don't think it was a mistake, and I'd do it again." He went on to say that "It didn't get any higher than me... On 9–11, 9–12 and 9–13, many things didn't get any higher than me. I decided it in consultation with the FBI." The FBI's denial that it had a role in approving the flights On May 18, 2004, The Hill quoted FBI spokesman on counterterrorism John Iannarelli as denying that the FBI had any "role in facilitating these flights one way or another." The FBI's denial of involvement was repeated to The Hill by another spokesperson, Donna Spiser, in a May 26, 2004 article. She is quoted as saying "We haven't had anything to do with arranging and clearing the flights." She states that the FBI's involvement was limited to interviewing those people on the flight it thought were of interest: "We did know who was on the flights and interviewed anyone we thought we needed to." Alleged lack of cooperation from the White House The May 18 article in The Hill, which was published prior to Clarke's May 25 claim of responsibility, quoted 9/11 Commission vice-chair Lee H. Hamilton as saying: "We don't know who authorized [the flights]. We've asked that question 50 times." A May 26 article in The Hill quoted another Commission member, Tim Roemer, as being unconvinced by Clarke's claim of sole responsibility for approving the flights: "It doesn't seem that Richard Clarke had enough information to clear it... I just don't think that the questions are resolved, and we need to dig deeper... Clarke sure didn't seem to say that he was the final decisionmaker. I believe we need to continue to look for some more answers." Allegations concerning the Bush administration's refusal to provide information to the 9/11 Commission about the Saudi flights are disputed. The May 18, 2004 article in The Hill says that Commission vice-chairman Lee Hamilton "disclosed the administration's refusal to answer questions on the sensitive subject during a recent closed-door meeting with a group of Democratic senators, according to several Democratic sources." It also says that Republican Commission member John Lehman "said... that he told the senators the White House has been fully cooperative." President Bush, who met privately with the Saudi Arabian ambassador on the morning of Sept. 13, 2001, is suspected of personally authorizing the controversial flights while all other air travel had been halted.