dm b4 jacobson fdr- 2 emails re time conflicts and priorities re work of staff member mike jacobson...

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M ail : : INBOX:Re:M ike Jacobson andDSMLATrip AAMT Pae 1of3

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Subject: Re: Mike Jacobson and DSM LA TripAll:I h a v e had a l e n g t h y d i s c u s s i o n w i t h pan so I w o n ' t r e a r g u e my c a s e but I dow a n t to r e s p o n d to a c o u p l e of key p o i n t s .F i r s t , I f i n d it e x t r e m e l y d i s t u r b i n g t h a t d e s p i t e the fact t h a t 1) I had as p e c i f i c a g r e e m e n t w i t h the f r o n t office t h a t for the p u r p o s e s of the f i v ef i e l d office v i s i t s I had p r i o r i t y on M i k e ' s t i m e and t h at d u r i n g t h at t i m et e a m la w o u l d h a v e access to M i k e for at m o s t one day e v e r y o t h e r week, 2) t h a tI had s p e c i f i c a l l y p r e v i o u s l y a p p r o a c h e d D i e t e r w i t h a p r o p o s a l forc o o r d i n a t i o n o n L A t h a t h e r e j e c t e d b u t h e s a i d w e c o u l d d i s c u s s p o s s i b i l i t i e sl a t e r , and 3) had p l a n s to use M i k e n e x t w e ek to p r e p a r e for M i a m i , p o s s i b l ya t t e n d s o m e i n t e r v i e w s i n N Y , a n d t o w r i t e u p p r i o r M F R S , t h a t n o o n e h a d t h ec o u r t e s y to t e l l me t h a t t he y p l a n n e d to w h i s k M i k e away for an e n t i r e week inc o n t r a v e n t i o n of any p r i o r a g r e e m e n t . I g u e s s I was g o i n g to f i n d out w h e n Ic a l l e d him to d i s c u s s w h a t I n e e d e d d o n e t h a t week and s c h e d u l e d a t e a m m e e t i n ga n d f o u n d t h a t he was across the c o u n t r y and u n a v a i l a b l e .S e c o n d , I had already had t9 a l t e r the M i a m i t r i p s i g n i f i c a n t l y b e c a u s e Team 2s c h e d u l e d the Ottawa t r i p w i t h o u t any consultation w i t h me. I was f o r c e d tol o s e someone who knew about our team's work and was g i v e n i n s t e a d someone whohas not a t t e n d e d a s i n g l e i n t e r v i e w and t h u s w i l l essentially be a n o t e t a k e r .So b a s i c a l l y it is c l e a r t h a t d e s p i t e any l o n g t e r m p l a n n i n g t h a t I a t t e m p t tom a k e , e v e r y o t h e r t e a m can j us t i g n o r e h a v i n g to c o n s u l t w i t h me and force met o d ea l w i t h t h e i r s c h e d u l e r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e i m p a c t i t h a s o n m y t e am ' s w o r k.T h i r d , I do not a p p r e c i a t e the g r a t u i t o u s d e n i g r a t i o n of my team's w o r kas " c oo k i e c u t t e r " i n t e r v i e w s . T h e y are far f r o m t h a t . And if a n y o ne t h i n k st h e w o r k my t e a m is d o i n g is s o m e t h i n g a t r a i n e d m o n k e y can do, t h e n I amw i l l i n g t o t u r n t h e t r o u b l e o v e r t o s o me o ne e l s e a n d l e t t h e m t r y i t f o r as p e l l .F o u r t h , no one has i n d i c a t e d how m a n y i n t e r v i e w s n e ed to be d o n e in LA. whyc a n t h e y not be c o m p l e t e d in a w e e k w i t h the p e r s o n n e l D i e t e r has? i n M i a m i weare s c h e d u l i n g f o u r i n t e r v i e w s a day for two man t e a m s on c e r t a i n days, w i t htwo p e o p l e for f i v e d a y s and f o u r p e o p l e for t h r e e d a y s (once Tamm a r r i v e s ) ,t h e y c o u l d c o m p l e t e 3 2 i n t e r v i e w s . C e r t a i n l y th a t i s m o r e t h a n t h e y h a v ep l a n n e d as D i e t e r scoffed at our p l a n s to i n t e r v i e w 37 p e o p l e as e x c e s s i v e .T e a m 6's s c h e d u l i n g is already e x t r e m e l y d i f f i c u l t due to r e l i g i o u s h o l i d a y s ,f e d e r a l h o l i d a y s , a w e d d i n g , a h o n e y m o o n , t e a c h i n g s c h e d u l e s , and the l i k e .H a v i n g t o t h r o w i n a d d i t i o n a l l o n g d i s t a n c e t r i p s t o d e a l w i t h a d d i t i o n a lm o n k e y w r e n c h e s b e i n g t h r o w n i n t o t h e m i x w i t h o u t n o t i c e i s m a k i n g m y j o bv i r t u a l l y i m p o s s i b l e w i t h i n t h e t i m e c o n s t r a i n t s w e a r e o p e r a t i n g u n d e r .B a r b a r a>> At Philip's suggestion, I'm turning to you to resolve what appears to be an> i mpasse I've encountered with Barbara regarding the participation of Mike> Jacobson in Team lA's DSM interviews in LA, now re-scheduled for the week of>> September 28. (You will recall that our original plan, as of last w e e k , was>> for Mike, Hyon, Raj, John Tamm and me to spend the entire week of the 21st in>> LA. The trip has been scheduled due to our a c c e s s breakthrough with theFBI;

