Author Says Newly Declassified CIA PDBs Add Additional Historical Material to His Book on George W. Bush

Steven C. Markoff notes that the PDBs provide additional historical material concerning intelligence about Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda

LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, September 21, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — With the CIA’s release of 71 declassified 9/11-related President’s Daily Briefs on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, nonfiction writer Steven C. Markoff notes that the newly released documents provide additional historical material concerning intelligence about Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda that is discussed in his 2020 book, The Case Against George W. Bush.

Markoff’s book examines information available to President George W. Bush and his administration concerning the potential threat from Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. It also examines subsequent government reports, statements by administration officials, and other accounts concerning the warnings and intelligence available before September 11, 2001.

“The newly released CIA documents provide additional primary-source material for understanding the intelligence concerning Al-Qaeda that was available to the administration before September 11,” Markoff said.

The CIA’s newly released collection includes documents dating from 1998 through September 12, 2001. Among them are reports concerning potential attacks by bin Laden, the threat to U.S. interests, and the August 6, 2001, President’s Daily Brief titled “Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US.”

In addition to the newly released CIA documents, the following sourced quotations and accounts discussed in Markoff’s book provide examples of information and warnings concerning the terrorist threat:

12/19/2000: President Clinton told President-elect Bush that the priorities for his coming administration should include Al-Qaeda. (Markoff book, page 62.)

8/3/2001: The intelligence community issued an advisory concluding, in part, that Al-Qaeda was lying in wait and searching for gaps in security before moving forward with the planned attacks on our country. (Markoff book, page 100.)

8/6/2001: Reports on the day that Bush received the intelligence report titled ‘Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.’, indicated that he had broken off from work early and gone fishing. (Markoff book, page 101)

Condoleezza Rice: Condoleezza Rice testified that George Tenet met with Bush 40 times to warn him that a major Al-Qaeda attack was going to take place, and that in response the president did not convene any meetings of top officials. (Markoff book, page 113.)

July 10, 2001 meeting: Tenet said that his 7/10/2001 meeting with Rice was a tremendous lost opportunity to prevent or disrupt the 9/11 attacks; the bipartisan leaders of the 9/11 Commission told Meet The Press on 4/4/2004, “the 9/11 attacks could have been prevented.” (Markoff book, page 299.)

President Bush’s later recollection: Bush admitted, when looking back on his PDB of 8/6/2001, that he did not react with alarm, did not summon the directors of the FBI and the CIA, nor order heightened alerts. “I didn’t feel that sense of urgency,” Bush said. (Markoff book, page 300.)

Markoff’s book chronicles the presidency of George W. Bush through almost 600 quotations from more than ninety authors and public figures, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and writers and journalists such as Steve Coll, Frank Rich, Craig Unger, and Bob Woodward.

For a fuller understanding of the information available to President Bush concerning the terrorist threat before and after he became president, and the subsequent events and responses discussed in the book, see The Case Against George W. Bush.

About Steven C. Markoff

Steven C. Markoff is an independent researcher and author specializing in constitutional law, public policy, and historical analysis. His books are characterized by extensive documentation, primary-source research, and a commitment to presenting complex issues through carefully sourced evidence.

About Rare Bird Books

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