Richard Ben-Veniste Quotes
Well, our concern has to do with the period prior to 9/11, up to and including the catastrophe that occurred. And thank goodness, we're not obliged to make assessments of what's going on now and deal with these current events.
Ben-Veniste, Richard. Interview by Wolf Blitzer. Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, CNN, 11 Apr. 2004.
He had continuously been accused of not going after the infamous terrorist who people were suspecting was hiding in Pakistan. The President had heard these reports but maintained that he did not know where bin Laden was. On this occasion he challenged his challenger.
36 days later, September 11, he did strike. See {617467} for some of the specific contents. The memo was kept secret by the Bush administration until public pressure as a result of the 9-11 Commission hearings forced the declassification and release. At that point it became clear that there was no reason that the memo could not have been released much earlier except that it was embarrassing. See {637530} and {637533} for two other Bin Laden Warnings that Bush and his team ignored.
Bush claimed he did not remember the conversation. His incoming National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, was also briefed about bin Laden by the Clinton anti-terrorism director, Richard Clarke. The Bush Administration ignored the warnings until bin Laden struck on 9-11
Richard Ben-Veniste is an American lawyer. He first rose to prominence as a special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal. He has also been a member of the 9/11 Commission. He is known for his pointed questions and criticisms of members of both the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. In 2017, he became a CNN Legal Analyst.
