(Article posted at the request of Attorney Jerry Leaphart)
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It was recently learned that NIST scientist, Richard Gann, wrote the so-called "Final Report on the Collapse of the World Trade Center Towers" also known as NIST NCSTAR 1 (NCSTAR 1).  There has been precious little public discussion about NCSTAR 1 and only one published article mentioned Richard Gann's name, that I could find.

Within the 9/11 Truth Movement, NCSTAR 1 is regarded as an incomplete treatise on what caused the destruction and pulverization of World Trade Center buildings 1 and 2 (WTC1,2), when the document is viewed in the most charitable light.  To some, NCSTAR 1 does not meet data and/or information quality standards and is, therefore, fraudulent, deceptive and/or misleading.

Having learned that Richard Gann wrote NCSTAR 1, it was assumed that he might be an appropriate NIST official to correspondence with on the 'data and information quality' aspects of NCSTAR 1.  That is what I did and the correspondence is reproduced below, with a minor redaction of one email address.

What the correspondence yielded was a reply, not from Richard Gann himself, but rather a reply from NIST's Deputy Chief Counsel for Technology, one Melissa Lieberman, Esq.  However, Attorney Lieberman's reply also includes portions of certain communications BETWEEN and AMONG other NIST officials about the correspondence addressed to Richard Gann.  The extent of the communications is unclear, but we are clearly told that it includes both a "confidential pre-decisional document" as well as allegedly privileged "attorney-client communications." 

However, mere assertion that a document is confidential and merely claiming that communications are "privileged" does not make them immune from public disclosure.  Indeed, Deputy Chief Counsel Melissa Lieberman actually asserts in her reply to the email communication sent to Richard Gann that "NIST's WTC Investigation reports were prepared and disseminated in accordance with NIST's Information Quality Standards."  Thus, by providing a reply to a query, I believe Attorney Lieberman is obliged to disclose the information upon which the reply is based.  It is well-understood that disclosure of partial information results in waiver of privilege claims with respect to portions of the same communication that have been withheld.  In other words, partial disclosure serves as a waiver of privilege.

Moreover, as an attorney for a governmental agency, with duties that likely include administrative and other duties, it is by no means clear that Deputy Chief Counsel Lieberman can properly assert that her communications with, say, Drs. Shyam Sunder and Richard Gann are privileged.  I use those two names because they are included below in a way that suggests she did, in fact, communicate with each of them concerning the data and information quality query that had been addressed to Richard Gann.

What information was exchanged between and among those and other NIST officials about NCSTAR 1 that would allow her to claim that NIST's reports on the World Trade Center complied with information quality standards?

I think we have a right to know  that and related information and to obtain copies.

Accordingly, I have, this date, submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to NIST, specifically requesting that information and specifically asserting that claims of privilege and of confidentiality do not apply and cannot properly be asserted.

I here assert that it is possible that whistleblower material may be found in the information that Melissa Lieberman is seeking to shield from public disclosure.

______________________/

Appendix -- Communication stream leading to possible Whistleblower:

Subj: Fwd: NCSTAR 1 inquiry
Date: 02/07/2007 2:44:56 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: melissa.lieberman@nist.gov
To: REDACTED
Received from Internet:

Dear Mr. Leaphart,

I am responding to your email to Richard Gann, included below for your reference. NIST's WTC Investigation reports were prepared and disseminated in accordance with NIST's Information Quality Standards, which may be found on the NIST website at: http://www.nist.gov/director/quality_standards.htm

If you have further questions, please contact me directly. Thank you for your interest.

Sincerely,

Melissa Lieberman

From: REDACTED
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2007 12:11:11 EST
Subject: Award for NCSTAR 1
To: richard.gann@nist.gov

Dear Richard Gann:

I understand you are the writer of NCSTAR 1, for which yeoman's service, you received an important award. Congratulations, as I feel certain that must have been a challenging project.

I would like to engage in correspondence with you concerning the applicability of either 'quality' or 'integrity' standards to that project and whether or not it was considered to be exempt from such standards?

If you are inclined to do so, you may contact me by either email or as indicated below either now or at any time that you deem either convenient or appropriate.

In any event, an acknowledging communication would be appreciated, one way or another.

Sincerely,

Jerry Leaphart
8 West Street
#203
Danbury CT 06810
203-825-6265

Richard G. Gann, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Building 224, Room A-261
100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8664
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8664
Phone: (301) 975-6866
Fax: (301) 975-3652 or 4052
E-mail: rggann@nist.gov
www.bfrl.nist.gov

=================================
Confidential and Pre-decisional Document
=================================

==========================================
Dr. S. Shyam Sunder
Acting Director
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8600
Tel.: 301-975-6850; Fax: 301-975-4032
===========================================

-------------------------------------
Melissa J. Lieberman
Deputy Chief Counsel for Technology
Ph: (301) 975-4783
Fax: (301) 926-6241

Privileged Attorney-Client Communications

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