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By Mark Hosenball
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THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Bracing for a 'Pearl Harbor' Inquiry
Is Congress moving closer to a "Pearl Harbor-like" inquiry into the 9-11 attack? In the days after the assault, Capitol Hill leaders privately discussed a probe patterned after the landmark inquiries of the 1940s into U.S. intelligence lapses preceding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. But they agreed to back off from any hearings so as not to interfere with Justice's probe into the terrorist assault. Now the mood is changing. Senate Judiciary Committee chair Patrick Leahy recently demanded that Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Bob Mueller ensure that all documents relating to the events of September 11 are preserved. "We know what can happen--just look at Ruby Ridge," explains one Judiciary staffer, referring to findings that FBI officials destroyed incriminating documents on the 1992 Idaho siege. NEWSWEEK has learned Mueller has ordered that sensitive files pointing to prior FBI knowledge of the hijackers and related terrorism investigations be shipped to Washington. "We fully expect we're going to have to hand over every scrap of paper before this is over," says one FBI official.
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There is no shortage of matters to investigate. Sources tell NEWSWEEK that, in the year prior to September 11, the FBI allowed some counterintelligence wiretaps of suspected terrorists in the New York area to lapse. In addition, some tapes of terrorist suspects were never transcribed for a lack of Arabic translators. (An FBI official insists that nothing on the tapes would have alerted officials to an upcoming attack.) Another big issue is intelligence sharing. In August the CIA alerted the bureau that two suspected terrorists--Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi--might have entered the country. The FBI says it was vigorously looking for them up until September 11, when the two men helped hijack the first plane that flew into the World Trade Center. Yet Justice officials recently discovered that key public databases--including California motor-vehicle records--may never have been checked.
Meanwhile, criticism mounts over questions of civil liberties. Last week Justice declared that prosecutors could, without seeking judicial approval, eavesdrop on phone calls between detainees and their lawyers. Critics point out that if prosecutors had evidence that a suspected terrorist was sending messages to confederates through his defense lawyer, they could always get a secret court warrant to eavesdrop. By issuing a public regulation--and then informing the lawyer that the phone call was being monitored, as the rule requires--Justice has guaranteed that the suspects will clam up. "They badly need a break in this case, but instead they've just blown it," says one Senate staffer. A top Justice official disagrees. "This is about disruption and prevention, as opposed to making a case against somebody," the official says. "It's about saving lives."
INTERVIEW
In the Shadow Of Osama
Tell me a bit about your family.
My father was an extremely successful businessman. He started as a simple porter and ended as a billionaire. We are 54 brothers and sisters from more than 20 different mothers. Each of my father's wives had her own house, separate from the others in the family. I grew up with my mother and my two brothers and a sister. Osama was the only child of my father and his mother and therefore had very little contact with me or my side of the family.
What was your religious upbringing?
We were all raised as Muslims, but many of us do not actively practice the religion. My father always encouraged us to be tolerant and open-minded. In Lebanon, where I went to boarding school, we did not study religion. Those who were educated in Saudi Arabia were raised in a cosmopolitan way, and some, like Osama, received more religious training. I know that Osama is more religious and has a different mentality than the rest of the family.
Tell me about your relationship with the Saudi royal family.
When my father died, we had a big construction company and a lot of property, but we were all very young. I was only 16, and my oldest brothers were in their early 20s. King Faysal said, "You are my children now." And he took care of us. He appointed a committee of five or six people to run the business and also take a parental role until my brothers were old enough. When questions came up [about finances or personal matters], the king always had the final word. He kept the family together. I feel like [the royal family] is my family.
What was your reaction to the terrorist attacks of Septtember 11?
It was horrible. I couldn't believe that people could do that.
What can you tell me about Osama, the man believed to be behind those attacks?
Although we share the same last name, we do not share the same interests or values. We grew up differently. I have only seen the man five or six times in my life, at family occasions like the funeral of my father. I left Saudi Arabia in 1985 to live in Europe, and I have not closely followed the political activities of my family.
Even before September 11, you were under intense pressure from U.S. intelligence agents. Can you talk about that?
