JIDDA, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Former CIA Director George Tenet briefed U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in July 2001 on an impending al-Qaida threat, The New York Times reported.
Citing a review of White House records, a State Department spokesman told the newspaper Monday that Tenet advised Rice and other top officials on July 10, 2001, about looming threats by al-Qaida.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the Bush administration had determined that the Sept. 11 commission had been informed about the briefing, but did not mention it in its final report.
Earlier Monday, Rice denied many claims in a new book that describes the Bush administration as being in disarray before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Speaking to reporters at a refueling stop in Shannon, Ireland, on her way to Saudi Arabia, Rice said some of the claims in "State of Denial," by Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward were "incomprehensible," the Post reported.
She said the book's account of her July 2001 briefing by Tenet was "simply ludicrous."
"It was an extremely active period in terms of reacting to a steady stream of chatter about potential attacks," she said. "There was nothing that related to an attack in the United States."
