9-11 panel quizzes Bush

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney spent more than three hours behind closed doors Thursday with the Sept. 11 commission that is charged with finding ways to prevent a repeat of the worst terrorist attack in American history. "I answered every question they asked," Bush said.\nHe declined to disclose details of the Oval Office discussion, saying the commissioners would incorporate his and Cheney's comments into their final report, set for release about three months before the November election.\nThe president did say the meeting was "very cordial" and the commissioners were "very interested in the recommendations that they're going to lay out, and I'm interested in those as well."\n"I'm glad I did it," Bush told reporters in the Rose Garden. "I'm glad I took the time .... I enjoyed it."\nThe 10 commissioners, who arrived for the unprecedented meeting carrying briefcases, books and papers gathered around Bush and Cheney, who were seated on chairs near the fireplace in the president's office. The meeting was off-limits to all but White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and two other White House lawyers, Tom Monheim and Bryan Cunningham.\nAsked if Gonzales advised him not to answer any questions, Bush replied: "I was never advised by my counsel not to answer anything."\nHe was asked why the Bush administration hadn't made terrorism a more urgent priority, especially after an Aug. 6, 2001 presidential daily brief that warned of "patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings."\nWhen asked whether Bush repeated his public comments that the memo did not point to a specific threat, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan declined to offer details.\nThe president, who initially opposed creation of the panel investigating the attacks in 2001 that killed some 3,000 people in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, vigorously defended his decision to appear jointly with the vice president. Critics have suggested the two met together to make certain there were no discrepancies in their statements.\n"If we had something to hide, we wouldn't have met with them in the first place," Bush said.\n"I came away feeling good about the session because I wanted them to know, you know, how I set strategy, how we run the White House, how we deal with threats," he said. "The vice president answered a lot of their questions -- answered all their questions."\nIn a statement issued by the panel after the meeting, commissioners thanked Bush and Cheney for their information and said they found the president and vice president "forthcoming and candid."\nRichard Ben-Veniste, a Democratic member of the commission, said he was satisfied the panel had enough time to ask questions and that nothing was lost from having a joint meeting. "It was a very cordial meeting," Ben-Veniste told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "Everyone got to ask his or her questions of the president and vice president. I'm not going to characterize the substance."\nOne commissioner, Jim Thompson, said the questions included everything "across the board" that had been in public hearings. "The president was asked the vast majority of the questions and he answered them," Thompson said. "There were no questions the president or vice president did not answer."\nLaughter erupted in the Oval Office from time to time, Thompson told the AP.\n"There were no tense moments. I thought the president gave a five-star performance," said Thompson, the Republican former governor of Illinois.\nAnother commissioner, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the panel learned new details about events leading up to Sept. 11, and discussed possible recommendations for changes in areas such as intelligence.\nIn a rebuke to his own Justice Department, Bush told the commission he was disappointed about the release of documents about former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, a Democratic member of the commission. Republicans have contended that the documents, posted on the Justice Department Web site, showed that she was deeply involved in developing 1995 guidance that strengthened the legal "wall" making it difficult for FBI counterintelligence agents to share information with prosecutors and criminal investigators.\nAssociated Press writer Hope Yen contributed to this report.