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f a i l : : INBOX: Re: Mike Jacobson and DSM LA Trip Page 2 of 3

> th e hur r i cane likely prec luded any realistic chance of our going next w e e k in> any event)> R e c e n t d e v e l o p m e n t s i n t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n h a v e s ee n L A ta k e o n c r i t i c a l> s i g n i f i c a n c e f o r u s . G i v e n t h e s c h e d u l i n g c o n s t r a i n t s w e f a c e - - e s p e c i a l l y> my> u p c o m i n g t r i p a b r o a d w i t h P h i l i p and the o t h e r s (nowset for c. 10/11), we> h a v e> no choice but to m a k e the LAtrip dur ing the w e e k of the 28 th . As I k n o w> y o u ' r e aware , M i k e ' s ency lopedic knowledge of the extraordinarily complex> facts> g a t h e r e d to d a t e (from b o t h the J o i n t i n q u i r y and the d o c u m e n t s he has> r e v i e w e d> w i t h us) m a k e s him i n d i s p e n s a b l e to our effort; s i m p l y p u t , o one k n o w s the> l e n g t h y r o st e r of i n v e s t i g a t i v e s u bj e ct s the way he does, i n d e e d , a s t r o n g> a r g u m e n t c o u l d b e m a d e t h a t h e s h o u l d a c c om p a n y u s f o r t h e e n t i r e week i n L A .> O u r n ee d f o r M i k e b e c o m e s e v e n m o r e a c u t e w h e n o n e c o n s i d e r s t h a t J o h n w i l l> not> b e a b l e t o j o i n u s u n t i l a f t e r h e c l o s e s o n h i s n e w h o u s e o n T u e s d a y .> w i t h o u t> Mike , R a j , H y o n and I w o u l d n ' t beable to double track any n t e r v i ews until> J o h n ' s arrival on W e d n e s d a y .> unfortunately, our LA trip now conflicts with th e prev ious ly -schedu led trip> of> T e a m 6 to Miam i . Recogn iz ing that, as talented as Mike is , even he c a n ' t be> i n> t w o p l a c e s a t o n c e , I c a l l e d B a r b a r a l a s t n i g h t t o a tt e m p t t o r e s o l v e t h i s> p r o b l e m , a n d s u g g e s t e d t h e f o l l o w i n g compromise ( t o w h i c h M i k e h i m s e l f h a s> g r a c i o u s l y agreed): M i k e w o u l d s p e n d t h e first p a r t o f t h e w e e k i n L A a n d> w o u l d> t r a v e l to M i a m i W e d n e sd a y afternoon/evening to j o i n Team 6 for the balance of> i t s i n t e r v i e w s o n T h u r s d a y a n d F r i d a y .> B a r b a r a f o un d t h i s a r r a n g e m e n t u n a c c e p t a b l e , c i t i n g her own s t a f f i n g c o n c e r n s> a n d t h e p u t a t i v e n e e d t o c o n d u c t a s m a n y a s 3 7 i n t e r v i e w s i n M i a m i d u r i n g> t h a t> w e e k . The r e a l i t y , h o w e v e r , i s t h a t u n d e r my proposal, Team 6 s t i l l w o u l d> h a v e> a total of 6 i n t e r v i e w e r s in M i a m i : B a r b a r a , C a r o l i n e , and C h r i s H. for the> e n t i r e w e e k , and Peter, L a n c e , and M i k e j o i n i n g t h e m d u r i n g the c o u r s e of the> week, w i t h t h i s m a n y i n t e r v i e w e r s , T e a m 6 w i l l be a b l e to t r i p l e t r a c k> i n t e r v i e w s on T h u r s d a y and F r i d a y at the v e r y least, if (a s B a r b a r a t e l l s> me) ,> the a v e r a g e i n t e r v i e w l a s t s two h o u r s ( w h ic h s t r i k e s me as m o r e t h a n> generous),> t h i s m e a n s t h e y s h o u l d be a b l e to complete 24 i n t e r v i e w s on T h u r s d a y and> F r i d a y> a l o n e , l e a v i n g only 13 of the s c h e d u l e d 37 to be c o m p l e t e d by the 3-5 t e a m> m e m b e r s w h o w i l l b e i n M i a m i d u r i n g Monday-Wednesday.> w h i l e I a p p r e c i a t e t h a t my p r o p o s a l w i l l i n v o l v e s o m e r e - a l i g n m e n t of T e a m> 6's> s c h e d u l e , I b e l i e v e a l l o f t h e s c h e d u l e d i n t e r v i e w s c a n b e completed i n t h i s> m a n n e r , if, on the o t h e r h a n d , Team 6 s t i l l is d e e m e d to be u n a c c e p t a b l y> s h o r t -> s t a f fe d , c a n ' t t h e y b o r r o w s o m e o n e f r o m a n o t h e r t e a m ? (You w i l l r e c a l l t h a t> s e v e r a l m e m b e r s of Team 8 p a r t i c i p a t e d in Team 6's i n t e r v i e w s in NYC).> B a r b a r a



