The agreement, announced on Wednesday, has led to the first public split on the commission. Two Democrats on the 10-member panel say that the commission should have demanded full access to the intelligence summaries, known as the President's Daily Brief, and that the White House should not be allowed to determine what is relevant to the investigation.

An umbrella group of victims' families joined the criticism, saying the terms of the accord should be public.

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In its statement, the victims' family group, the Family Steering Committee, said the agreement would "prevent a full uncovering of the truth and is unacceptable." The group is led by many advocates who were most responsible for pressuring Congress to create the commission last year over the initial objections of the White House.

"As it now stands, a limited number of commissioners will have restricted access to a limited number of P.D.B. documents," the group said. "The commission should issue a statement to the American public fully explaining why this agreement was chosen in lieu of issuing subpoenas to the C.I.A. and executive branch."

The group said, "All 10 commissioners should have full, unfettered and unrestricted access to all evidence, including but not limited to all Presidential Daily Briefings."

NY Times article

Some of the 10 members, likely including Roemer, will not actually see anything under the deal. Only four can see PDBs, and then only portions the White House deems relevant — and even then, the members' comments about the top-secret briefings will be vetted by the White House.

Lorie Van Auken of East Brunswick, N.J., whose husband Kenneth was killed at the World Trade Center, said she could not understand the secrecy.

Toronto Star article, What did Bush know before 9/11 attacks?

She's not alone.

If the Bush adminstration has nothing to hide about 911, why does it insist on giving the impression that it does? The same question could be asked of the Defense Department, which recently received subpoenas after the commission discovered that requested materials had not been provided, despite DoD assurances.

Given the Bush adminstration's already questionable credibility, this latest agreement is not likely to satisfy those who are demanding answers about intelligence, policy, and air defense failures surrounding September 11, 2001.

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