy 81-87) is now blank. On terpsboy.com found a link to KerryEdwards site for the Silver Star cerificate signed by John H. Hyland and then a SECOND certificate signed by Lehman. This link also shows a blank page on the KerryEdwards site. Is this info still on KerryEdward site and I just can't find it? Are those medals in Kerry's office the original? If so why anything signed by Lehman?

Uneven military service records have proved toxic to John Kerry's campaign for president, prompting him to post his full military record on his Web site (www.johnkerry.com) for critics to peruse. But one sharp-eyed Washington Times reader -- a former B-52 pilot and U.S. Air Force colonel -- isn't buying Mr. Kerry's pre-emptive strike.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is seriously considering nominating John Lehman, businessman, former Navy secretary and current 9/11 commissioner, to replace George Tenet as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, NBC News has learned from multiple sources at the White House, the State Department and on Capitol Hill. The nomination of Lehman, who is being viewed as the leading candidate, could come as soon as Thursday, in an attempt to deflect attention from a Senate Intelligence Committee report on the agency, a report expected to be highly critical. The official release of the report has been delayed because ranking Democratic...

'Our Enemy Is Not Terrorism' The U.S. Naval Institute 130th Annual Meeting and Annapolis Naval History Symposium (2004) Address by Former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman We are at a juncture today that really is more of a threshold, even more of a watershed, than the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was in 1941. We are currently in a war, but it is not a war on terrorism. In fact, that has been a great confusion, and the sooner we drop that term, the better. This would be like President Franklin Roosevelt saying in World War II, "We are...

Media coverage of the 9/11 Commission's most-recent staff statements has centered on debunking the assertion that al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein had a working relationship. Largely lost in the debate are a number of interesting revelations. The Commission's Staff Statement No. 15 ("Overview of the Enemy"), states that one plot floated by the mujahedeen in Afghanistan involved taking over a launcher and forcing Russian scientists to fire a nuclear missile at the United States. Former presidential consultant and GeoStrategic Analysis President Peter Heussy says, "The commission's staff report gives major credence to the need for a ballistic missile defense system...

A senior officer in Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's security services was a member of the terrorist group that committed the September 11 attacks, a member of the commission investigating the suicide hijackings said yesterday. "There is at least one officer of Saddam's Fedayeen, a lieutenant colonel, who was a very prominent member of al Qaeda," said September 11 commission member and former Navy Secretary John Lehman.

The commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks has received new information indicating that a senior officer in an elite unit of the security services of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein may have been a member of al-Qaida involved in the planning of the suicide hijackings, panel members said Sunday. John F. Lehman, a Reagan-era GOP defense official told NBC's "Meet the Press" that documents captured in Iraq "indicate that there is at least one officer of Saddam's Fedayeen, a lieutenant colonel, who was a very prominent member of al Qaida

9/11 Panel Chiefs Reiterate Position on Qaeda-Iraq Ties By CHRISTINE HAUSER Published: June 20, 2004 The leaders of the Sept. 11 commission reiterated today that they did not see any evidence of a collaborative relationship between Al Qaeda and Iraq's Saddam Hussein, and that this position did not differ from the view of the Bush administration. The commission's chairman, Thomas H. Kean, and its vice chairman, Lee H. Hamilton, appeared on the ABC News program "This Week" as two other commission members were interviewed on the NBC News program "Meet the Press" about initial findings of the commission. Its final...

The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks has been told "a very prominent member" of al Qaeda served as an officer in Saddam Hussein's militia, a panel member said on Sunday. Republican commissioner John Lehman told NBC's "Meet the Press" program that the new intelligence, if proven true, buttresses claims by the Bush administration of ties between Iraq and the militant network believed responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America. "We are now in the process of getting this latest intelligence," Lehman said. Commission Chairman Thomas Kean urged the administration to make any such information available to the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks has been told "a very prominent member" of al Qaeda served as an officer in Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s militia, a panel member said on Sunday. Republican commissioner John Lehman told NBC's "Meet the Press" program that the new intelligence, if proven true, buttresses claims by the Bush administration of ties between Iraq (news - web sites) and the militant network believed responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America. "We are now in the process of getting this latest intelligence," Lehman said. Commission Chairman Thomas Kean...

He's sorry - sort of. A week after saying that communication failures between the Police and Fire departments on 9/11 were "not worthy of the boy scouts," 9/11 commission member John Lehman apologized in person to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani this week. At least, that's the version offered yesterday by Giuliani, who said Lehman came to his Giuliani Partners office on Wednesday to meet with him and two top aides, former Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen and former Office of Emergency Management Chief Richard Sheirer. "He said, 'I am sorry if it was looked at as a criticism of the...

Former Navy Secretary John Lehman, now a 9/11 Commission member and media darling, didn’t get even close to the facts this morning on Fox and Friends. Speaking on the non-issue of supposedly preventable communications problems when the two planes hit the WTC, Lehman didn’t get within hand grenade range of the facts. For example, (and this is just one very short segment) “They (NYPD and FDNY) should have had better communications, from satellite to UHF to VHF” (why anyone would take a limited amount of satellite frequencies, designed to span continents, and use them in a 30 mile wide city...