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> refused to consider this alternative as well.>> To mymind, the resource allocation question isn't even close, in contrast> to> Team 6's e s s e n t i a l l y " c o o k i e c u t t e r " i n t e r v i e w s of FBI and JTTF p e r s o n n e l ,> the> DSM work we need to do in LA is highly fact-intensive, involving the> assimilation and mastery of a myriad of FBI counterintelligence and criminal>> cases through interviews of the agents responsible for those cases, we must> have the benefit of Mike's participation -- for at least the first half of> our> trip -- to do this job correctly. All of the Team 6 members are nowwell-> seasoned by their W FO andNYFO interview experience; I can't imagine that> they> w o u l d not be a b l e to c o m p l e t e the s c h e d u l e d wo r k w i t h o u t M i k e .>> I r e c o g n i z e t h a t my c o m p r o m i s e p r o p o s a l i n v o l v e s s o m e a d d i t i o n a l w o r k for> Team> 6 and p o t e n t i a l l y for o t h e r staff m e m b e r s as w e l l , (it i m p o s e s by far the> g r e a t e s t b u r d e n o n M i k e h i m s e l f , a n d h e h a s w i l l i n g l y a c c e p t e d this.) B u t I>> s u b m i t t h a t a n y i n c r e m e n t a l b u r d e n , c o n s i d e r e d o b j e c t i v e l y , i s m i n i m a l a n d> w e l l> w o r t h t h e u p s i d e t o t h e C o m m i s s i o n i n h a v i n g M i k e p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e L A> i n t e r v i e w s . W h i l e I am not at a l l h a p p y t h a t the new s c h e d u l e causes us to> l o s e M i k e for h a l f of our LA w o r k , the c i r c u m s t a n c e s we c o n f r o n t r e q u i r e t h a t>> e v e r y o n e s h o w s o m e f l e x i b i l i t y h e r e . I u r g e you to a d o p t the my proposal.>> s o r r y to i m p o s e all t h i s on y o u , but we do n e e d a d e c i s i o n . Thanks.>> Dieter



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Subject: Re: DSM interviews at WFODieter:

