Attorney General

Informing the Nation

The decision whether to publicly announce Threat Conditions shall be made on a case-by-case basis by the Attorney General in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security. Every effort shall be made to share as much information regarding the threat as possible, consistent with the safety of the Nation. The Attorney General shall ensure that State and local government officials and law enforcement authorities are provided the most relevant and timely information.

Making Decisions

The Attorney General shall be responsible for identifying any other information developed in the threat assessment process that would be useful to State and local officials and others and conveying it to them as permitted consistent with the constraints of classification. The Attorney General shall establish a process and a system for conveying relevant information to Federal, State, and local government officials, law enforcement authorities, and the private sector expeditiously.

The Director of Central Intelligence and the Attorney General shall ensure that a continuous and timely flow of integrated threat assessments and reports is provided to:

• The President
• The Vice President
• Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff
• Assistant to the President for Homeland Security
• Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

Whenever possible and practicable, these integrated threat assessments and reports shall be reviewed and commented upon by the wider interagency community.

Assessing the Situation

A decision on which Threat Condition to assign shall integrate a variety of considerations. This integration will rely on qualitative assessment, not quantitative calculation. Higher Threat Conditions indicate greater risk of a terrorist act, with risk including both probability and gravity. Despite best efforts, there can be no guarantee that, at any given Threat Condition, a terrorist attack will not occur. An initial and important factor is the quality of the threat information itself.

The evaluation of this threat information shall include, but not be limited to, the following factors:

• To what degree is the threat information credible?
• To what degree is the threat information corroborated?
• To what degree is the threat specific and/or imminent?
• How grave are the potential consequences of the threat?