I take it as part of my life to be under constant surveillance. I believe my phones, faxes and e-mails are under permanent watch. But they are welcome to listen. I have done nothing wrong or illegal. In the end, good people will distinguish between right and wrong and not cultivate wrong pictures or prejudices.
Are you willing to help U.S. investigators trace Osama's assets?
I live in Switzerland and am happy to cooperate with the Swiss authorities. It is a crime in Switzerland for any person to cooperate with a foreign government.
Have you funneled money to Al Qaeda, as U.S. intelligence agents suspect?
This is ridiculous. The answer is no.
Do other family members financially support Osama?
I don't believe that is the case. To my knowledge no one finances him. If some close or far member of the family does, then that person is responsible for his own actions. The family will not support or assist or protect him.
EGYPTAIR 990 A CONNECTION? The September 11 hijackings have raised new questions about the 1999 crash of EgyptAir Flight 990. U.S. investigators believe the plane went down because relief copilot Gamil al-Batouti deliberately put it into a fatal nose dive while repeating the Muslim prayer "I rely on God." Privately, they think Batouti became suicidal after airline superiors told him he was being grounded as a result of sexual-harassment complaints lodged against him by female guests and workers at a New York hotel. But sources close to the inquiry now wonder whether there may have been a terrorist connection. They point out that more than 30 Egyptian military officers--reportedly including seven generals--were on the Boeing 767, making it a potentially compelling target for terrorists linked to Osama bin Laden. The investigation is still open, but U.S. officials show little interest in revisiting the terrorism issue. A source close to EgyptAir says there is no evidence to suggest a terrorist connection.
CLINTON
Formerly Busy
RACE
A Hateful Halloween
The fraternities have apologized, and investigations are underway at all three schools. But to hate-crime experts the incidents reflect a disturbing attitude among some students that such behavior isn't out of bounds--even in 2001. Vern E. Smith
TRANSITION
The Psychedelic Prankster
AIRPORTS
Packing It In
CULTURE
Art Markets: Hot and Cold
Gallery sales in Manhattan's hip art neighborhoods of Chelsea and SoHo are down precipitously, and more than one dealer has admitted--off the record--to not selling a single work of art since the terrorist attacks. (It could be, though, that collectors of the newest and edgiest art are simply waiting to see what artists create in response to September 11.) But last Monday night, upstart No. 3 auction house Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg sold 72 works by Leger, Modigliani and others for a total of $78.2 million, just about matching its conservative estimate. (Caveat: Phillips guaranteed the heirs to the auctioned Smooke Collection a considerable amount--which it won't reveal--just to get the goods under its gavel.) The next night Christie's put the Rene Gaffe collection of early modern art on the block and pulled in $73.3 million for its 25 works. (Mitigating circumstance: 100 percent of the proceeds went to UNICEF, so bidding was buoyed by charity.) The rest of the sale brought in an additional $35.6 million, including world records for a Leger painting ($16.7 million) and a Picasso sculpture (a tick under $5 million).
All this happened in spite of the fact that the trial of former Sotheby's head Alfred Taubman on charges of commission price-fixing opens in Manhattan this week. A civil settlement on the matter is already costing Sotheby's and fellow fixer Christie's a whopping $512 million. In these uncertain times, it may be smart to move part of your portfolio from stocks and bonds to oil and canvas. And it's much more fun than staring at stock certificates while they appreciate.
KIDS
A Taliban Tale
ANIMATED MOVIES
Green With Envy
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
Special Perserverance Edition
C.W. Bush = Talking the talk like he did in September. What's left? Walking the walk. CIA - Pakistani reporter meets bin Laden for invu, but billion-dollar spooks still in the dark. Ashcroft - Nation's priorities: terror, terror, terror. AG's: Mercy docs in OR and medicinal pot in CA. Mineta - Trans. sec. promises to hold airport screeners accountable. Guess what: you're accountable. Bloomberg + $$$, Rudy make Mike mayor. After four years, he'll want to spend twice as much to get out. Dems + Retake statehouses in VA, NJ. GOPs better get in tune for '02. Tax cuts don't cut it.
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