I do not believe this request is reasonable for the following reasons. First,you cried wolf over LA and essentially demanded that Mike be made available incontravention of our previous agreement as to the time he would devote to DSMmatters. This was extremely detrimental to Team 6's previously planned work.I do not believe it is fair that just because you decide to schedule things ata particular time that Mike should be expected to drop all Team 6 work. In myview you already cashed your get out of jail free card.Second, Mike's work for Team 6 does not just involve writeups and interviews,there are literally tens of thousands of pages of documents our team --including Mike -- needs to begin addressing to prepare for the next severalmonths' interviews and to determine what additional work we need to do tocomplete our monograph. He has done none of that to date. Team 6 is going tobe hitting a huge crunch and Mike is essential to that effort.Third, the agreement was that Mike would be available for DSM matters only --not all Team la work. When that decision was made that involved only a fewpeople in San Diego. It was expanded to several people in LA forunderstandable reasons. It was never agreed that it would include every otherpossible person of interest. Moreover, it certainly does not include anyone whomight have even conceivably assisted the hijackers. It only refers to the fewindividuals for which there was evidence that they may have a direct link to aparticular government and therefore be evidence of a link between thegovernment and the hijackers. I do not believe the WFO interviews are DSM workas it was defined when it was determined that Mike would assist in Team la'swork and therefore Mike should not be expected to be involved.Fourth, even if all of the interviews are DSM, the decision to have Mikeinvolved was due to his prior review of particular individuals and knowledgeabout what was known about them. To the extent that you want to expand thescope of DSM to include people with no apparent link to the government and/orpeople that Mike has not previously investigated, you are asking to expand hisrole in a way that is contrary to all prior understandings and certainly notjustified. You have the same number of full time staff on your team as I do(actually more because I don't have Mike full-time)- I suggest that you ensurethat your staff is up to speed and doing their jobs as opposed to demanding Iprovide staff from my team just because it is convenient for Team la.Finally, as you are aware, Monday is a religious holiday so Mike will not beavailable. There is a staff meeting Tuesday morning and a briefing Tuesdayafternoon that Mike must attend. Thus, under your proposal Mike would beavailable to Team 6 next week for approximately 3-4 hours. That is neither

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appropria te nor fai r. I need to be abl e to gi ve him assignments for Team 6 andensure that our work gets done.I suggest you either reschedule the WFO interviews when it is convenient foryou and your team to conduct t hem or i f they are so important, make t imeyourself to do them. By the way, I note that the reason you insisted you hadto have M ike last week wa s because Tamm was not available for two days and youneeded to double track al l week to get your interviews done in one week. Thefact is, however, that Tamm was t here t he entire ti me. Moreover, as youfinished the i nterviews i n three days, it i s clear that even i f Tamm had notbeen avai la ble the first two days, you could have completed all of theinterviews la st week wit h Tamm a rriving Tuesday night a nd therefore Mike wa snot essential to your sta ffing the interviews.I am sorry, but having had my team's work nega ti vely impacted l ast week becauseof your untimely scheduling, I am not feeli ng generous this week and do notconsent to turning Mike over to Team la for three days.BarbaraQuoting " " :> Hi Barbara. Hope your Mi ami trip went wel l. I wanted to give you a heads up>> on our current planning for DSM interviews at WFO next week. So far, we've> identified 22 agents for interviews, which we won't be starting till> Wednesday,> at the earliest (since we need to have a chance to absorb the extensive ACS> research we're doing right now) a nd which most li kely wil l run through the> balance of the week on a double track. Once aga in, Mi ke's parti cipat ion i n> as> many interviews a s possible will be important for us t o maximize our> effectiveness, especially in view of my likely unavailability for much of the> week due to the impending overseas trip (scheduled to start 10/11). I would>> appreciate it if we could have hi m Wednesday through Friday (10/8-10/10).> Whil e I know this amounts to a substanti al amount of ti me, I understand that>> Mi ke wants to participate in the DSM WFO interviews, that he is caught up on>> hi s pre-Miami Team 6 interview writ eups, a nd that he is confident he can do> the> Mi ami writeups and be fully prepared for Team 6's Phoenix trip the week of> 10/20. Please let me know if this is OK wit h you. Thanks.> Dieter

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dm b4 jacobson fdr- 2 emails re time conflicts and priorities re work of staff member mike jacobson...

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