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John told the OIG that Peter had posited that perhaps [INFORMATION REDACTED].
In an e-mail to Peter in mid-May 2001, John noted that Mihdhar had arranged his travel to Malaysia and was associated with [INFORMATION REDACTED].157 In addition, John wrote that he was interested because Mihdhar was traveling with two �companions� who had left Malaysia and gone to Bangkok, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong and �also were couriers of a sort.� John noted in the e-mail that �something bad was definitely up.� Peter replied in an e-mail dated May 18, �My head is spinning over this East Asia travel.
Do you know if anyone in [the CIA�s Bin Laden Unit] or FBI mapped this?� Around this same time, FBI IOS Donna and other FBI IOSs working on the Cole investigation were focusing on Quso�s connection to Bangkok and his trip to deliver money to Khallad.
The FBI, like the CIA, was aware that in January 2000 [INFORMATION REDACTED].
According to an FBI document drafted by Donna in May 2001, Quso had claimed that on January 6, 2000, he and Ibrahim Al-Nibras went to Bangkok first but were unable to travel on to Kuala Lumpur because of problems with their travel documents, and Khallad had traveled to Bangkok to meet them there instead.
The FBI began researching telephone numbers that appeared to be connected to Quso�s trip and requested that several Legat Offices contact local law enforcement authorities to obtain subscriber information.
Donna told the OIG that she and others were tracking the information related to the telephone numbers associated with Quso in an attempt to determine the truth of his statements.
In addition, she said that she was focused on the identity and whereabouts of Khallad, since he was the purported mastermind of the Cole attack.
At some point before the end of May 2001, John discussed with Donna the East Asian travel of Quso.
In response to Peter�s May 18 e-mail that asked whether anyone had �mapped� the East Asia travel, John replied in an undated e-mail that �key travel still needs to be mapped� and stated �[Donna] sounds really interested in comparing notes in a small forum expert to expert so both sides can shake this thing and see what gaps are common.� In addition to reviewing the East Asia travel of several Bin Laden operatives in January 2000, [INFORMATION REDACTED].
John obtained three of them.
John told the OIG that he had not read the cable stating that the joint source had identified Khallad in the photographs, but he was aware that an identification of Khallad in the photographs had been made.
At the end of his e-mail to Peter, John stated that he had obtained three surveillance photographs of Mihdhar in Malaysia, but he did not see �Khallad� in any of the photographs, [INFORMATION REDACTED].158 In response to John�s e-mail, Peter wrote in an e-mail dated May 24 that he had thought one of the [INFORMATION REDACTED].
Peter added that Donna and another FBI IOS in the UBL Unit, who we call �Kathy,� were meeting with Peter on May 29 to discuss the Cole investigation.
[INFORMATION REDACTED] On May 24, Donna sent John an e-mail stating that a meeting with Peter and others was �tentatively scheduled� for May 29 for �an in depth discussion about the Cole.� We were unable to determine with certainty whether a meeting with Peter, Donna, and Kathy actually took place on May 29.
None of the witnesses had notes of any such meeting, nor were there any e-mails discussing the meeting after it would have taken place.
The witnesses told the OIG that they could not recall whether a meeting took place on May 29.
For example, when asked whether she knew Peter, Kathy told the OIG that his name sounded familiar and that she may have met him, but she did not recall a meeting on May 29, 2001, about the Cole investigation.
A May 29 e-mail from Peter to Mary indicates that he met with Mary earlier in the day, but it does not identify the other participants or what was discussed.
However, it is clear that at some point before the end of May 2001, Donna became aware of the existence of the Kuala Lumpur photographs in January 2000.
Donna told the OIG that she recalled John printing one of the CIA photographs on the printer in his office at FBI Headquarters, and Donna acknowledged that she obtained two other Kuala Lumpur photographs from him.
According to Donna, Peter had raised the photographs in a discussion with her prior to her obtaining the photographs from John, although she said that she did not recall the details of their discussion about the photographs.
Donna said she did recall that, at the time, Peter had posited that one of the photographs could relate to Quso, which if true would contradict Quso�s statements about going only to Bangkok and not going to Malaysia.
According to Donna, the FBI was attempting to determine the veracity of Quso�s information, so the photographs potentially were connected to the Cole investigation.
She stated, however, that outside of this potential connection, the photographs were �another piece of a thousand things coming in� at the time.
She said that if Quso were determined to be in the photographs, then the photographs would have become significant to the Cole investigation.
Donna also told the OIG that she did not recall a �substantive conversation� with John about the photographs or the Malaysia meetings.
Donna told the OIG that she wrote on the back of the photographs what John told her about the photographs, which included that �Khalid Al-Midar� traveled from Sana, Yemen, via Dubai, to Kuala Lumpur on January 5, 2000, and he was in Kuala Lumpur between January 6 and 8.
She also wrote Khalid Mihdhar�s name on the back of the photograph in which he had been identified.
[INFORMATION REDACTED] Donna also said that no one told her that Mihdhar had a U.S. visa or that Hazmi had traveled to the United States.
John told the OIG that he did not recall anything about his discussion with Donna when he printed the Kuala Lumpur photographs for her.
John said he recalled that at the time the FBI was trying to �nail down Quso�s story.� [INFORMATION REDACTED] John emphasized that the FBI was focused on the Cole investigation, not the Malaysia meetings.
[INFORMATION REDACTED] Peter told the OIG that he recalled talking to FBI IOSs, including Donna, about mapping the telephone number information based on information provided by Quso.
[INFORMATION REDACTED] Around the same time that Donna was discussing Quso and the Cole investigation with Peter and John, she also was planning a meeting at the New York FBI Office to discuss the Cole investigation.
The planned participants for the New York meeting included personnel from FBI Headquarters, the CIA�s CTC, and the New York FBI agents working on the Cole investigation.
FBI documents show that Donna began organizing the meeting as early as May 24.
There was no record of an agenda for the meeting, and no supervisors were involved in the preparation for this meeting or were consulted regarding what should be accomplished at the meeting.
Donna told the OIG that she organized the meeting in an effort to consolidate information and determine what further action was warranted on the Cole investigation.
She stated that the purpose of the meeting at the New York FBI Office was to address unresolved issues and produce additional leads or other activities focusing on the Cole investigation.
According to a May 24 e-mail by Donna, the meeting was �to discuss our direction, particularly as it relates to Nashiri.�159 Donna stated that she planned to take the Kuala Lumpur photographs with her to New York to find out whether the New York FBI Cole agents, who had met and debriefed Quso, could identify him in the photographs.
She said that if Quso was in the photographs, the FBI would have reason to question Quso�s statement that he had not gone to Malaysia but had met Khallad in Bangkok instead.
Sometime after obtaining the Kuala Lumpur photographs from John, Donna queried CTLink for the name Khalid al-Midhar [sic], which John had provided to her and which she had noted on the back of one of the photographs.160 In CTLink she discovered the NSA information from late 1999 and early 2000 referencing Mihdhar�s planned travel to Malaysia and [INFORMATION REDACTED].
She also queried ACS about Mihdhar but did not obtain any additional information about him.
Mary, an FBI detailee to the Bin Laden Unit who worked as a CTC desk officer, also attended the June 11 meeting, as did Peter, the CTC analyst.
According to Mary, Donna invited her to the meeting and told her the meeting was intended for information sharing and as a �brainstorming session� concerning the Cole investigation.
Mary told the OIG she had recently been given the assignment by CTC management of �getting up to speed� in her spare time on the [INFORMATION REDACTED].
Mary said that she had not yet begun reviewing the Malaysia meetings at the time of Donna�s invitation.
According to Peter, the meeting was also described to him as an �information sharing and brainstorming session� to determine whether any further leads should be pursued.
Peter said that he heard about the meeting from Mary and contacted Donna about attending because he was interested in learning what the New York FBI agents had uncovered in their investigation of the Cole attack.
According to FBI personnel in New York, Donna told them that FBI Headquarters and CIA personnel had indicated they had �information to share� regarding the Cole investigation.
The FBI New York personnel anticipated the meeting would be a mutual exchange of information.
Scott, one of the New York case agents on the Cole investigation, said he was told that the CIA representatives who would be attending the meeting wanted a briefing on the Cole investigation.
On his own initiative, Scott arranged for David Kelley, an AUSA from the SDNY who was assigned to the Cole matter, to discuss with the CIA representatives other issues related to the Cole investigation, one of which was the impact on the prosecution if some of the targets of the Cole investigation were captured or detained outside the United States.
On June 11, the meeting was held in a conference room at the FBI�s New York Field Office.
We could not determine with certainty all the participants at the meeting.
There was no list of attendees, and the witnesses could not recall exactly who was there.
However, we confirmed that Donna, Mary, Peter, Scott, and another New York agent assigned to the Cole investigation who we call �Randall,� attended.
AUSA Kelley attended for part of the meeting.
Although it was unclear exactly how long the meeting lasted, the witnesses said it lasted between two and four hours.
In interviews with the OIG, the attendees said they did not recall the specifics of what was discussed at the meeting.
The only contemporaneous notes from the meeting that we were able to obtain were Donna�s.
Her notes indicate that the latest developments in the Cole investigation were discussed.
The second page of the notes is labeled �to do� and referenced several items.
