A grieving widow, Mariani's wife Ellen filed a federal lawsuit in Philadelphia — "In the wake of the national tragedy ... and its serious and controversial claims, New York City is an inappropriate venue for justice to be served," it explained — alleging George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft et al failed to act on intelligence that could have staved off the attacks, and then tried to cover it all up. While the suit has since been dismissed — after originally filing a wrongful-death suit, an attorney Ellen has since fired unsuccessfully tried to make it a RICO case — Ellen has not lost resolve. Nearly five years removed from that tragic day, she tells City Paper that she's still determined to find answers.

City Paper: How have you dealt with these past five years in the wake of your husband's death?

Ellen Mariani: If you don't know what it's like to be a widow, I'll tell you. You don't hear his voice. You don't see his face. Or the touch of his hand. It's eerie, still. Five years of that? It's time for answers. I live through the eyes of my children and my grandchildren until the day the truth is heard, and I can say, 'Neil, you did not die in vain.' I am still grieving, [but] not to the point where I lose control, not to the point where people can trick and deceive me anymore. It's all done. And there will be a day that the truth is going to be heard. We're almost home. We are not nutty people. We are not activists. We want the truth. We want answers. We don't want lies. The president put his hand on a Bible to protect our country. Where was he that day?

CP: What still needs to be done in the hunt for answers?

EM: We need justice in our court systems, our judicial systems. And they don't want it. They want to block it. The red flags are there, ladies and gentlemen. Personally, the damage is done. What really has to be done is wake up America. I'm dead serious. I can speak; my husband can't speak, and neither can the rest [of the victims]. And there are laws [the government] put through that they should have never put through after 9/11.

CP: What is the first step in finding the truth?

EM: Get yourself to your senators and congressmen and fight! We need the truth. We need it. And then we heal, and it's justice for all of us. You know what? Then we can stand proud and tall. Homeland security for whom? Not us. We have no security until we take the law [and] straighten it out for our country. I didn't ask for this job. I didn't ask for my husband to be killed. But now that this has happened, it's been handed to me and this is the way I've dealt with it.