let’s compare and contrast the December 1995 memo from my old boss, Mary Jo White, one of the authentic heroes of the battle against militant Islam in the 1990’s, with what the 9/11 Commission said about the establishment of the wall in July 1995.

Here’s White, as recounted by Deborah Orin in the New York Post this morning:

“This is not an area where it is safe or prudent to build unnecessary walls or to compartmentalize our knowledge of any possible players, plans or activities,” wrote White, herself a Clinton appointee.
“The single biggest mistake we can make in attempting to combat terrorism is to insulate the criminal side of the house from the intelligence side of the house, unless such insulation is absolutely necessary. Excessive conservatism . . . can have deadly results.”

She added: “We must face the reality that the way we are proceeding now is inherently and in actuality very dangerous…..”

Here, astoundingly, is what is written in the final report of the 9/11 Commission, which of course had access to the White Memo:

In July 1995, Attorney General Reno issued formal procedures aimed at managing information sharing between Justice Department prosecutors and the FBI. They were developed in a working group led by the Justice Department’s Executive Office of National Security, overseen by Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick. [The commission here drops a footnote, which reads as follows:] The group included representatives from the FBI, OIPR [i.e., Justice’s Office of Intelligence & Policy Review, which oversees applications for national security wiretaps], and the Criminal Division. In addition, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York [i.e., Mary Jo White] was given an opportunity to comment on the procedures. The procedures that were eventually issued were agreed to by all involved in the drafting process. As a member of the Commission, Gorelick has recused herself from participation in this aspect of our work. [Final Report at pp. 79 & 473 n.33 (italics mine)]

So there you have it. The 9/11 Commission tells you that White was “given an opportunity to comment.” They just accidentally forgot to tell you what her comments were. Not to worry, though. This was completely inadvertent. After all, Jamie Gorelick “recused herself from participation in this aspect” of the Commission’s work, right?

I feel better now. I feel like I can be bullet-proof confident that if the 9/11 Commission has reported something, or flatly denies that something happened, it is surely being honest, forthright and comprehensive – let the chips fall where they may. How ’bout you?