FBI releases newly declassified record on Sept 11 attacks
The FBI late Saturday released a newly declassified document related to logistical support given to two of the Saudi hijackers in the run-up to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The document details contacts the hijackers had with Saudi associates in the U.S. but do not provide proof that senior Saudi government officials were complicit in the plot.Released on the 20th anniversary of the attacks, the document is the first investigative record to be disclosed since President Joe Biden ordered a declassification review of materials that for years have remained out of public view.
The 16-page document is a summary of an FBI interview done in 2015 with a man who had frequent contact with Saudi nationals in the U.S. who supported the first hijackers to arrive in the country before the attacks.Biden last week ordered the Justice Department and other agencies to conduct a declassification review and release what documents they can over the next six months.
He had encountered pressure from victims' families, who have long sought the records as they pursue a lawsuit in New York alleging that Saudi government officials supported the hijackers.The heavily redacted document was disclosed on Saturday night, hours after Biden attended Sept. 11 memorial events in New York, Pennsylvania and northern Virginia. Victims' relatives had earlier objected to Biden's presence at ceremonial events as long as the documents remained classified.
The Saudi government has long denied any involvement in the attacks. The Saudi Embassy in Washington has it supported the full declassification of all records as a way to "end the baseless allegations against the Kingdom once and for all." The embassy said that any allegation that Saudi Arabia was complicit was "categorically false."
