Clinton, Gore Not Slated to Give 9/11 Testimony Under Oath

Ex-President Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore have not agreed to give sworn testimony to the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks (the 9/11 Commission), or even to answer questions in public, about their role in events leading up to America's worst disaster - making them the only non-office-holders granted that privilege by the Commission.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney are also slated for private, non-sworn interviews with the 9/11 Commission, but sitting presidents and vice presidents typically do not testify under oath in non-criminal investigations.

It's not clear why the 9/11 Commission has insisted that National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice break with precedent for someone in her position and give sworn public testimony, while no such precedent protects former office-holders like Clinton and Gore.

Earlier this month, initial reports indicated that Clinton and Gore would testify publicly without time constraint, but their aides quickly made it clear that the two top Clinton administration officials expected to be treated no differently from the sitting president and vice president.

Sept. 11 probers would likely want to cover with Clinton and Gore reports that they turned down an offer from Sudan to have Osama bin Laden arrested and brought to the U.S. in 1996, even though by that time bin Laden had already been named as an un-indicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Editor's note: