Question:

In a front page scoop by James Risen on December 13, 2003, The New York Times reported that "‘U.S. records now indicate that Atta was in Virginia Beach, Va., in early April 2001, when he was supposedly in Prague to meet [Iraq consul] Ani."
   Is it true that there are records that show Atta in Virginia on April 8, 2001-- the date he was reported in Prague?

Answer:

      It is pure invention that the U.S. government has any records that Atta was in Virginia Beach on April 8th. 2001

      The FBI only has records for April 4, 2001 that show that Atta and his roommate Marwan Al-Shehhi checked out of the Diplomat Inn in Virginia Beach and then cashed a check for $8,000 from al-Shehhi's SunTrust account.  The next record of Atta is April 24th, when he is stopped by policeman in Coral Springs, Florida. According to Newsweek, he rented an apartment in in Coral Springs on April 11 (although there is no lease or other record.)

     Between those days, there was only one eyewitness sighting of Atta : a Czech intelligence (BIS) watcher identified him as meeting with al-Ani in Prague on April 8th. 

     The FBI claims that the billing record of a cell phone Atta had used was used to make calls to Florida in April. But of course a cell phone is not unique to a single person, like fingerprints. His cell phone could have been used by his roommate during his absence. So, as CIA director Tenet correctly testified, there is no evidence precluding Atta from going to Prague under an alias on April 4 (with$8,000) and returning April 9th.  And no records.