The independent commission investigating the 9/11 attacks has examined a secret videotape of ex-President Clinton discussing an offer from Sudan to have Osama bin Laden arrested five years before the 9/11 attacks, former Navy Secretary and 9/11 Commissioner John Lehman revealed on Tuesday.Asked if the never-before-seen video confirms that Clinton admitted turning the offer down, Lehman told radio host Sean Hannity, " Well, that is what he said."While the video of Clinton's bombshell remarks, delivered to the Long Island Association in Feb. 2002, had never been released prior to a request from the 9/11 Commission, NewsMax.com's exclusive audiotape shows...

NEW YORK - The former police and fire chiefs who were lionized after the World Trade Center attack came under harsh criticism Tuesday from the Sept. 11 commission, with one member saying the departments' lack of cooperation was scandalous and "not worthy of the Boy Scouts." Former fire commissioner Thomas Von Essen and former police chief Bernard Kerik shot back with infuriated responses to John Lehman's questions, the strongest of a series of pointed statements from the panel. "I couldn't disagree with you more strongly," Von Essen replied. "I think it's outrageous that you make a statement like that." Outside...

<p>May 10, 2004 -- PART of the reason we suffered such a horrific attack is that we were not prepared. We were not prepared intellectually. Those of us in the national-security field still carried the baggage of the Cold War. When we thought of terrorism, we thought only of state-sponsored terrorism, which is why the immediate reaction of many in our government agencies after 9/11 was: Which state did it? Saddam, it must have been Saddam.</p>

The U.S. Naval Institute 130th Annual Meeting and Annapolis Naval History Symposium (2004) Address by Former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman, U.S. Naval Reserve Proceedings, May 2004 'Our Enemy Is Not Terrorism' The former Secretary of the Navy and current member of the Kean Commission investigating the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States addressed the U.S. Naval Institute 130th Annual Meeting and Annapolis Naval History Symposium on 31 March. Following is an edited version of his remarks. The subject here is naval history and the naval history to come. This is particularly relevant, given the subjects...

How come the paperwork on Kerry's Bronze Star Award is signed by John Lehman, Sec. of the Navy???? In addition, the date Lehman (supposedly) signed it is not on the document. Did Kerry not get the award when Chaffee was Secretary of the Navy? If not, why not? Did Kerry get the award 15 years late? Or is the paperwork a "sham" and somebody made a big booboo? I'll post the document as soon as I find it again. Maybe somebody here has it bookmarked? And, if there's already been a thread on this that I missed....please direct me to...

The press attention is on the wrong commissioners. Richard Ben-Veniste and Bob Kerrey received the lion's share of media attention paid to last week's 9/11 Commission hearing with Condoleezza Rice, thanks to their generally intemperate questioning style. But while Ben-Veniste and Kerrey played to the cameras, it was their colleague, John Lehman, who was breaking new ground with the national-security adviser, but few noticed. Lehman's focus was the transition between the Clinton and Bush administrations. He told Rice that he was "struck by the continuity of the policies rather than the differences," and then he proceeded to ask Rice a...

The Talk Shows Sunday, April 18th, 2004 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): National security adviser Condoleezza Rice; outgoing Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sen. John Kerry, Democratic presidential candidate. FACE THE NATION (CBS): National security adviser Condoleezza Rice. THIS WEEK (ABC): British Prime Minister Tony Blair; national security adviser Condoleezza Rice; Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.; independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader; Sept. 11 commission...

Last week, 9/11 commissioner John Lehman revealed that "it was the policy (before 9/11) and I believe remains the policy today to fine airlines if they have more than two young Arab males in secondary questioning because that's discriminatory." Hmmm ... Is 19 more than two? Why, yes, I believe it is. So if two Jordanian cab drivers are searched before boarding a flight out of Newark, Osama bin Laden could then board that plane without being questioned. I'm no security expert, but I'm pretty sure this gives terrorists an opening for an attack. In a sane world, Lehman's statement...

I know a lot of people are praising Ms. Rice, and I think she did well (although I though she settled for a double when she needed to hit it out of the park.) However, in this bastion of partisanship, there are only a few people who stand out as seriously looking for reasons AND solutions - pointing out continuing problems without pandering or shooting for any partisan brownie points. John Lehman. (Other than the fact he's probably making money hand over fist in equities,) how the hell is this guy not serving in a position of power? It's not...

<p>The commission looking into the September 11 terror attacks met yesterday with former President Bill Clinton in a 31/2-hour, closed-door session during which, panel members said, he expressed doubts about his administration's response to terrorism.</p> <p>"He was very frank. He gave us a lot of very helpful insight into things that happened [and his] policy approaches," said Reagan-era Navy Secretary John Lehman, a member of the panel.</p>

9/11 Commissioner, former Navy Secretary John Lehman said Monday that President Bill Clinton's decision not to accept Sudan's offer to extradite Osama bin Laden to the U.S. in 1996 was probably the biggest blunder of the war on terrorism. Reacting to NewsMax.com's audiotape of Mr. Clinton admitting he turned down the Sudanese, Sec. Lehman told radio host Sean Hannity, "[Clinton's comments offer] a very good insight into the overall policy during the Clinton administration, which was essentially dominated by lawyers [who treated bin Laden] as a law enforcement, not a foreign policy or a prevention issue." Asked if it was...