“President Bush personally asked Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle [D-SD] Tuesday [January 29, 2002] to limit the congressional investigation into the events of September 11, congressional and White House sources told CNN. The request was made at a private meeting with congressional leaders Tuesday morning. Sources said Bush initiated the conversation. He asked that only the House and Senate intelligence committees look into the potential breakdowns among federal agencies that could have allowed the terrorist attacks to occur, rather than a broader inquiry that some lawmakers have proposed, the sources said. Tuesday’s discussion followed a rare call to Daschle from Vice President Dick Cheney last Friday to make the same request. ‘The vice president expressed the concern that a review of what happened on September 11 would take resources and personnel away from the effort in the war on terrorism,’ Daschle told reporters. …’I acknowledged that concern, and it is for that reason that the Intelligence Committee is going to begin this effort, trying to limit the scope and the overall review of what happened,’ said Daschle… ‘But clearly, I think the American people are entitled to know what happened and why,’ he said. …Although the president and vice president told Daschle they were worried a wide-reaching inquiry could distract from the government’s war on terrorism, privately Democrats questioned why the White House feared a broader investigation to determine possible culpability.”
– Dana Bash, Jon Karl, and John King, “Bush Asks Daschle to Limit Sept. 11 Probes,” CNN, Jan. 29, 2002