WASHINGTON, March 30: The White House announced on Tuesday it would allow National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify in public and under oath before the 9-11 Commission.
The White House had earlier rejected requests from the commission to allow Ms Rice to testify saying there was no precedence for such an appearance by a presidential adviser. But it has now reversed its position and sent a letter to the commission saying that Ms Rice could appear before the panel for a public testimony.
In addition, President George Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney also agreed to testify before the entire commission, not just the two co-chairmen. Their testimony will, however, remain private.
"The president recognizes the truly unique and extraordinary circumstances underlying the commission's responsibility to prepare a detailed report on the facts and circumstances of the horrific attacks on September 11, 2001," says the letter from White House counsel Alberto Gonzalez.
The letter seeks written assurances from the commission that it will not request additional public testimony from any White House official. Later, the White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the commission had unanimously agreed to the conditions.
A spokesman for the commission said the letter had been received and the commission has accepted the condition set out in the letter that Ms Rice's appearance would not set a precedent under the constitutional separation of executive and legislative powers.
"These decisions represent a significant contribution by the president to the work of the commission, consistent with our mandate," the panel said in a statement.
Ms Rice had earlier said she wanted to testify, but in private and not under oath, in order to rebut allegations of negligence against the Bush administration made before the commission last week.
She had earlier said that allowing a presidential adviser to testify under oath could strain the relationship between the president and his advisers. If the president knows that an adviser could be forced to testify under oath, he would hesitate to exchange ideas freely with his advisers, she argued.
But apparently the public pressure forced her and the White House to change their position. Lawmakers, media and even judges had argued that the issue-how seriously the Bush administration took the terrorist threat before 9/11-was more important than a president's privilege to have free discussions with his advisers.
The pressure for a public testimony from Ms Rice increased when the Bush administration's former counter-terrorism director Richard Clarke told the commission last week that President Bush was so obsessed with ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that he failed to focus properly on the war against terrorism.
Since President Bush's performance in the war against terrorism is the main plank of his re-election campaign for 2004, Mr Clarke's accusation had a major impact on prospective voters. Several opinion polls published this week showed that many Americans doubted Mr Bush's commitment to fight terror.
Fearful that continued refusal from Ms Rice to testify could hurt Mr Bush's re-election campaign, some Republican lawmakers also backed the demand for her testimony.
