Bill Clinton’s camp yesterday demanded that ABC can its controversial film “The Path to 9/11,” due to air tonight – and in a scathing new letter accused the network of exploiting the tragedy for ratings.
Clinton’s wrath comes amid new revelations that the Toronto set of the fictionalized flick was plagued by actors’ concerns that the script was playing fast and loose with the truth, sources told The Post.
Clinton’s lawyer, Douglas Band, and the CEO of his foundation, Bruce Lindsey, penned the fuming missive to ABC bigwig Bob Iger. It was dated Friday but released to the press yesterday.
It begins with a friendly “Dear Bob” salutation – but quickly leaves the pleasantries behind.
“As a nation, we need to be focused on preventing another attack, not fictionalizing the last one for television ratings,” it reads.
But Clinton’s aides, in a race to beat the clock before tonight’s scheduled 8 p.m. telecast, used stronger language yesterday.
“Do the right thing for the country and pull this despicable work of fiction from the air,” urged Jay Carson, a Clinton spokesman.
“Airing something that is incontrovertibly incorrect at a time like this is inexcusable.”
One controversial fictionalized scene that sparked outrage features then-National Security Adviser Sandy Berger declining to give the go-ahead to kill Osama bin Laden.
Meanwhile, sources on the set told The Post that during filming there were arguments over the veracity of the content.
That legitimacy problem, they said, was exacerbated by the fact that no experts were on hand to get things straight.
When Oscar nominee Harvey Keitel signed on to play Deputy FBI Director John O’Neill, who perished in the World Trade Center attacks, he thought the film’s aim was to be historically correct, he said.
“It turned out not all the facts were correct,” which led to “arguments,” he said on CNN.
Virtually from Day 1 of shooting, “Keitel put his own researcher on the case,” looking to correct historical, character and other inaccuracies he found in the script, said John Dondertman, a production designer on the film.
That led to Keitel rewriting most of his own lines – which in turn meant almost daily revisions for cast members who had scenes with him.
A particular point of contention was a scene in which O’Neill, observing reams of Arabic documents, asks his assistant, “Do we have Arab translators?” only to be told, “I don’t know of any. I’ll call around.”
“Keitel couldn’t understand why the FBI didn’t have Arabic translators, so the dialogue was changed on the spot,” said a script supervisor.
On one occasion, Keitel holed up in his hotel for an entire day with director David Cunningham revising the script.
Other times, Cunningham would “fumble through the 9/11 Commission book trying to figure out how to correct details Keitel called into question,” said the script supervisor.
Other actors, says David Smukler, a dialogue coach on the film, took to watching archival news clips of their characters for inspiration when unable to consult with the real thing.
Some attempted to interview the people they were portraying but were rebuffed.
When production got under way in Toronto, the script by Cyrus Nowrasteh was titled “The Untitled History Project.”
That was partly to prevent details from leaking out to the White House and its former occupants.
The network hired 9/11 Commission chairman and former Republican New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean as the project’s senior consultant.
“Kean was never on the set,” said Greg Chown, an art director on the film. “The only adviser I worked with was a former CIA guy, who ensured that all the graphics and documents we used were accurate.”
Another staffer, who spoke confidentially, said the only adviser she recalls is retired FBI agent Terry Carney.
“He’d never been on a set before and seemed flummoxed at times. He had no say in the script; he was hired to make sure people held their guns correctly and such.”
Production documents issued to staffers make no mention of Kean, although an ABC spokeswoman said he visited the set “at least once.”
William Sadler, who plays FBI agent Neil Herman, tried to contact Herman for insight. “Herman said he wanted nothing to do with the film,” said an associate of the actor.
Barclay Hope, who plays FBI Assistant Director of Public Affairs John Miller, says he spoke briefly with Miller, although the FBI man indicated he didn’t want to be involved in production.
Miller was a consultant on the film, and ABC had optioned his book for use in its teleplay. He could not be reached for comment.
Fulvio Cecere, who plays NYPD Chief John Dunne, recalls director Cunningham allowing Keitel to improvise entire scenes with fellow cast members.
“I was in one with Harvey – on the eve of the millennium in an Italian restaurant – where I broke into ‘New York, New York.’ They kept it in the shot,” he told The Post.
Representatives for ABC did not return calls for comment.
But one network staffer said “there’s no way they’re not running it.”
Keitel and actors Patricia Heaton and Donnie Wahlberg could not be reached for comment.
Additional reporting by Patrick White