2003-12-05 Ex-Senator Will Soon Quit 9-11 Panel

2003-12-05 Philip Shenon New York Times \9/11 Commission\Max Cleland\9-11/anomalies http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/05/us/ex-senator-will-soon-quit-9-11-panel-leaving-gap-for-victims-advocates.html Ex-Senator Will Soon Quit 9/11 Panel, Leaving Gap for Victims' Advocates Ex-Senator Will Soon Quit 9-11 Panel  Max Cleland, a former senator from Georgia and one of five Democrats on the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, is expected to resign within weeks, creating a vacancy with only six months left in the inquiry, commission officials said today.

Mr. Cleland's intention to resign from the 10-member commission has been known since last summer, when Senate Democrats announced that they had recommended him for a Democratic slot on the board of the Export-Import Bank. But the timing of his departure became clear only last week, when the White House formally sent the nomination to the Senate.

His imminent departure from the panel has created concern among victims' family groups, because Mr. Cleland has been one of the commission's most outspoken members and has joined with advocates for the families in their criticism of the Bush administration. The time to find a replacement is limited because the commission is required by law to complete its work in 2004-05.

Mr. Cleland has publicly accused the White House of trying to undermine the work of the commission and of Nixonian efforts to conceal important evidence about the government's law enforcement and intelligence failures in the weeks before the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

&ldquo;Mr. Cleland has publicly accused the White House of trying to undermine the work of the commission and of Nixonian efforts to conceal important evidence about the government's law enforcement and intelligence failures in the weeks before the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.&rdquo;   