Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, the man who thought the Cole bombing was quote, stale, questioned the reporting in a conversation with Bush's deputy National security advisor. On July 12, 2001, Acting FBI Director Thomas Picard opened Attorney General John Ashcroft's intelligence briefing with the latest on the CIA warnings about an Al Qaeda attack. Ashcroft responded by saying I don't want you to act, ever talk to me about Al Qaeda, about these threats. I don't want to hear about Al Qaeda anymore. Picard appealed for more counterterrorism enhancements, meaning funding an appeal the Attorney general denied. On September 10, the United States was attacked the very next day. (21:15–21:35)
CLAIM
Asserts that Attorney General John Ashcroft dismissed CIA warnings about an Al Qaeda attack.
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