THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON
November 21,2003

Daniel Marcus, Esq.

General Counsel
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
2100 K Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037

Dear Mr. Marcus:

I am writing to confirm the conditions under which we currently intend to provide the
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States ("Commission") with access
to officials from the Executive Office of the President ("EOF"). These conditions apply to those
individuals made available in response to the Commission's requests for "interviews" (i.e., EOF ;
Interview Request No. 1, dated August 27,2003 and EOF Interview Request No. 2, dated !
October 23,2003) and requests for "meetings" (Le., multiple letters from Chairman Kean and |
Vice Chairman Hamilton dated October 27 and October 31,2003), as well as EOF officials made •
available in response to subsequent Commission requests.

As we have discussed, I believe it is in our mutual interest to memorialize these

conditions in writing, in order to minimize misunderstandings and to avoid, to the maximum
extent possible, any potential for disagreements during the meetings. I anticipate that both sides
will apply a "rule of reason" when applying these conditions.

Our approach to developing the conditions for access to EOF officials has been guided by
our responsibility to protect the crucial Constitutional prerogatives of the Presidency, for this and
future Presidents, while attempting to accommodate the unique needs associated with the
Commission's responsibility to prepare a detailed report — for the President, the Congress, and
ultimately the American people - on the attacks on September 11,2001. In this spirit, we
currently are prepared to provide the Commission with access to EOF officials as follows:

• EOF officials will be made available voluntarily and strictly as a matter of comity
between the Executive and Legislative branches;

• Commission access to EOF officials will be provided at "meetings" or "policy

briefings," which are not, and should not be referred to as, "testimony" or "interviews";

• Meetings will be reasonably limited in time (generally from 1-2 hours in duration, not
including time required for prepared statements, if any, made by EOF officials);

• EOF officials will not be placed under oath;

• We will inform you on a case-by-case basis whether we request that meetings be

recorded; otherwise, meetings will not be recorded;
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• HOP representatives will be present at the meetings (generally one representative per
meeting from the Office of the Counsel to the President or the Office of the Legal
Adviser to the National Security Council);

• Commission representatives may attend the meetings (generally no more than five such
representatives may be present). For Assistants to the President (or equivalent) and
above, the Commission Chair or Vice Chair must be present; up to two other
Commissioners and two staff members may attend. For Deputy Assistants to the
President (or equivalent), the Chair or Vice Chair may be present, but at least one
Commissioner must be present. For other EOF officials, no Commissioners need be
present;

• Meetings will be held in a SCIF in HOP office space, and all Commission and staff
members attending a meeting must have security clearances sufficient for any classified
information to be discussed;

• Absent unusual circumstances, HOP officials will only be made available for one
meeting.

As you have recognized, our accommodation with regard to making EOP officials
available to the Commission does not set any precedent, either for future Commission requests or
for requests for state secrets, Presidential communications, or deliberative materials of this or
other Presidents in any other context. Furthermore, these EOP officials are being made available
to the Commission with dne regard for the Constitutional separation of powers and reserving all
legal authorities, privileges and objections that may apply, including with respect to other
governmental entities or private parties.

Consistent with our agreement regarding other EOP materials, information obtained from
EOP officials is being made available to the Commission in confidence and as in closed session.
The Commission should make every effort to protect this information from any unauthorized
disclosure and from use for any unauthorized purpose.

We hope and expect that the above cooperative arrangements will proceed smoothly and
respect the concerns of the Executive Branch. Tf difficulties arise, we will work with you in an
. effort to resolve them in a mutually satisfactory fashion. Should implementation of these
arrangements ultimately fail to meet our expectations, we reserve the right to modify or
terminate them consistent with the constitutional separation of powers.

I look forward to continuing to work with you as the Commission completes its work.

Sincerely,

lonheim
Associate Counsel to the President