A document recently discovered in the National Archives shows that, in a memo to the 9/11 Commission's chairman and vice-chairman on false statements made by NORAD and FAA officials about the failure of US air defenses, the commission's Executive Director Philip Zelikow failed to mention the possibility of a criminal referral. This supports allegations that Zelikow "buried" the option of a criminal referral by the commission to the Justice Department for a perjury investigation.

Documents recently found in the National Archives cast doubt on the integrity of the 9/11 Commission's Executive Director Philip Zelikow. In an e-mail exchange with author Philip Shenon, Zelikow claimed that he first learned of a dispute on the commission over the investigation of false statements made by NORAD and FAA officials after it had been "percolating for a while" and was not involved in the initial stages of the argument. However, an e-mail chain (scroll down) found in the Archives by History Commons contributor paxvector shows that Zelikow had been involved in the issue from very near the beginning.

Following my post a couple of days ago about 9/11 Commission Executive Director Philip Zelikow and a false statement he made to author Philip Shenon about his lack of knowledge about a dispute on the commission, a person representing himself to be Zelikow has posted a comment on the blog. The comment says that I misinterpreted his statement to Shenon and that it was about events different to the ones I thought it was. Unsurprisingly, I don't buy it. I gave Zelikow's words their natural meaning in the context, interpreting them as a direct reply to the question Shenon had just asked. Zelikow, however, gets full marks for novelty of approach.