Randall said he recalled that at the beginning of the meeting, Scott gave an update of the results and status of the investigation.
Mary said she recalled that the attendees �brainstormed� various issues, but she did not recall any significant ideas being developed during the meeting.
Peter said he recalled that the New York agents �railed� about the U.S. Ambassador to Yemen and the lack of cooperation they believed they were receiving from the Yemeni government.
At some point during the meeting, AUSA Kelley discussed the feasibility of prosecution in the Cole case.
Toward the end of the meeting, Donna produced the three Kuala Lumpur surveillance photographs and asked the agents if they recognized Quso in any of the photographs.
Donna said she told the agents that the photographs had been taken in Malaysia around the Millennium.
Donna said she provided Khalid al Mihdhar�s name to at least some of the agents present.
[INFORMATION REDACTED]161 The witnesses� accounts of what happened next differ.
Scott told the OIG that after reviewing the Kuala Lumpur photographs, the FBI agents began to ask questions, such as whether there were additional photographs or information concerning the background on the photographs, including questions about Mihdhar, who was in the photographs.
According to Scott, he pressed Donna and Peter for details of the Malaysia meetings.
[INFORMATION REDACTED] Scott contended that Donna �refused� to provide any further information about the photographs or the Malaysia meetings due to �the wall.� Scott told the OIG that he previously had numerous conversations about the wall with Donna, which had been an issue between them.
He stated that during this June 11 meeting, he disputed that the wall was applicable to the information at hand because the photographs had not been obtained as the result of a FISA Court order, and he continued to press Donna for more information.
Scott said the meeting degenerated into an argument about the wall.
In his initial OIG interview, Scott described the meeting as very contentious and combative.162 In a second OIG interview, although Scott did not characterize the meeting as having the same level of combativeness, he contended that he pressed Donna for more information but none was forthcoming.
Scott stated he had heated telephone conversations and e mail exchanges with Donna over this issue after the June 11 meeting.
Donna, Mary, and Peter described the showing of the Kuala Lumpur photographs as a sidebar to the main meeting and generally inconsequential.
All three asserted that neither the display of the surveillance photographs nor the meeting overall was contentious.
Although Donna agreed that the FBI agents asked further questions regarding the origin of the photographs and asked for additional information regarding the Malaysia meetings, she contended that she responded simply by saying she did not know anything further.
She told the OIG that these questions made sense to her when they were asked, but she did not know the answers.
She stated that someone asked what kind of passport Mihdhar was traveling on, and Peter responded that it was a Saudi passport.163 According to Donna, she had not known this information prior to Peter stating it.
Donna told us that this was the only information volunteered by Peter, and she believed he would have provided additional information if he knew it.
Peter told the OIG that he was not asked any questions at the June 11 meeting, he had no formal role, and he did not brief anyone on anything at the June 11 meeting.
Peter explained that it is not within his purview or authority as an analyst to share CIA information.
He said he did not recall the meeting becoming heated or contentious.
He said he did not recall any time during the meeting where Donna said, �I can�t answer that question� or directly refused to answer a question.164 Mary stated that she had not been �up to speed� on the case at this time, so she was not in a position to provide information at the meeting.
She stated that she and Peter were not asked any questions during the meeting.
She said that she did not recall any serious disagreements arising during the meeting.
According to Donna, she remained in New York after the meeting, without Peter and Mary, and she continued the discussions with the New York agents regarding the photographs after the meeting.
She said that these subsequent conversations became fairly �heated,� as the agents pressed her with questions such as whether there were additional photographs and any documentation about the photographs.165 Donna told the OIG she had provided to the agents all the information she had received from the CIA regarding the photographs.
She told us that all she knew was that these three photographs were taken in Malaysia around the Millennium, and one of the persons in the photographs was someone named Khalid al Mihdhar.
Donna stated she advised the agents of this and told them that efforts would be made to obtain the requested information.
She said she was not aware that there would have been additional information to provide.
She added that she recalled having the impression that the agents did not believe her when she said that she did not have the information about the photographs that the agents were requesting.
As discussed earlier, however, Donna had additional NSA information about Mihdhar that she had discovered through her CTLink query.
[INFORMATION REDACTED] Donna told us that she could not provide this information directly to the agents working the Cole criminal investigation due to the caveat, which prevented all NSA counterterrorism-related intelligence information from being provided to FBI criminal agents without approval from the NSA.166 Donna told us that the New York FBI primarily worked criminal terrorism investigations and the sharing of intelligence information with the criminal agents was often an issue.
She said that some of the New York agents had become �overly sensitive� about a perceived lack of information sharing.
Donna emphasized that any information could be shared but often a process had to be followed before certain intelligence information could be shared with agents working criminal investigations.