This picture was taken several days after Rice testified before the 9/11 Commission. In her testimony, obligated as the result of intense pressure on the President ("Today I have informed the Commission [that] Condoleezza Rice, will provide public testimony." March 30, 2004), Rice was forced into the highly unusual position of having to state for the public record that the President was in fact cognizant, that he "understood the threat, and he understood its importance." Having been thrown to the wolves, no wonder she has this face for her boss as he addresses the press on his own.