Synopses & Reviews
Ever since 9/11, investigative reporter Peter Lance has been leading the fight to expose the intelligence gaps that led to 9/11. Now, in the follow-up to his bestselling
1000 Years for Revenge, he returns with devastating new evidence that the government has been covering up its own counterterror failures since the mid-1990s -- and continues today.
In Cover Up, Lance shows how the government chose again and again to sacrifice America's national security for personal motives and political convenience. In its first half, he unveils shattering new evidence that terror mastermind Ramzi Yousef ordered the bombing of TWA 800 from his prison cell in order to effect a mistrial in his own terror bombing case. Astonishingly, the FBI was alerted to Yousef's plans in advance by a prison informant who even passed along his detailed sketch of a bomb-trigger device -- a document seen here for the first time. And Lance reveals the shocking reason the Justice Department suddenly ruled the crash an accident despite overwhelming evidence of the bombing -- throwing away its best chance to penetrate the cell that was already planning 9/11.
And the outrage doesn't stop there. In Part II, Lance offers an unofficial "minority report" on the 9/11 Commission, critiquing it as the incomplete, highly politicized "Warren Commission of our time." He explores potential conflicts of interest among its members, from the staff director who wrote a book with Condoleezza Rice, to the former Clinton deputy attorney general who participated in a critical meeting that upended the TWA probe. He exposes the report's false contention that the 9/11 plan was conceived in 1996, when the FBI had knowledge that the plot was in motion as early as 1994. And, in a heart-stopping, minute-by-minute chronicle of the attacks, he asks dozens of unanswered questions about the defense failures of that day -- from why fighter jets weren't scrambled for almost an hour after the hijackings, to why the president and several of his top military advisers remained virtually incommunicado for more than half an hour after it was clear that America was under attack.
At a time when America feels no safer than ever, Cover Up will lend new eyes to readers who want the full story behind the 9/11 attacks -- and inspire us all to keep demanding the truth.
Synopsis
Alongside the bestselling 9/11 Commission Report is investigative journalist Peter Lance′s expose of the government′s decade long cover-up about al Qaeda, and how they′re still hiding the truth today.
In the groundbreaking 1000 Years for Revenge, Peter Lance exposed the FBI′s twelve-year record of negligence that led to the attacks of 9/11. Now, alongside the bestselling 9/11 Commission Report, Lance′s Cover Up, proves that the government has been covering up its own counter-terror failures since the mid-1990s and continues to do so today.
Part I presents new major revelations about Ramzi Yousef, bin Laden′s master bomber, and a plan to use his fellow prisoner, the convicted Mafioso Greg Scarpa Jr., to mine Yousef for information. In 1996, while Yousef was awaiting trial, the terrorist told Scarpa in detail how al Qaeda was planning to blow up an airliner in order to secure a mistrial. Yousef was even given access to an outside phone line so that the Feds could monitor his calls. But the plan backfired: Yousef reached his cohorts and TWA 800 was blown out of the sky. Yet the critical Scarpa intel was ultimately disregarded; if Scarpa were presented as a credible witness, it would have undermined a series of cases in which Scarpa had been rejected to protect a crooked FBI agent. The Feds threw away an opportunity to stop the biggest terror strike in the US before 9/11.
Part II reveals the government′s continued cover up efforts, penetrating even the 9/11 Commission. Lance-who testified in private before the Commission-offers a minority report on the proceedings, revealing the many conflicts of interest among the commissioners and their personal motives for covering evidence and ignoring major parts of the story. Raising scores of unanswered questions, Cover Up proves one thing beyond a doubt: When it comes to understanding 9/11 we are as far from the truth as ever.
About the Author
Peter Lance is the author of three previous works of investigative journalism, 1000 Years for Revenge, Cover Up, and Triple Cross. A former correspondent for ABC News, he covered hundreds of stories worldwide for 20/20, Nightline, and World News Tonight. Among his awards are the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Prize and the Sevellon Brown Award from the Associated Press. In 2010 he was appointed Research Scholar at the Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies. He lives in California.