President George W. Bush and his advisers decided against issuing an alert over a terror threat in the days leading up to the 2004 presidential election over concerns that their decision would look politically motivated, according to Adjunct Professor Mark Croatti and AU students who attended a presentation by Homeland Security Adviser Frances Townsend on Thursday.
"She told us that just before the 2004 presidential election - a week, 10 days or so - there had been some low-level threat that had come in," Croatti said. "They decided not to issue an alert based on the threat based on concerns that Bush would be accused of using the threat of terrorism to influence the election. They said that they arrived at this determination by agreeing that it was low-level and unverifiable and therefore did not rise to the threat level that they felt the media had to be involved."
Townsend, a 1982 graduate from AU's School of Public Affairs, said Bush has not used terror warnings as a political tool during his time in office. Townsend told the story to students from Croatti's AU and George Washington University classes during a presentation on homeland security issues at the Old Executive Office Building.
Croatti said he had wanted someone from the White House to speak to his classes on some subjects related to intelligence and homeland security but was surprised he was able to get Townsend.
"I called the White House's public relations office and asked for someone who could speak to us about something related to intelligence or homeland security or counterterrorism," he said. "They called back and said they were going to have Frances Townsend come to speak with us. So that was a real lucky break, since I didn't ask for her by name. Since she's an AU graduate, she was willing to come and speak to the class."
Marie Kovalovich, a junior in the School of International Service who attended the presentation, said she felt Bush's decision not to announce the security alert was still politically motivated.
"[Bush] would not want to look like he was pushing people to vote for him based on terror that they derived from the feeling of insecurity that comes with raising alerts," she said in an e-mail clarifying statements she made during the class' interview. "The way it was presented was in a way that made me feel that this was not an insignificant threat, although maybe minor in comparison, and that it was not announced because if nothing happened Bush would be accused of fearmongering and would look like he had raised it purposely to gain votes."
Following her formal presentation, Townsend answered students' questions.
Dave Dorroh, a senior in SPA, said he asked Townsend about Bush's personal beliefs on privacy and civil liberties.
"I was impressed in that she answered in a way I wasn't expecting," Dorroh said. "She didn't address specifically what Bush thinks about civil liberties, but she definitely went into what the Bush administration has done to respect civil liberties. So, I was satisfied."
Aida O'Brien, a graduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she felt that while Townsend's answers to some of their questions likely came from Bush administration talking points, she did attempt to talk to them candidly.
"She did a good job of making talking points seem unscripted," O'Brien said. "Obviously, a big part of her job is to advise President Bush and her answers to some extent reflected the administration's point of view. But I think she also told us as much as she could."
Croatti initially invited a reporter from The Eagle to attend the presentation, but an official at the White House Office of Political Affairs told the reporter that the event was closed to the press.
